I am disturbed by the attempt to silence Renegade Evolution

You should be disturbed with what’s happening too – doesn’t matter if you agree with what Ren Ev does, doesn’t matter if you like her or hate her guts. She is the only practicing s(e)x-worker able to attend the debate forum on p(o)rn that’s due to take place at William & Mary next week, and now, apparently, her invitation is in jeopardy because anti-p(or)n speaker Sam Berg is uncomfortable with her presence.

Sam Berg has referred to a post that Ren Ev put up in anger, while forgetting the dozens (if not hundreds) of disparaging and abusive comments that have been spewed at Ren – comments that utilized sexist language, hell, comments that directly implied that Ren Ev somehow “deserves” s(ex)ual assault for doing what she does.

Was it wrong of Ren Ev to make those comments? Of course. But guess what? She has repeatedly owned up to them – owned up to her own anger, while I have yet to see a single apology come her way. Furthermore, trying to construe her words as a “threat” is a bit of willful misrepresentation – it’s like trying to say that Conor Oberst wanted to harm the President because he wrote that angry song about him or whatever.

Let’s get to the bottom of this, shall we? This isn’t some conscientious objection. This is censorship dressed up to look as something else. It’s happened before, and it does feminists and feminism no favours.

Since when must we actually point out to folks that it is not only useful, but important, to include an actual p(or)n performer in a forum on p(or)n?

Are some feminists more equal than others? Is this the real issue here? I sincerely hope that this is not the case.

***I will update this post as the situation develops***

{UPD} The organizer of the event is trying to speak to Sam Berg to work something out.

Also, Rebecca at Burning Words is as disturbed by these developments as I am. Belledame is pointing out that this scenario is all too familiar. Lady S is comparing the situation to “the unwilllingness of creationists to debate evolution on terms other than their own.”

If you are reading this, and you’re ticked off, please blog about it. People should know what’s going on.

{UPD 2} Octogalore has weighed in as well, and here is an excellent quote on the matter from her:

An incoherent, scary porn rep would be the best thing ever for Sam’s side. Her wanting to prevent Ren’s appearance suggests that her concern is actually the opposite.

I think so too.

{UPD 3} The organizer of this event was gracious enough to stop by and point out an error I had made: I had originally assumed that Ren Ev was the only practicing s(e)x-worker invited. This is not so. She is the only practicing s(e)x-worker who will actually be able to make it to the event. I updated the first paragraph of this post, since I do not wish to misrepresent anything.

Here are more links to people’s dismayed reactions to the entire thing:

Daisy’s Dead Air

Letters from Gehenna

Ravenm

AJL

Un-cool

Antiprincess

Outis

Lisa Harney

All worth your time, believe me.

{UPD 4} Ren reports that she will be on the panel at William & Mary. Awesome. Sam Berg will not be on the panel. It’s her loss.

OK Vox, I’ll bite

Why the hell are you (or, for that matter, this guy agreeing with you) assuming that a highly educated woman would want to marry some millionaire type?

Having your own helipad, truffle farm, and earlobe masseuse is the ultimate goal of some people, but if you’ve gone to the trouble of getting a PhD, you’re probably interested in a different kind of success altogether.

When I met my man, I wasn’t looking for someone to spend the rest of my life with. But when I realized that he was into cooking, football, and reading creepy fairy tales on dark and stormy evenings, the angels did a chorus, organ music swelled, and golden beams of light reached towards him as if providence itself were leading me into his arms (or… something like that). Even if I did have the looks to snag me some playboy instead, I’d be bored to tears with a dude who was busy with his investments 90% of the time, and wanted to spend the other 10% draping me in diamonds and showing me off on yachts. It’s just not my idea of happiness, plain and simple. Hell, my mother was smokin’ hot in her youth, and when some guy who owned a castle proposed to her on account of her smokin’ hotness, she ran away screaming.

Because… dude. Some people are simply a bad match.

And here’s another thing: if you are really, really smart and discerning, your dating pool automatically gets smaller. It’s also true that men are often taught by their family and/or culture that it’s OK to marry a woman who’s either a) not particularly bright, or b) dumbs herself down. Women? Not so much. Now, I know several highly successful and wealthy women who married men whose primary function in life is sipping daiquiris and waxing their chests, which is perfectly fine as long as both parties are happy. And I’m not going to say that those men are stupid, because they could also simply refuse to advertise their intelligence on account of it interfering with their marriage. Whatever.

Everyone has their own idea of bliss, and I think it’s safe to say that for Carolyn Kaufman, this idea most likely involves someone who is just as erudite and committed to a profession as she is.

I’ll drink to that.

A little bit of poetry, because the world is hard

Not from me, but from a much more gifted individual – Mr. Sim Stafford. This poem “Untouched It,” is probably one of the most beautiful things I’ve had the honour to publish so far.

Here’s a music video to one of my favourite songs, a song I used to listen to on repeat in the Queen City, Charlotte (the Queen immortalized via a statue that makes her look as though she’s been punched in the stomach – at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport), where Sim and I first got to know each other:

“The Mad Hatter… he waits forever, for his old lover…”