Tuesday’s Daily Hampshire Gazette included some rare comments from Barry Goldberg of Longmeadow, MA, owner of the property at 135 King Street in Northampton that houses the Amazing.net porn shop. Goldberg reflected on the extensive news coverage of the store’s original filing with city planners and its eventual arrival in late 2007. “I can’t tell […]
Pimps put up a fog of propaganda around what they do, but they can’t fool prostitution survivor Stella Marr. Here’s an excerpt from her invaluable post of June 28: Pimp-affiliated groups such as the IUSW, SPOC, SWOP USA, COYOTE, the Erotic Services Providers’ Union and PONY must disband and reform as new organizations that are […]
Meghan Murphy posted an excellent critique to The F Word on June 3: The sex industry is not, and has never been a feminist space. It is, in large part, a space that is owned by, and operated for men. It is a space that treats women as commodities… How big is your ‘tent’ when […]
We’re glad to see this impressive 5/24/11 article is the most popular at VanityFair.com today. Among other things, it notes how escort ads in The Hartford Advocate facilitate prostitution. As Northampton honors the abolitionist and feminist legacy of Sojourner Truth this weekend, perhaps our local Valley Advocate will take a long, hard look in the mirror. […]
Reiter’s Block has kindly given us permission to reprint this article: A Stockholm Syndrome in Women’s Poetics? Gently Read Literature is a monthly web journal of essays on contemporary poetry and literary fiction. In “The Myth of Women’s Masochism”, her essay in the September issue, Stephanie Cleveland takes aim at the eroticizing of violence by […]
The London-based Anti-Porn Feminists blog has kindly given us permission to reprint their February 9 article, “Dumb MRA says dumb MRA things”. It’s full of great rebuttals to common arguments raised by porn defenders. An MRA is a Men’s Rights Activist. Dumb MRA says dumb MRA thingsI know, complaining about dumb MRAs being dumb is like […]
NPN’s Jendi Reiter reviews Hos, Hookers, Call Girls, and Rent Boys: Professionals Writing on Life, Love, Money, and Sex by David Henry Sterry and R.J. Martin, Jr. (Brooklyn: Soft Skull Press, 2009). This fascinating but uneven anthology of personal essays by current and former sex workers gives readers a glimpse into the complex emotions of […]
“Wack Attack”, a 2008 article from Bitch Magazine, offers advice to women and feminists confronting online harrassment: 1. Don’t Silence Yourself. Even the staunchest advocates for ignoring harassment support this stance, because they want women to keep writing online. Do whatever you need to do to feel safe, but don’t quit. Your silence gives every […]
Should porn performers enjoy the same workplace protections as other Americans? Matt Siegel raises the issue for The Advocate (8/12/09): Business Before Pleasure?…Tony Malice of JM Productions, a straight porn production company, says the business isn’t really set up for performers who refuse to work on camera without a condom: “If a girl only wants to work […]
Prostitution defenders like to think that most in the sex trade freely choose their work. This June 2009 article from Partners In Health tells what happens when prostituted women in Malawi are given a real choice: From “waitress” to waitress…Poverty and gender inequality are woven into these women’s life stories. Few have had the opportunity to pursue […]