81: ODJ Breaks Shit
Old Dirty James calls in and tells me about his encounter with a delusional (possibly gay) white supremacist, his broken hand and then we yell about this guy we knew from Nor-Cal, and the stupid chicks who would hook up with him, also sluts vs. hos vs. prostitutes.
That’s fucked up, dude–I don’t blame that stripper for telling him to fuck off. He has to go to a strip club to get his jollies proving his moral and intellectual superiority over strippers? What right does he have to tell her how to live her life? What does he know about the experiences that led these women to choose sex work? Stripping isn’t a “real job?” Let him put on some six-inch stilettos and work his ass onstage, and then say that. The same with prostitution–let him suck strange dick to pay his rent or put food on his kid’s table and then say it’s not a “real job.” Part of the reason these women find it so hard to get “real jobs” is because of the stigma against them–because people, whether employers or co-workers, look at them with the same level of contempt that James does in your podcast. In a lot of cases, it’s easier to just stay in sex work than it is to face that sort of stigma, or to have to lie about their previous job.
I still think you totally need to read Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy. Part of what she talks about is our culture’s fascination with strippers and porn stars, and how that fascination is equal parts lust and contempt–that we enjoy being able to objectify them sexually, but we also enjoy being able to look down upon these women as not being real people, as being sluts and whores and not “real people”.
Like, sex work is (obviously) not a choice that I would make for myself, and I do find it problematic in a lot of ways, but I don’t look down on the women who do make that choice. Rather, I see them as victims of a fucked-up system that tells women that their only value is the way they look, how attractive they are to men, how sexy they are. I also see them as women who are trying to make a living in a world that looks down on women, particularly beautiful, uneducated women.
“It’s not the hazards of the job, but the prejudices of the mainstream, fluorescent-lighted world against which the stripper must protect herself. When a customer tries to upset or humiliate her, society at large has tacitly (or overtly) told her that she deserves to be treated that way and has no right to protect herself. I’ve often heard people say that they assume strippers don’t have boundaries, but nothing could be further from the truth: it’s knowing precisely where our boundaries lie and feeling sure that they’re firmly in place that makes it easy for us to move freely within them. Unfortunately, guarding those borders is left up to us and to our faithful male support staff, when things get out of hand: we don’t get much support from outside. It’s the strain of this constant and unsung vigilance that drives many women out of the business and spoils their memories of the time they spent with us. We have only each other to turn to for understanding.”
http://www.geocities.com/alysabethc/bodies.html
http://www.thefword.org.uk/features/2004/08/just_a_stripper
http://www.geocities.com/alysabethc/feministstripper.html
Comment by Katy — June 2, 2007 @ 1:40 am
Marina I love you but James is a tard. He has some twisted ideas about women. Some women strip to help pay for school and raise their kids. If I was blessed with that kind of a body and looks I would probably do the same. I don’t know if I agree with your distinctions between various types of sexually active women and who is “the lowest” but it was an interesting conversation.
Comment by Rebecca Nay — June 5, 2007 @ 7:32 pm
James definitely brings out my inner Bro. It wasn’t until I listened back that I realized how he might come off to those not familiar with ODJ. In his defense, he’s really well-read, and an activist with a great sense of irony.
Comment by marina — June 6, 2007 @ 12:03 am