Oh British Library - it started so well

[Imnobody4]

The fight for women’s rights is unfinished business. Where do you think it will go next?

To celebrate our upcoming exhibition Unfinished Business: The Fight for Women’s Rights, six leading voices tell us what they would change to make the world fairer for women 💬 t.co/QNbAMo79Aq

At least they include a Drag King not Queen so that's a step forward.

Ffs “sex work is just like other work”

I’m so tired of this shit

Oh dear...

Would love to see a representative of Nordic Model Now on there. Nope, British Library, sex work is not "work like any other work." (If it was, workplace health and safety legislation round the handling of bodily fluids would pretty much mean the "workforce" would have to carry out their "work" in hazmat suits!)

Exactly! If sex work is just like other work than it must be regulated as other work & of course added to the list of work ppl can do if they’re trying to claim UC

What does 'disregard gender completely until it becomes relevant' mean?

In teh old days, I recall doing my best to hide my sex in job applications for fear of sexual discrimination. I remember when women could not fly planes or do other particularly prestigious and highly paid work. Is that what is meant here?

If sex work is just like any other work, how do we apply covid regulations to it? What are the PPE requirements for giving a blow job?

Also, how is it that during complete lockdown earlier in the year the so called "managed zone" in Leeds continued and is currently still ongoing during the current local lockdown?

Practical thing, practical thing, practical thing ... fluffy nonsense.

@Kit19

Ffs “sex work is just like other work”

I’m so tired of this shit

At least if any of them lose their job at the library there's always something to fall back on.

Fucking creeps.

Also, if sex work is just like other work, then there should be no workplace discrimination. So not only should women claiming UC be sent down the club to be strippers, men must be too. And the employer cannot reject anyone willing to strip because of age, disability, sex or race. So get your thong on, grandpa.

Doesn't "disregard gender until it's relevant" just mean "disregard gender"? So I quite like that one actually, though it's probably not what she meant! Also, at least they're all female (small mercies...).

Definitely with you on the "sex work just like other work" though, ugh. And I wouldn't class all of them as "leading voices", for sure...

If sex work is like other work them it should be subject to the same health and safety requirements. And given the risks then it should be banned.

I worked in a public library once. I chose some of the videos (that long ago ) to put out, and rejected one that was described as having an extensive graphic and gratuitous rape scene. I actually got sent a letter about how dare I censor materials for public use, and in the interest of the public I should put it back out immediately. Libraries are as sexist as every other British organisation. Men are unduly represented in the top jobs - the leadership was definitely a part of the old boys' club.

@Kit19

Exactly! If sex work is just like other work than it must be regulated as other work & of course added to the list of work ppl can do if they’re trying to claim UC

Didn’t they do this in some states of America - it sounded horrendous.

@Kit19

Ffs “sex work is just like other work”

I’m so tired of this shit

The main party who benefits from that ill informed stupid line is men.

If sex work is like any other work, why aren't middle class university grads eagerly thronging the streets of Leeds's 'managed zone'? Oh yes, because it's actually a horrible, traumatising, degrading and harmful abuse of women, in the vast majority of cases, and an indictment of how inadequate our welfare state and social care provision are.

I am so sick of hearing idiots trumpeting Male Rights Activism talking points, and presenting them as feminist. It's misogyny: the gaslight edition.

If sex work is like any other work, why is it the only market where essentially all the buyers are male and the vast majority of the sellers female?

The group most benefiting from decriminalisation is, of course, the punters.

I notice all the Twitter responses are pointing out the BL’s mistakes, especially on prostitution. Many wise comments, and I have to quote Dr Em: If 'sex work was work' as you argue, 1. Why do the least experienced sell for the most? I don't pay extra to be on a pilot's first flight. And 2. Why are so many women trafficked into it? Just the other day I was reading about all those women trafficked into teaching

This, from one of the replies, is brilliant!

As is Dr. Em's article on Holbeck (brilliant but depressing - and comes with a content warning for horrific quotations from "review sites").
filia.org.uk/news/2020/9/8/holbeck-a-case-study-of-hell

@CaraDuneRedux that is fantastic, thanks for bringing attention to it.

Oh god that article about Holbeck I honestly despair. Predators. Sex is the ultimate zero sum game for them.

They hate us when we don't provide sex. And despise us when we do.

BL - someone the young girls who attend your workshops will grow up to require benefits - if sex work is work do think their benefits should be stopped if they refuse to give a man blow job?

Will you tell the parents this is your stance?

@nepeta

If sex work is like any other work, why is it the only market where essentially all the buyers are male and the vast majority of the sellers female?

The group most benefiting from decriminalisation is, of course, the punters.

So why don’t they have some of the ‘workers’ represented - the trafficked, the coerced into the trade as underage girls, the junkies, the desperate, the abused, the raped, the preyed upon, those owned by pumps... oh yes, I expect they will be adding ‘prostitute’ to the school job aptitude tests any day now.

How can you disregard 'gender' when your day job is literally a performance of the absolute extremes of it? I'm genuinely confused Or is this postmodern irony again?