Women with initiative: Doing Things

What i found in taiwan always the Women like sex workers and the child sexuality are portrayed as passive victims, otherwise they should be something demon out of regular control. Usually those women with initiative only limits to certain representation of them, like women who used to be
sex workers and now reform themselves to work so hard “for the new life”, or women who work hard for supporting her family and husband. Fortunately in these years there are another counter-representation such as stories of migrant women who fight against the difficulty and try to negotiate with the dominant culture. However, sexuality such
as sex work is still more or less a stigma so that the story cannot deal with it directly–i mean, like the sex work should often be like an involuntary work accompanied with some hard life. that is, the enjoyment or fantasy or any desire of personal sexuality is still a secret in the closet. It is really obvious for children–we even have a statue against any online information that may suggest sex trade, yet most of them just for ONS, in order to protect children).
While there are stories trying to get rid of victimization, on the other hand, what is more interesting in Taiwan is that there are some so-called sex trafficked victims who actually are not victims at all. Because the sex worker would be punished, and sometimes because they and their brothels have some problems, or even because they want to be repatriated without buying flying ticket after so many years as unauthorized/undocumented migrant workers, to pretend as a victim also becomes a choice of negotiation of life.

Best, Ted

Dear Laura,
Thank you, for posting this. I have been having exactly the same thoughts lately. The preoccupation with sexual harm unites people across the political spectrum and has become the central framing device for myriad humanitarian issues (from trafficking to Darfur to the Congo; even the recent sex-workers’ march in Washington was organized around the theme of violence). This is something that has leapt beyond the bounds of 1980s “victim feminism” and permeated the culture at large.

These helped elevate my spirit for the coming New Year! Thanks Laura!

Right on, Laura! Thank you for Drinking Woman - it feels very contemporary. That slacker dude looks sort of vaguely familiar…

I have just published a short comment on drinking and ‘gender equality’ here
http://tinyurl.com/8fk5sk