on PolicyMic
Kate Zen Yes! Thank you for your article. I strongly agree that "the idea that using your bare breasts is the only means to politicize women’s status in the world is ludicrous." In fact, that is not the only thing that is ludricrous about the way that members of FEMEN express themselves - the statements they make are often incoherent and contradictory. They seem to embody all the most negative stereotypes about feminism with very few redemptive qualities. Courageous? Ha.
Kate Zen Twitter allows you to create "Lists" of reputable sources. You can build a solid list and invite others to subscribe. I usually only read news from my curated lists, since there is way too much junk on Twitter. For entertainment/humor, I have a separate list. And for my friends, I have another list. I don't think it's possible to make Twitter better for the general population by encouraging diverse participation - but it is possible to make Twitter more informative for yourself by better organizing your feeds.
Kate Zen Some background information on the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, a report by the Congressional Research Service from May 2012: https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42499.pdf
Kate Zen Great article, Jon! I recently read an article in Waging Non-Violence that also criticized Suu Kyi`s anti-muslim sentiment and ''fondness for the army'' - thought you might enjoy this read: http://wagingnonviolence.org/feature/disillusionment-and-disappointment-with-aung-san-sui-kyi/ But on a more optimistic note, a more recent article on Suu Kyi`s meeting with Islamic leaders in Burma to discuss the recent riots. http://www.dvb.no/news/suu-kyi-meets-with-islamic-leaders-amid-growing-criticism/27539
Kate Zen OMG. I shall tweet ya.
Kate Zen Another question: will you be at Desiree Alliance this summer? I am hosting a panel with Carol Leigh on the history of the sex worker movement and the changing tides of feminism: "Defining the 4th Wave." (I'm working on a book-length ManiFiesta, of sorts, by that name, on pragmatism and the paradoxes of identity politics, why sex work highlights the cracks of feminist theory, which Carol, graciously, said she'd be involved in.) We are putting together a panel of sex worker activists to speak about their work, and how the movement has changed over the years. Would you be willing to participate on the panel?
Kate Zen Read this article, and found your name: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Prop-K-calls-for-legal-prostitution-in-S-F-3191781.php Much love.
Kate Zen Ahh! That's not what I meant. AT ALL. Quite the contrary. There are quite a few former sex workers who have become excellent lawyers and powerful advocates. I admire the hell out of them. And thanks for that video! Are you "sfmistress"? I was volunteering with $pread when the Prop K battle was going on, and taking lots of notes. Were you involved in that work? If so, many many kudos and kowtows! In Solidarity, Kate
Kate Zen Wonderful! I'd love to be involved with the forum. I'm also eager to learn how to better use the labor rights framework. I know there is great work being done right now with the ILO in getting sex work recognized as work; I'd love to be involved. Please let me know how I can get in touch with you.
Kate Zen It's a powerful tool for social change when wielded in the right way, at the right times, by the right people.
Kate Zen Like you, and so many others in this movement, I also struggle, a lot, emotionally and financially. I have severe PTSD from 3 separate violent incidents, 2 of which were on the job, and I have a lot of trouble getting through school sometimes, though I know I am competent and smart enough. At this point, I recognize that I need more support from people in my life, and people in this movement. My current project is to reach out more to encourage other students to be active on this topic (students that might have an easier time attaining a PhD or law degree than myself). I'm aware of my limitations. Thank you, again, Maxine, for your activism. I am so thankful for your comments, and I hope that we can connect and continue our conversation.
Kate Zen I've avoided any conversations about my personal life, and always tried to stick to the issues. Suddenly, this year, I realize that this is not the most productive approach, as what is also needed is a humanizing face, and a humanizing story to go along with the policy work. These days, I am just trying to reach out to people on and individual by individual level. I don't want to stick to the leftist circles because it's like preaching to the choir - I want to try to convince people who completely disagree with me about why sex worker rights is important for all women and all human beings. And this happens on a conversation by conversation, friendship by friendship level. I'm just playing my role within a much wider spectrum of activism.
