What I’m Reading, May 21, 2014

Posted on May 21, 2014 by wellsdc

By Flickr user Romeo Reidl from Budapest, Hungary (Respect sexworkers statue) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons Invisible Sex Workers, Charlotte Shane, Jacobin, May 14, 2014

Journalists, policy-makers, and self-appointed experts repeatedly say that the Internet facilitated an explosion of activity for sex sellers of all stripes, yet that activity was somehow entirely covert. Similarly, the “end demand” crowd, who would like to see the sex trade eradicated but catch flack for explicitly supporting policies that criminalize those selling it, assert that sex work proliferates because of an endless male appetite for bought sex.

But very few sex workers use the “Dark Net,” and even that private corner of the web is now subject to busts. So some connecting of the dots is long overdue. If sex workers are so hard to find, how do clients responsible for making the sex industry the “fastest growing and second largest criminal industry in the world” find them? How do the cops who continue to arrest them?

The Feminist Version of American History You Never Hear About In School, Maureen Shaw, PolicyMic, May 13, 2014 Continue reading →

What I’m Reading, May 20, 2014

Posted on May 20, 2014 by wellsdc

By Darkness Blackheart from Mystery Babylon, Infinita (IMG_0354) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

I couldn’t find a good stock photo signifying “resentment,” so here’s Victoria Beckham, who sings a song with that title.

Why Resentment is Key to Conservative Politics, BooMan, Booman Tribune, May 7, 2014

Once again, we can see how these folks divide the world into a bifurcated land of enterprising strivers and idle moochers. Conservatives have an easy time understanding the world as a “fallen” place where sin is ever-present and perfection always eludes even the best of bureaucratic planners, but they seem to have great difficulty in understanding that the world is also a place with broken people who through genetics, environment, or misfortune are in need of societal assistance. As long as there is some accountability, they are pretty good at forgiveness, but compassion and empathy are tremendous challenges for them.

But, quite aside from all that, we can see that resentment is the key ingredient in their political toolbox.

GOP lawmaker doubles down on anal sex obsession, Robyn Pennacchia, Death and Taxes, May 6, 2014 Continue reading →

There’s More to Marriage than Lust

Posted on May 17, 2014 by wellsdc

Chris Sevier, whom you might remember as the guy who sued Apple for not stopping him from looking at porn, is really mad about the prospect of two dudes getting married. So mad, in fact, that he has decided to once again embarrass himself on the national stage in protest:

In Florida, James Domer Brenner and his partner are currently suing the state to recognize their marriage, which was legally performed in Canada. Florida does not currently allow same-sex marriage or recognize marriages performed legally elsewhere, so this is likely to be a pretty important case.

However, one man is really not happy about it. His name is Chris Savier, “a former Judge Advocate and combat veteran” who is really just a treasure. In order to protest the case before it even starts, he filed a motion to intervene in this case and demand the right to marry his “porn-filled Apple computer.” In the 24-page long document, Savier insists that if gay people “have the right to marry their object of sexual desire, even if they lack corresponding sexual parts, then I should have the right to marry my preferred sexual object.”

So instead of “girlfriend,” “fiancée,” or “wife,” should I be saying “preferred sexual object”? I don’t see that going over well. At all.

Continue reading →

What I’m Reading, May 16, 2014

Posted on May 16, 2014 by wellsdc

How the Purity Myth Perpetuates Rape Culture, Miri, Brute Reason, May 13, 2014

The purity myth, as Jessica Valenti calls it in her book of the same name, includes several interlocking beliefs about women and sexuality that are enforced by many religions and ideologies and continue to inform many Americans’ views of sex–even those who consider themselves liberal or even progressive.

Some components of the purity myth include:

Continue reading →

What I’m Reading, May 14, 2014

Posted on May 14, 2014 by wellsdc

Tribal gatekeepers officially enshrine Phelpsian bigotry as ‘evangelical’ and ‘Too Christian’, Fred Clark, Slacktivist, May 9, 2014

Why do right-wing extremist partisans like Jack Burkman think that they’re entitled to act as the designated spokespersons for all of Christianity? Because the gatekeepers of the white evangelical tribe have enabled and encouraged that delusion for decades now.

