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Category: wicked thoughts

Project 2025 Doesn’t Know What Pornography is, but it Sure Hates Trans People.

Published by Wicked Jocelyn on October 23, 2024

I heard that Project 2025 wants to ban pornography. As a producer of smut myself, I had to check it out to see if it was as mean as it sounded. You can find the text relating to porn in the document. It’s on page 37.

Here’s the quote:

Pornography, manifested today in the omnipresent propagation of transgender
ideology and sexualization of children, for instance, is not a political Gordian knot
inextricably binding up disparate claims about free speech, property rights, sexual
liberation, and child welfare. It has no claim to First Amendment protection. Its
purveyors are child predators and misogynistic exploiters of women. Their product
is as addictive as any illicit drug and as psychologically destructive as any crime.
Pornography should be outlawed. The people who produce and distribute it should
be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed
as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology firms that
facilitate its spread should be shuttered.

There were a few other references to pornography, but most of it is in the early pages.

As you can see, Project 2025 weirdly associates ‘Pornography’ with transgender people.

When I think of porn, I think of opening up a nice book with blunt depictions of a career woman extracting business secrets from a competitor’s sales rep while she extracts his orgasms. Or I might think of a relaxing, sensual, sunshine-lit scene of two lesbian women in a silken sheet bed. I might also think of an eight-foot tall demon, with literal fire behind his pectoral muscles, making use of a submissive who only now understands the costs of the deal she made.

I don’t think “Transgender person exists in library book”

Do the big brains at the Heritage Foundation not know what pornography is? Someone, please help me understand!

(I suspect they probably do, and enjoy it quite a bit. How long before there’s another scandal like Falwells pool-boy cuckolding?)

Maybe these remarks are uncharitable. The entire context of this section of Project 2025 was about defending the family. Of course, the family is about gender, schools, and ‘critical race theory’. This section of Project 2025 alludes to problems of divorce, out-of-wedlock childbirths, and fatherlessness. It’s quite thin on solutions, but most of the problems they seem to think are about gender and race. There is no evidence here that the writers of Project 2025 gave empirical consideration to why divorces may happen, or why children may be born outside of a nuclear family, or why that happens so often for black children. (If you studied that last thing, you might be guilty of ‘critical race theory’ after all).

It’s almost as if the Heritage Foundation thinks the threat to families is… people who are not cishet or who support something called ‘critical race theory’. So maybe the solution for them is making trans people invisible.

This highlights the “stupid, but dangerous” nature of conservative thinking. In their document, they openly threaten ‘librarians and educators,’ which starkly reveals their deep-seated hostility towards knowledge. They lament perceived threats to their narrow definition of ‘family,’ presuming to possess a solution to what they see as societal decay. But what is their solution beyond scapegoating here?

Their focus on blaming trans people distracts from grappling with the real issues at hand—such as the complex causes of divorce, the challenges faced by single mothers, and the realities of childhood outside the nuclear family. Unable to confront these complicated problems, their scapegoating will only intensify, leading to further suffering for trans individuals.

Conservatives can only ever exacerbate the very issues they claim to want to resolve.

This, among other reasons, is why republican talk of ‘defending the family’ always sounds fascistic. There are policies that would improve the lives of nuclear families, but the republican party is not likely to support or understand them. Certainly, trans people are no threat to the nuclear family. If anything, republicans are.

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How the WGA strike sent me to the Library

Published by Wicked Jocelyn on May 30, 2023

The Writer’s Guild of America has taken a bold step by striking against the studios, and it fills me with immense joy to witness the delay of Stranger Things. For those who may be unaware of the details, let me provide you with a summary as reported by the Nation:

  • Writers asked for 2% additional revenue, Studios offered .004 percent instead (that’s two leading zeros!)
  • Production budgets increased by 4% over the last decade, and writers’ pay decreased by 23 percent with an inflation adjustment
  • Writers asked for a total of $429 million for 20k members, studios profits are at $30 Billion with $780 Million to CEO pay

The studios are in the wrong. This is not up for debate. The Universe is speaking. It is speaking for the unions.

It’s vital to remember that these concerns reach beyond the realm of entertainment. This is a battle fought for the rights of all of us grinding for a fair paychecks. As we stand in solidarity, let us draw inspiration from the wise words of the lovable himbo Rom: “Workers of the World Unite, you have nothing to lose but your chains.”

How do we help the WGA?

I was in college in Los Angeles when the last time the writer strikes against the studios. It was an extraordinary experience, filled with a vibrant energy that only creative professionals can bring. The strikers showcased next-level dad joke game with slogans like “we write, you wrong” and “unfair is unfunny.”

Now I’m up in San Jose, with an office job, and wondering what the rest of us can do to help. Then I thought to myself, if boycotts over beer cans can make things worse, then boycotts are still effective. We can even do it better. No bullets or bad beer necessary!