Kate Zen At the same time, I am aware of my privilege and the tools that I can bring to the table. As a Barnard/Columbia and NYU student, I can reach out to other students and professors, and work from within the mainstream system. I've worked hard to earn this place, and will continue to do so as best as I can. However, I am also often frustrated with the degree of compromise this sometimes entails. Throughout these past few years, I have written under various pseudonyms, and taken milder roles in debates than where my convictions truly lie. I have always been afraid that revealing who I am would make it more difficult for me to do the work I want to do from within the academic system. I've avoided any conversations about my personal life,
Kate Zen This is because we need as many allies as we can get, and sex worker activists in each of these areas can work separately but concurrently using these tools, and gaining support from these institutions. I also believe there is an important role for activists both on the far left and closer to the center, and they complement each other. Martin Luther King was more successful because he could point to Malcolm X and provide a more peaceful, acceptable approach. The environmentalists in the center are successful because of the early, more radical work of Greenpeace and far left activists. As a former teenage Anarchist, I am familiar with notions of "cooptation" and "mainstreaming," and wary of never becoming separated from grassroots work.
Kate Zen ...and have been sitting on the board with Best Policy Practices Project, with the hope of becoming more involved with policy research this year. I firmly believe that there are multiple frameworks for social justice and multiple vocabularies that should be engaged at the same time: from labor rights, to international human rights, to feminist theory, and Anarchist theory. I even think that some parts of the human trafficking movement can be amenable to our cause. In these past years, I've tried to verbalize the sex worker cause in each of these vocabularies, hoping to reach different allies. This is because we need as many allies as we can get, and sex worker activists in each of these areas can work separately but concurrently using
Kate Zen Thank you Maxine, for your activism. I am with you. As a dominatrix of 7 years, and a dabbler in other parts of the sex trade since I was a homeless runaway at age 15, I also understand the pressures of trying to juggle normal life, friendships, other interests, personal ambitions, and a life of activist work that often seems non-conducive to all of these things. I've been involved with SWOP since 2009, was the NY rep for the SWOP-USA National Board retreat in 2011, helped edit/design $pread magazine in 2009, worked with Streetwise and Safe and the Sex Workers Project, helped organize the International Day to End Violence Against Women with Maryse at the Anti-Violence Project in 2010, spoke at Audacia's Red Umbrella Diaries, and now BPPP.
Kate Zen Thank you Cheryl! It means a lot to me, coming from you.
Kate Zen Awesome. I know somebody who wants to help: http://www.policymic.com/profiles/33491/artem-kaznatcheev He started a PolicyMic account today for this very purpose and will be emailing you soon. Isn't he a hottie? I know, I know.
Kate Zen ...These are all institutions and frameworks for social change, which I believe sex workers can gain access to if we master their vocabularies, and inject ourselves into the discourse from the inside. We are in the right. Remember that. But it is a political game, which requires relationship-building and small victories from within to become recognized by mainstream paradigms. Recently the Open Society Foundation started funding a legal aid center for sex workers to serve as paralegals for other sex workers in South Africa. http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/legal-help-sex-workers-sex-workers I think this is an enormous win, which signals growing acceptance of our point of view by mainstream organizations. Let's keep pushing!
Kate Zen ...Due to excellent work by the Best Practices Policy Project in 2010, the UN Periodic Review (by way of a very liberal Uruguay representative) spoke against the state of U.S. legal treatment of sex workers as a human rights issue. (http://msmagazine.com/blog/2011/03/03/human-rights-for-u-s-sex-workers-now-on-global-stage/) BPPP: http://www.bestpracticespolicy.org/ I am trying to further this work through an organization I am starting this year called "Include All Women" (www.iawoman.org), which will seek to gain UN human rights recognition through CEDAW and the Commission On the Status of Women by asking them to include violence against sex workers in the Violence Against Women framework. These are all institutions and frameworks...
Kate Zen ...From academia, the language then gets appropriated in the public sphere, as feminist nonprofit organizations adopt the views of feminism that gets passed on from academic research institutions to foundations that sponsor nonprofit activities such as the Ford Foundation and other grant-giving foundations with their social change buzzwords, which seem to control everything in the nonprofit industrial complex via the language wars of "buzzword" funding. Another important institution and discourse to inject ourselves into is the United Nations and the human rights discourse. Due to excellent work by the Best Practices Policy Project in 2010, the UN Periodic Review (by way of a very liberal Uruguay representative) included the state of U.S.
