Sex In The Public Square - Sex Act(ivism)! - Comments

Yeah, I figured that.

Gracie — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:46:14 -0700

Yeah, I figured that. Technology is only as reliable as the beings which created it ;)

Thanks for the fix ~ I want the word out so the support can flow in! :D

Link Fixed

Chris — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:20:59 -0700

Fixed the link, Gracie. Thanks for pointing it out. It was apparently put in as a relative link, instead of an absolute link (one that starts with http), so the browser tried to find the page on our site, instead of elsewhere.

The WNU link isn't working;

Gracie — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:39:45 -0700

The WNU link isn't working; here it is: http://wnu.womynsagenda.org/home.html

Thank You!

Amanda Brooks — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:32:12 -0800

Elizabeth, thank you for posting this!

Please donate if you can. The two orgs we're in contact with desperately need condoms. They've lost funding due to the anti-prostitution pledge and Catholic-dominated Chile is not condom-friendly.

This is a project of SWOP-East, officially incorporated as Project Prosper (a 501c3). Pledging Action is simply the name of the project, not its own organization...in case anyone had questions.

Need more responses

Lolita — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:44:03 -0700

Everybody please do it! As of right now, it has been mainly white men who have responded, and they want to get answers from people of color and women, too. http://www.surveybdsm.com/ Remember this is anonymous. Thanks

women's healthcare on the NHS

tracya — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 23:42:05 -0700

it's weird because they take a much more relaxed attitude here. they call a pap smear, a cervical smear and it is as basic as it sounds. they could have sent me the swab and i could have done it myself, no actual exam, in the US sense and it's only allowed every three years. i am having some heavy bleeding and am going to have an actual exam of my female organs in a few weeks for the first time in over 4 years! while i have had two mamograms in the US in my 40's, they are not allowed here on the NHS until your 50th birthday.

saying all that though, cancer has become a BIG concern with the NHS and any suspicious lump/result will be followed up by a specialist within two weeks. i can say that it does happen because i had a funny fast growing mole on my nose and i was seen in the dermatology clinic within the 2 weeks.

birth control/morning after pill, sexually transmitted disease/HIV clinics and abortion services are freely and widely available from the NHS. although a co worker went to an out of hours NHS clinic on a sunday asking for the morning after pill and was refused because they only provide (free)emergency contraception when another method has failed. however that's only a case of limited resources, they can easily be obtained (for a fee) from a chemist.

i am a huge supporter of nationalized healthcare, even though the NHS is basic and simple, it is free to all people who are here legally at the point of service. there is a misconception that it is "FREE", it is not.... i think i pay more here than i paid for insurance in the US but it does cover everyone and that is a very good thing for a society.

England v. US on women's health care

Elizabeth — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:19:54 -0700

TracyA, I'd love to know if you have any other comparisons between the US and England relating specifically to women's health care. You've lived for significant periods of time in each country. Do you feel like your own health is better maintained in one place over the other?

drive thru mastectomy?

tracya — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 11:48:50 -0700

this sounds like a variation of the drive thru delivery laws that were passed a few years ago. i signed the petition and will try to get it out to others...

as a nurse, it's absolutely appalling that any insurance company could possibly think that a mastectomy is a same day/overnight surgery. it's definitely major surgery.

sometimes i am grateful for the NHS...but here it's a matter of getting a diagnosis and date for the surgery in the first place! once you finally get in, you can linger for days....

Thanks Lolita!

Elizabeth — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 02:35:52 -0700

Thanks for sending a letter and for posting your comment. I hope that lots of people take this issue up.

It's interesting to be reminded of how often bills are introduced and then never make it out of committee. In this case the bill has suffered the same fate 4 times in a row and is in the midst of its fifth. I hope some concerted attention can get it out of committee and passed into law.

My letter

Lolita — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 21:09:05 -0700

Very easy. This is what I wrote: Please pass the legislation (HR 758 and S.459) that would mandate insurance companies to pay for at least two nights of hospitalization for women having mastectomies. I don't think that mastectomy should ever be an outpatient or overnight procedure and that insurance companies should not be allowed to override doctors when it comes to providing proper care for a patient. Mastectomy surgery is major surgery. Women need the kind of care that can best be provided by nurses and doctors in the days immediately following a mastectomy.

Not really – just a much-needed response

Iamcuriousblue — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 18:41:12 -0700

The way I see it, the nature of Farley's research has a direct bearing on the issues. And if that research is going to be used to craft public policy and put laws into place that we're all supose to live by, then I think that in a democratic society, people have a right to quite ruthlessly question the nature of the claims that are being used to justify such policies and laws. Farley makes some sweeping claims as a result of her research, far more sweeping than most other researchers who done research on prostituion. The natural question then, is whether her research results are really as active as she claims they are. Especially given Farley's degree of access to the media and policymakers, which is far greater than other researchers have had.

A focus on the issues

Elizabeth — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 06:50:02 -0700

I think a focus on the issues is exactly what is being called for here.

For example, one issue is that the mainstream media very often relies on flawed research or very narrowly defined research questions to then make broad claims about an entire population. When that happens, it is important for critical voices to speak up.

Another issue in the case of sex work in particular is that there is a great deal of variation in working conditions, autonomy, risk, and so on across the "industry." To take the situation of some of the most vulnerable sex workers and then use their stories to support overreaching claims about how exploitive and dangerous "all prostitution" or even "all sex work" is, is irresponsible at best and conscious deception at worst.

It is true that Melissa Farley's work will certainly be directly criticized during the proposed blog-in. That is precisely because well respected journalists and columnists, like Bob Herbert, have relied heavily on it without revealing to their readers any of its weaknesses. Readers need to know as much about her research as possible if they're going to be using it to formulate or support their opinions.

So is this a smear campaign? It doesn't sound like one so far, and I'd bet given the intelligence of the people at Desiree Alliance that it won't turn into one. It is a broadening of the discourse around sex work to include a range of voices and a critical perspective on the mainstream media and its sources.

Smear campaign?

CrampsHurt — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 20:06:40 -0700

Doesn't this sound like a plan for an online smear campaign? "Let's all get together and smear this person's reputation because we don't like what she says."

Can't we just focus on the issues and leave the smearing out of it?

Betrayal?

Chris — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 17:34:54 -0700

I believe the word for which you may be reaching is "betrayal".

If I were feeling very, very polite, that would be the word I would grab for. Generally, my description of the situation would include a lot of very rude descriptions of anatomically impossible acts and speculations upon their lineage.

I'm Feeling It

JanieBelle — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 17:17:48 -0700

Your pain, that is. I've been utterly discouraged by the (lack of) Democratic actions since they've taken control of the Congress.

They had a resounding mandate to fix things, but have pissed it away.

I believe the word for which you may be reaching is "betrayal".