Burkman is a nasty piece of work whose vicious anti-gay beliefs have led him on a personal vendetta to try to destroy the career of an individual whose teammates, coaches and opponents from his years at Missouri all insist is a terrific guy. Burkman’s is the kind of unvarnished hate and bigotry that makes most public figures — politicians, TV networks, businesses — keep their distance lest the public assume they share such views.

But there’s one place where someone like Burkman will always find support. There’s one place where no amount of hateful resentment will ever cause one to be ostracized and regarded as too extreme. That’s in the white evangelical tribe. Continue reading →

Do Men Really Think About Sex Every Seven Seconds?

Posted on May 8, 2014 by wellsdc

No, they do not.

Well, maybe some men do, but here’s the thing: how do you think researchers could possibly come up with an actual figure for this? Here’s a possible scnario:

Researcher:	Okay, please sit here for the next hour and press this button every time you think about sex. But please don’t think about sex any more than you might normally think about it, just because I keep talking about it. When we are done here, there will be cake.
Subject:	[presses button] [presses button] [presses button] [presses button] [presses button] [presses button] [presses button] [presses button] [presses button] [presses button] [presses button] [presses button] [presses button] [presses button] [presses button] [presses button] [presses button] [presses button] [presses button] [presses button] [presses button] [presses button] [presses button] [presses button] [presses button] [presses button] [presses button]…..
Professor:	Damn, guys are horny.
Undergrad assistant:	Maybe he just really likes cake.
Professor:	You’re fired.

I’m sure it went exactly like that.

(h/t Louren)

What I’m Reading , May 6, 2014

Posted on May 6, 2014 by wellsdc

jodylehigh [Public domain, CC0 1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en)], via Pixabay Prison rape is not a form of poetic justice–it’s an actual crime–so stop cheering it on, Robyn Pennacchia, Death and Taxes, May 2, 2014

[C]heering on something like rape takes away from you as a person. Although yes, sometimes crimes are so horrific that our id takes over and we want nothing but horror and misery to come to the perpetrator. Trust me, I understand that. But we have these rules for a reason, we have the 8th amendment for a reason–and it doesn’t have as much to do with the rights of a prisoner as it does to protect us from becoming the kind of people that cheer on “cruel and unusual punishment.” We need to be better than that. We need to prevent our ids from taking over, or else we’ll end up becoming exactly what we despise.

Where’s The Next Alexander Fleming? Or Why Corporations Don’t Have Incentives to Create New Antibiotics. Echidne, Echidne of the Snakes, May 1, 2014 Continue reading →

It’s the First of May!

Posted on May 1, 2014 by wellsdc

I can’t let this day go by without a musical tribute.

Spoiler alert: NSFW lyrics.

What I’m Reading, May 1, 2014

Posted on May 1, 2014 by wellsdc

By Pkg203 (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons The Sharing Economy Isn’t About Trust, It’s About Desperation, Kevin Roose, New York, April 24, 2014

Wired‘s cover story this month is about the rise of the “sharing economy” — a Silicon Valley–invented term used to describe the basket of start-ups (Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, et al.) that allow users to rent their labor and belongings to strangers. Jason Tanz attributes the success of these start-ups to the invention of a “set of digital tools that enable and encourage us to trust our fellow human beings,” such as bidirectional rating systems, background checks, frictionless payment systems, and platforms that encourage buyers and sellers to get to know each other face-to-face before doing business.

Tanz’s thesis isn’t wrong — these innovations have certainly made a difference. But it leaves out an important part of the story. Namely, the sharing economy has succeeded in large part because the real economy has been struggling.

A huge precondition for the sharing economy has been a depressed labor market, in which lots of people are trying to fill holes in their income by monetizing their stuff and their labor in creative ways. In many cases, people join the sharing economy because they’ve recently lost a full-time job and are piecing together income from several part-time gigs to replace it. In a few cases, it’s because the pricing structure of the sharing economy made their old jobs less profitable. (Like full-time taxi drivers who have switched to Lyft or Uber.) In almost every case, what compels people to open up their homes and cars to complete strangers is money, not trust.

Most of What You Think You Know About Sex Trafficking Isn’t True, Amanda Hess, Slate, April 23, 2014 Continue reading →

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