Today we’d like to share an excerpt from Maggie Mayhem’s recent editorial about the “PornWikiLeaks” scandal.
From The Daily Beast:
“…Porn Wikileaks, a website that became infamous on Wednesday after Gawker.com ran a story about the renegade website’s attempts to expose the identities of thousands of porn performers. (Gawker also implied that Porn Wikileaks has revealed the performers’ STD statuses, which, so far, isn’t true.) Revealing porn actors’ real names is significant because, for every Jenna Jameson and Sasha Grey working today, there are thousands of other people who have worked in porn who are now teachers, lawyers, doctors, housewives—people with a vested interest in keeping their past concealed by a pseudonym.”
Yesterday, The Rumpus, a literary website founded by sex writer Stephen Elliott, ran an editorial about the PornWikiLeaks website and the way that the media is reacting to the leaks (most notably, the reoccurring thread of “Well, porn stars shouldn’t have been doing what they do in the first place if they didn’t want anyone to know!”)
Excerpt of a photo of Maggie Mayhem, by Courtney Trouble
Today I’m going to share a brief excerpt from Maggie Mayhem’s editorial, and encourage you to follow through and read the entire editorial over at The Rumpus:
Hello Sex Worker Hater,
So, we meet again. You’re a shape shifter and I feel like I see you everywhere I go. I’ve spotted you on police forms for recovered bodies which had two categories: human and non-human. Guess which category specifically listed prostitutes? I don’t have to tell you, hater, you already know where you think sex workers belong. I’ve heard your testimony at rape trials when the plaintiff’s occupation and clothing were judged more harshly than the actions of their rapist. You laugh at strippers when they believe they have the right not to be exploited with stage fees and racist policies and you think it’s hilarious when there is evidence of a battering behind sparkling eye makeup and feathered eyelashes.
…
You’re everywhere at once sex worker hater and I see you’ve been writing over at Cnet. Allow me to quote you:
The porn industry is undergoing considerable changes, especially with the huge proliferation of free online porn. Will the existence of PornWikiLeaks make some think twice about their chosen means of making money?
Or is the expectation now entirely reasonable that anything you do, anywhere, at any time could–at any moment–be revealed online for all the world to see, know, and, of course, judge? –Chris Matyszczyk on Cnet
Let’s clear a couple of things up, hater. First and foremost this information was obtained from private medical records. It isn’t a coincidence that one of the major ways that we protect our health and the health of our partners was sabotaged. It’s a clear message: you are not allowed to have both a non-traditional sex life and good health at the same time. This was an act of terrorism.
You can read the rest at Dear Sex Worker Hater at The Rumpus.