Kate Zen ...In order to be included in the feminist discourse, sex workers who identify as feminists must appropriate the dominant language of feminism to argue from a more sex-positive perspective, as Maggie McNeill and Kari Lerum are doing, from their respective disciplines within the Academy. Another way, which I am currently working on, is to reach out to university students by creating an academic resource on the study of prostitution (and human trafficking) amenable to easy access for student papers, which demonstrates a sex-positive feminist perspective. As a student, I am also accessing institutions that shape the debate, such as the BCRW, and injecting my point of view. From academia, the language then gets appropriated in the public...
Kate Zen ...The feminist movement has always been a diverse pool of voices rather than one monolithic thing, particularly these days of the "post-Feminist" "Third Wave," when nobody seems to be able to agree upon anything. When black feminists such as bell hooks, Audre Lorde, and Alice Walker in the 1980s began challenging the dominant white, middle-class voice in feminism, with the idea of a "Womanist" movement, and Third World feminists such as Chandra Mohanty challenged the Western-centric narrative; the dominant institutions in the feminist movement had to begin to incorporate their voices with ideas of intersectionality and a more nuanced look at privilege and representation. In order to be included in the feminist discourse, sex workers...
Kate Zen Yes, I am aware of Kate Millet's book, The Prostitution Papers, and her stance on prostitution. There is also a growing consciousness in feminist institutions (academic and activist) about sex work from a "sex-positive" perspective. My favorite recent book is Jill Nagel's Whores and Other Feminists. Increasingly, academic institutions such as Barnard College's Center for Research on Women, and NYU's Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality are including sex-positive frameworks in their events and discussions. I think this is due to the increase of sex-positive academics such as Elizabeth Bernstein, Kamala Kempadoo, and Laura Agustin, and legal organizations such as Sex Workers Project, writing from this perspective. The feminist..
on PolicyMic
Kate Zen Yes! Thank you for your article. I strongly agree that "the idea that using your bare breasts is the only means to politicize women’s status in the world is ludicrous." In fact, that is not the only thing that is ludricrous about the way that members of FEMEN express themselves - the statements they make are often incoherent and contradictory. They seem to embody all the most negative stereotypes about feminism with very few redemptive qualities. Courageous? Ha.
Kate Zen Twitter allows you to create "Lists" of reputable sources. You can build a solid list and invite others to subscribe. I usually only read news from my curated lists, since there is way too much junk on Twitter. For entertainment/humor, I have a separate list. And for my friends, I have another list. I don't think it's possible to make Twitter better for the general population by encouraging diverse participation - but it is possible to make Twitter more informative for yourself by better organizing your feeds.
Kate Zen Some background information on the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, a report by the Congressional Research Service from May 2012: https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42499.pdf
Kate Zen Great article, Jon! I recently read an article in Waging Non-Violence that also criticized Suu Kyi`s anti-muslim sentiment and ''fondness for the army'' - thought you might enjoy this read: http://wagingnonviolence.org/feature/disillusionment-and-disappointment-with-aung-san-sui-kyi/ But on a more optimistic note, a more recent article on Suu Kyi`s meeting with Islamic leaders in Burma to discuss the recent riots. http://www.dvb.no/news/suu-kyi-meets-with-islamic-leaders-amid-growing-criticism/27539
Kate Zen OMG. I shall tweet ya.
Kate Zen Another question: will you be at Desiree Alliance this summer? I am hosting a panel with Carol Leigh on the history of the sex worker movement and the changing tides of feminism: "Defining the 4th Wave." (I'm working on a book-length ManiFiesta, of sorts, by that name, on pragmatism and the paradoxes of identity politics, why sex work highlights the cracks of feminist theory, which Carol, graciously, said she'd be involved in.) We are putting together a panel of sex worker activists to speak about their work, and how the movement has changed over the years. Would you be willing to participate on the panel?
Kate Zen Read this article, and found your name: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Prop-K-calls-for-legal-prostitution-in-S-F-3191781.php Much love.