I cut off Hulu. Then I cut off HBO and the two other streaming services I was paying for. I’m not paying for content right now. Not while the strike is going on.

As an unintended consequence, I got some of my brain back too.

Oh no! I have spare time?!

This memorial day weekend, I would’ve normally relaxed with my partner (also boycotting) and streamed. Distracting ourselves, we tried playing our Switch. It worked for a bit, but long story short we needed something different, and something random.

I’m almost sad to admit it, but I entered a public library for the first time in at least two years.

I found that my card was active, and picked up a random book on the Tudor dynasty and a book from Karen Marie Moning, an author I once loved and had long forgotten about.

It’s been a bit too long since I’ve enjoyed library books.

So big thanks to WGA and the universe for putting that together. I hope studios get the message the universe is sending them too.

Art Credit to J.J. Lendi

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How I Changed my Mind About Sex Work

Published by Wicked Jocelyn on March 7, 2023

At this point in my life, I strongly support the decriminalization of sex work. For too long, society has stigmatized and criminalized sex work, ignoring the fact that it is a legitimate profession that provides a valuable service. Decriminalization would help to remove the stigma and provide sex workers with the legal protections and human rights they deserve.

But I hadn’t always been this way. Growing up, I had always equated sex work with desperation, sex trafficking, and abuse. While my inner exhibitionist was fascinated with many women who worked in porn, the contradiction between enjoying sex work on film yet also disapproving of it off-set never occurred to me.

This started to change during my second year of college. One girl I knew from my apt complex -we’ll call her Alyssa- worked off campus. She worked out of state. She flew out to Vegas to dance about a few weekends per semester, and never once had a problem with her monthly expenses. Alyssa had been one of the prettiest, nicest, girls I knew that year. She even invited me to get into dancing with her. I contemplated it for a time, but only a time. I was to chicken to go through with it.

Later that year, I noticed that Alyssa no longer maintained serious relationships with men. This was also the year the housing crisis made any work anywhere bad for people our age, and I can remember almost trembling about my own future loans. On the other hand, Alyssa continued to work. Eventually, she confirmed to a few of us what we had suspect. She had moved on to work more lucrative -significantly so- than merely dancing.

Alyssa kept her work quiet for her safety and privacy, but what she didn’t have any shame about it. Once, we talking about the business side of her work, I said “it sounds like capitalizing on empathy.” She agreed that it was, as sometimes clients simply loved to talk. Alyssa had access to a place to work, that was legal, and safe. It was not without its drama, for sure. But it didn’t fit the stereotypes in my head about what I thought sex work was.

I researched and wrote about sex work for an ethics class that year. I still agree with many things I wrote back then.

First and foremost, decriminalizing sex work would improve the safety and health of sex workers. Remember how I wrote that Alyssa had been safe? Everyone deserves to have safe place of business, no matter what kind of work they do. By removing the threat of arrest, sex workers would be more likely to report abuse and exploitation. This would lead to better working conditions and health outcomes for sex workers. Decriminalization would also allow sex workers to access healthcare services without fear of being penalized, leading to improved health outcomes for both workers and the broader community. Allowing sex workers to feel safe is not fundamentally different than OSHA standards enforced in any other profession.

Secondly, decriminalization would help to reduce stigma and discrimination against sex workers. By recognizing sex work as a legitimate profession, society can begin to break down the harmful stereotypes that have long been associated with sex work. This can lead to a more inclusive and accepting society that values the contributions of all workers, including sex workers. Someone recently noted on reddit: why do we destigmatize sex workers, but still stigmatize their clients? Let’s be clear on that point too: destigmatizing sex work destigmatizes their clients as well.

Thirdly, decriminalization can empower sex workers by giving them more control over their work and lives. Sex workers would be able to negotiate safer working conditions and better pay, and have the ability to refuse clients or types of work that they are uncomfortable with. This can lead to improved mental health outcomes and higher levels of job satisfaction.

Finally, decriminalizing sex work can have significant economic benefits. Criminalizing sex work is costly, with expenses associated with police enforcement and court costs. Decriminalization can also generate tax revenue, as sex workers would be able to work legally and pay taxes like other workers. This can help to alleviate some of the financial burden placed on taxpayers. Furthermore, it is fair for an industry that requires regulation, to be taxed for that regulation. Preventing crime through regulation of sex work is my favorite version of “defund the police.”

The decriminalization of sex work is a feminist issue that deserves our attention and support. By supporting the decriminalization of sex work, we can help to improve the safety, health, and human rights of sex workers while also having positive economic and public health benefits. It’s time to embrace a more inclusive and accepting society that supports the rights of all workers, including sex workers.

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