So I’ve been casting about for topics for this blog, as I’m still firmly entrenched in recovery mode.  Oh my gods, you guys.  Life without migraines every other day is fucking amazing.

Anyway, I’m still trying to do all the things, which has not, sadly, extended itself to watching and reading all the things.  But soon. I’m trying to convince myself to finish listening to ebooks instead of podcasts during the commute and while knitting, because I really need to finish Who Fears Death, and any of the bazillion other audiobooks I’ve got on deck.  Also, I could just listen to music and read, because that’s a thing, too.

But anyway, I was talking to the Geek Husband What Rules about it and he pointed me to an article about an Instagram “Influencer” who was not only having things deleted on Instagram, but someone who purportedly works for Cognizant, the company charged with enforcing community standards on Instagram, was attempting to blackmail her into paying them them to keep it from happening.

In addition to that bullshit, which of course, instead of actually attempting to find out who is doing this to this girl, Facebook/Instagram/Cognizant are circling the wagons and claiming this could never happen and  blah blah blah…  Dude, no.  Just, actually investigate.

That article however, led me to something I’d only kind of heard of before, mostly from right wing trolls who claimed Twitter was shadow banning them.  But apparently, Instagram has taken it upon itself to police posts and photos that don’t ACTUALLY conflict with the community guidelines, and instead of deleting which would notify the users, are just keeping them from appearing in searches and “You may also like” type suggestions.

The GHWR found out about this because he follows a fair number of cosplayers and cam girls who use Instagram for self-promotion, and who adhere to the guidelines in their posts, but who are still seeing their numbers declining.

Because of course we’re enforcing policies that punish women for being sexual beings and using their bodies to make money.

Look, assholes, I get it.  Somewhere someone who has gifted their children copious amounts of toy guns is TERRIFIED they’ll see a nipple before marriage.  Because our priorities are fucked and always have been.  But stop it

It’s fucking Tumblr all over again.

I made the mistake of going over to Tumblr to look for a fic author I like, and I every single, “This post is hidden because we feel it has adult content” I saw made me angrier and angrier.

Stop it.

Stop penalizing, in particular, women who are sexual beings or who make money with their bodies.  Cam-girling is far safer than most traditional venues of sex work, and lucrative. Not that there is a gods damned thing wrong with traditional venues of sex work.

I do not have any patience for people who think all sex workers are trafficked.  Yes, some, even many are, but we already have laws that could and should prevent that.  Laws about rape, kidnapping, coercion… We don’t need more laws, we need the cops to take the ones we have seriously.  All more laws do is give the cops more and interesting ways to screw with marginalized women.

Wow, this post is kind of all over the place.

Honestly, it’s more coherent than what you’d get speaking to me in person.

This makes me so mad.

Here’s the deal: sex work wouldn’t be as attractive as it is if women didn’t get treated like shit everywhere in the work force for laughable amounts of money.

When it comes to entry-level unskilled work, you can work 40+ hours being treated like shit in the service industry, or you can put in 20 stripping, for likely more money.  You can cam girl from the warmth and safety of your own home, or you can go to an office where you will be held responsible for the emotional labor of the office for probably less money.

If you don’t want women engaging in sex work, making it unsafe isn’t going to stop them, you have to supply alternatives that are more attractive, that pay as well, or are less demeaning than taking your clothes off for strangers.

I will argue that anyone who thinks office work is de facto less demeaning than stripping has never been a young woman in the work force.  To quote a friend of mine who is a sex worker, “I felt more like a whore as an executive assistant, than I do as a pro domme.”

Which is a roundabout way of saying that Instagram’s policies are hurting women and other folks who rely on sex work for survival, and they’re being sneaky, lying assholes about it.

Post your fucking guidelines and abide by them you greedy, monstrous evil cretins.

Yeah, I feel pretty strongly about this sort of shit.  I think everyone should have a level playing field, and shit like this ain’t it.

Can we just have one platform that good old fashioned puritan bullshit doesn’t ruin?  Just one?  Because I am sick and tired of casting about for new online homes.  I’m tired and cranky, and while I don’t currently rely on sex work for my living I support those who do and have their back.

Fight me.

Or, you know, donate the Electronic Frontier Foundation so they can help fight back. Fuck censorship.

If you like what you read here, or want to help fund… nope, this time, just go donate to EFF.  For additional content, check out my Patreon.  Thank you!

Also, if you’d like to see what sort of fiction I write when left to my own devices, please feel free to check out my fiction Patreon, Nothing Nice Comes Out of My Head.