Kate Zen Ahh! That's not what I meant. AT ALL. Quite the contrary. There are quite a few former sex workers who have become excellent lawyers and powerful advocates. I admire the hell out of them. And thanks for that video! Are you "sfmistress"? I was volunteering with $pread when the Prop K battle was going on, and taking lots of notes. Were you involved in that work? If so, many many kudos and kowtows! In Solidarity, Kate
Kate Zen Ahh! That's not what I meant. AT ALL. Quite the contrary. There are quite a few former sex workers who have become excellent lawyers and powerful advocates. I admire the hell out of them. And thanks for that video! Are you "sfmistress"? I was volunteering with $pread when the Prop K battle was going on, and taking lots of notes. Were you involved in that work? If so, many many kudos and kowtows! In Solidarity, Kate
Kate Zen Wonderful! I'd love to be involved with the forum. I'm also eager to learn how to better use the labor rights framework. I know there is great work being done right now with the ILO in getting sex work recognized as work; I'd love to be involved. Please let me know how I can get in touch with you.
Kate Zen It's a powerful tool for social change when wielded in the right way, at the right times, by the right people.
Kate Zen Like you, and so many others in this movement, I also struggle, a lot, emotionally and financially. I have severe PTSD from 3 separate violent incidents, 2 of which were on the job, and I have a lot of trouble getting through school sometimes, though I know I am competent and smart enough. At this point, I recognize that I need more support from people in my life, and people in this movement. My current project is to reach out more to encourage other students to be active on this topic (students that might have an easier time attaining a PhD or law degree than myself). I'm aware of my limitations. Thank you, again, Maxine, for your activism. I am so thankful for your comments, and I hope that we can connect and continue our conversation.
Kate Zen I've avoided any conversations about my personal life, and always tried to stick to the issues. Suddenly, this year, I realize that this is not the most productive approach, as what is also needed is a humanizing face, and a humanizing story to go along with the policy work. These days, I am just trying to reach out to people on and individual by individual level. I don't want to stick to the leftist circles because it's like preaching to the choir - I want to try to convince people who completely disagree with me about why sex worker rights is important for all women and all human beings. And this happens on a conversation by conversation, friendship by friendship level. I'm just playing my role within a much wider spectrum of activism.
Kate Zen At the same time, I am aware of my privilege and the tools that I can bring to the table. As a Barnard/Columbia and NYU student, I can reach out to other students and professors, and work from within the mainstream system. I've worked hard to earn this place, and will continue to do so as best as I can. However, I am also often frustrated with the degree of compromise this sometimes entails. Throughout these past few years, I have written under various pseudonyms, and taken milder roles in debates than where my convictions truly lie. I have always been afraid that revealing who I am would make it more difficult for me to do the work I want to do from within the academic system. I've avoided any conversations about my personal life,
Kate Zen This is because we need as many allies as we can get, and sex worker activists in each of these areas can work separately but concurrently using these tools, and gaining support from these institutions. I also believe there is an important role for activists both on the far left and closer to the center, and they complement each other. Martin Luther King was more successful because he could point to Malcolm X and provide a more peaceful, acceptable approach. The environmentalists in the center are successful because of the early, more radical work of Greenpeace and far left activists. As a former teenage Anarchist, I am familiar with notions of "cooptation" and "mainstreaming," and wary of never becoming separated from grassroots work.
Kate Zen ...and have been sitting on the board with Best Policy Practices Project, with the hope of becoming more involved with policy research this year. I firmly believe that there are multiple frameworks for social justice and multiple vocabularies that should be engaged at the same time: from labor rights, to international human rights, to feminist theory, and Anarchist theory. I even think that some parts of the human trafficking movement can be amenable to our cause. In these past years, I've tried to verbalize the sex worker cause in each of these vocabularies, hoping to reach different allies. This is because we need as many allies as we can get, and sex worker activists in each of these areas can work separately but concurrently using
Kate Zen Thank you Maxine, for your activism. I am with you. As a dominatrix of 7 years, and a dabbler in other parts of the sex trade since I was a homeless runaway at age 15, I also understand the pressures of trying to juggle normal life, friendships, other interests, personal ambitions, and a life of activist work that often seems non-conducive to all of these things. I've been involved with SWOP since 2009, was the NY rep for the SWOP-USA National Board retreat in 2011, helped edit/design $pread magazine in 2009, worked with Streetwise and Safe and the Sex Workers Project, helped organize the International Day to End Violence Against Women with Maryse at the Anti-Violence Project in 2010, spoke at Audacia's Red Umbrella Diaries, and now BPPP.
