Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Ethical Pornographer Pandora Blake on BBC R4 Women's Hour Sun 8th March 2015

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Ethical Pornographer Pandora Blake on BBC R4 Women's Hour Sun 8th March 2015

    Originally shared on FB by Hollie Howlett (http://www.escapethebinary.com)

    Pandora Blake articulately unpacks the loaded (and misguided) question: does porn empower women?

    Listen to radio 4, today, Sunday 8th March at 5pm to hear the debate. But first, read this article.

    "The problem with the ‘empowerment’ narrative is that it’s deeply classist. If I argue that porn — and all sex work — is a legitimate form of labour because I personally feel empowered doing it, my argument falls apart the moment someone steps forward whose work in porn doesn’t empower them.

    I’m not naive — I’m aware that my experience has been empowering because I benefit from an intersection of race, class, cis and body privileges. Power engenders power. The empowerment narrative ignores the fact that people with privilege are more likely to feel empowered. It also creates a hierarchy in which “empowered” workers are seen as more deserving of respect, platforms and rights, and marginalised workers are dismissed and silenced.

    It did not escape my notice that Woman’s Hour invited a white, cisgender, middle-class femme with a post-graduate degree to speak on their panel. This is one of the ways that anti-sex-work feminists weaponise the empowerment narrative against us: it enables them to claim I am selfish and naive, and “not representative” of all those poor degraded victimised working class porn workers they didn’t invite. (If they invited them, they’d have to listen to them, and then they’d no longer be able to speak for them and use their supposed lack of empowerment in their argument)."
    I recently debated this at the Women of the World festival, but it’s the wrong question to be asking. Here’s why.

    #2
    Heh, the word 'empowerment' is used waaaaay to much in that article. Conclusion is ok, but you can safely skip a lot of the first part.

    Discussions about such a topic usually don't go anywhere, you get two groups who state their opinion and that's about it The wiggling can be fun to hear but in the end positions remain the same. Some people won't ever be convinced and they don't *want* to be. Often frustrating to watch/hear, for me anyway so I tend to avoid such

    Besides, it's finally sunny weather over here so I'll be outside

    Comment


      #3
      Ooh Woman's Hour you little treasure chest of fun. Being one of those odd people who is not too fused about music, when I am on the go I usually have radio 4 on and over the years I have really enjoyed and been greatly amused by, the various 'feminists' arriving on the show to tell me I am in fact wrong and my involvement in the world of naked ladies infact means I am both a tragic vitcim and someone letting down the side for all the other woman - sorry ladies!

      I shall treate myself to this on my way to work tomorrow . . .

      Thanks for sharing Sapiotone xx

      Comment

      Subscribe to our e-mail newsletter

       
      Sign up for the abby newsletter. Don't worry, we'll NEVER share your email address with anyone.
      Working...
      X