{"id":1540,"date":"2009-11-18T12:58:04","date_gmt":"2009-11-18T02:58:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.msnaughty.com\/blog\/?p=1540"},"modified":"2009-11-18T12:58:04","modified_gmt":"2009-11-18T02:58:04","slug":"journos-and-commenters-offer-cynicism-de-jour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/msnaughty.com\/blog\/2009\/11\/18\/journos-and-commenters-offer-cynicism-de-jour\/","title":{"rendered":"Journos and Commenters Offer Cynicism De Jour"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BelleOn Sunday celebrity sex blogger Belle De Jour outed herself<\/a> as research scientist Dr. Brooke Magnanti. The media has since gone beserk over the story and I won’t repeat it all here.<\/p>\n

What I have been doing is trawling through the stories on Google news and one thing keeps popping out at me: a lot of commenters refuse to believe that Dr. Magnanti doesn’t regret her foray into prostitution. They’re actually incredulous at the idea that she may have enjoyed herself.<\/p>\n

And a great many others are very quick to rush in and say that Dr. Magnanti is not representative of “real” prostitution, which is, as well all know, a dirty, degrading business populated by drug addicts and criminals.<\/p>\n

I found myself having a giggle at this paragraph by Riana Kelly in Newsweek<\/a>:<\/p>\n

When she\u2019s not blogging about her past sexploits, she using her Ph.D. in informatics, epidemiology, and forensic science to research the effects of pesticides on children. How\u2019s that for an unexpected spin on the whore-with-the-heart-of-gold theme? I\u2019m kinda jealous of her, I have to admit. Magnanti is like a year of feminist studies rolled into one. I would have loved to be the first credible candidate for one of feminism\u2019s holy grails: the empowered sex worker\u2014able to expose herself to patriarchal fantasies of male domination without becoming damaged goods. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It sums up what’s so very cool about Dr Magnanti: she’s proof that women can think and fuck at the same time. And yes, that’s a very crass way of putting it. But the problem is that she’s a great big thorn in the standard philosophy that all prostitution is bad for women.<\/p>\n

Tom Sutcliffe from the Independent<\/a> says:<\/p>\n

Had Belle de Jour turned out to have a crack habit, rather than a ruinous addiction to higher education, things would have been so much simpler for those of us (myself included) who feel uneasy about all forms of prostitution.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And it seems that a lot of people are simply closing their eyes, putting their fingers in their eyes and yelling “Blah blah, I can’t hear you!” on the topic.<\/p>\n

A couple of examples:<\/p>\n

Tracy Corrigan writes in the Telegraph<\/a>:<\/p>\n

It seems this sanitised, glamorised, picture of posh prostitution is supposed to make us think, well, really, what\u2019s the harm? It is possible that Belle has emerged from her experiences without incurring psychological or physical damage. But it\u2019s no excuse for projecting prostitution as a rather fun, pragmatic passtime for smart girls.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Tanya Gold in the Guardian<\/a> argues that legalising prostitution does not improve outcomes for women:<\/p>\n

The sanitisation of prostitution goes on, coercing us into a room where we will accept anything… I am glad you were not battered, Belle, but prostitution is a poisoned solution; a solution to nothing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Gold produces plenty of compelling statistics to prove that prostitution can be a very dangerous and unhappy business. I don’t think anyone is denying that. But the problem is the absolute refusal to acknowledge that it might also be a profitable, safe and rewarding business for women, especially if it’s legalised and regulated and the woman is thoroughly in control, as Dr. Magnanti was.<\/p>\n

I’m not an expert in this area but I do read the blogs of several professional sex workers. I know that they are trying hard to change attitudes to sex work and advocating to make it a safer, better profession. Dr Magnanti is not the only ex-prostitute who enjoyed her work and who doesn’t regret it. I recommend you visit the blog of Audacia Ray<\/a> for further info.<\/p>\n

It’s a pity so many commenters in the media are being so negative. Perhaps Belle’s outing should give us an opportunity to say: “Why can’t all prostitution be like that?”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Sunday celebrity sex blogger Belle De Jour outed herself as research scientist Dr. Brooke Magnanti. The media has since gone beserk over the story and I won’t repeat it all here. What I have been doing is trawling through the stories on Google news and one thing keeps popping out at me: a lot of commenters refuse to believe that Dr. Magnanti doesn’t regret her foray into prostitution. They’re Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[110,909,257,519,649],"class_list":["post-1540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pornforwomen","tag-belle-de-jour","tag-blogging","tag-dr-brooke-magnanti","tag-media","tag-prostitution"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t