Kate Zen Thank you Cheryl! It means a lot to me, coming from you.
Kate Zen Awesome. I know somebody who wants to help: http://www.policymic.com/profiles/33491/artem-kaznatcheev He started a PolicyMic account today for this very purpose and will be emailing you soon. Isn't he a hottie? I know, I know.
Kate Zen ...These are all institutions and frameworks for social change, which I believe sex workers can gain access to if we master their vocabularies, and inject ourselves into the discourse from the inside. We are in the right. Remember that. But it is a political game, which requires relationship-building and small victories from within to become recognized by mainstream paradigms. Recently the Open Society Foundation started funding a legal aid center for sex workers to serve as paralegals for other sex workers in South Africa. http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/legal-help-sex-workers-sex-workers I think this is an enormous win, which signals growing acceptance of our point of view by mainstream organizations. Let's keep pushing!
Kate Zen ...Due to excellent work by the Best Practices Policy Project in 2010, the UN Periodic Review (by way of a very liberal Uruguay representative) spoke against the state of U.S. legal treatment of sex workers as a human rights issue. (http://msmagazine.com/blog/2011/03/03/human-rights-for-u-s-sex-workers-now-on-global-stage/) BPPP: http://www.bestpracticespolicy.org/ I am trying to further this work through an organization I am starting this year called "Include All Women" (www.iawoman.org), which will seek to gain UN human rights recognition through CEDAW and the Commission On the Status of Women by asking them to include violence against sex workers in the Violence Against Women framework. These are all institutions and frameworks...
Kate Zen ...From academia, the language then gets appropriated in the public sphere, as feminist nonprofit organizations adopt the views of feminism that gets passed on from academic research institutions to foundations that sponsor nonprofit activities such as the Ford Foundation and other grant-giving foundations with their social change buzzwords, which seem to control everything in the nonprofit industrial complex via the language wars of "buzzword" funding. Another important institution and discourse to inject ourselves into is the United Nations and the human rights discourse. Due to excellent work by the Best Practices Policy Project in 2010, the UN Periodic Review (by way of a very liberal Uruguay representative) included the state of U.S.
Kate Zen ...In order to be included in the feminist discourse, sex workers who identify as feminists must appropriate the dominant language of feminism to argue from a more sex-positive perspective, as Maggie McNeill and Kari Lerum are doing, from their respective disciplines within the Academy. Another way, which I am currently working on, is to reach out to university students by creating an academic resource on the study of prostitution (and human trafficking) amenable to easy access for student papers, which demonstrates a sex-positive feminist perspective. As a student, I am also accessing institutions that shape the debate, such as the BCRW, and injecting my point of view. From academia, the language then gets appropriated in the public...
Kate Zen ...The feminist movement has always been a diverse pool of voices rather than one monolithic thing, particularly these days of the "post-Feminist" "Third Wave," when nobody seems to be able to agree upon anything. When black feminists such as bell hooks, Audre Lorde, and Alice Walker in the 1980s began challenging the dominant white, middle-class voice in feminism, with the idea of a "Womanist" movement, and Third World feminists such as Chandra Mohanty challenged the Western-centric narrative; the dominant institutions in the feminist movement had to begin to incorporate their voices with ideas of intersectionality and a more nuanced look at privilege and representation. In order to be included in the feminist discourse, sex workers...
Kate Zen Yes, I am aware of Kate Millet's book, The Prostitution Papers, and her stance on prostitution. There is also a growing consciousness in feminist institutions (academic and activist) about sex work from a "sex-positive" perspective. My favorite recent book is Jill Nagel's Whores and Other Feminists. Increasingly, academic institutions such as Barnard College's Center for Research on Women, and NYU's Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality are including sex-positive frameworks in their events and discussions. I think this is due to the increase of sex-positive academics such as Elizabeth Bernstein, Kamala Kempadoo, and Laura Agustin, and legal organizations such as Sex Workers Project, writing from this perspective. The feminist..