At the intersection of body positivity, porn and perversion (somewhere outside Bristow, 7:05 PM)

I keep coming back to a thing that was said to me through the block over the weekend or whatever/whenever it was.

And I preface what's to come with 'yes, I know I talk a lot about sex work, but I'm dating/subbing to a sex worker, and have plans,so it matters to me.'

The person who blocked me *waves hi since I know you're trawling my feed anyway, you cheeky monkey* said that seeing a follower post a butt pic upset them because it just meant everyone else was right and all we are are perverts.

And this leads me down two paths.

Let's pick path a.

A) We have lived our lives ashamed of our bodies. We have had things happen to them we could not control, that we knew were wrong, saw the changes we expected happening to others, and learned very quickly to hate ourselves because of an accident of...uncontrolled variables.

And all of a sudden the right chemicals are flowing through us. And some of the damage is irreversible, but things shrink, things grow, skin changes, face changes, and...we start to learn there are not bad...actually, GOOD...things about us. And lets face it, we all crave affirmation. And it's affirmation we never got growing up. And here we are, with dozens if not hundreds of women just like us...most of whom are dating each other...and we all feel the same kinds of things.

Generally.

And we have a chance to finally get that affirmation. To feel a part of something. To belong, and be admired.

Desired, even.

So we post butt pix or boob pix or nudes or lewds or tastefully artistic boudoir photos. These don't make us perverts, unless you feel the human body is perverted. They make us finally feeling some self love and wanting to share that.

And it's fucking beautiful.

Now, let's go to path b.

B) There is nothing wrong with sex work.

And for a lot of us, it's at the very least a secondary source of income, if not a primary one. and it's brilliant.

Wanna know why?

Of course you do, you saw sex and kept reading.

For one, it gives us agency. We can set our own rules, work our own hours., do things we want to do, most often with people we want to do them with. For a lot of us, it means owning the means of production and the thing produced. and providing it direct to the purchaser. For another, there is nothing morally wrong with sex work. And this is an area that seems to be the toughest one to deal with. It's the result of puritanical upbringing, melanged with a society that renders women second class, that frightens people to the point that...

When a woman declares agency and ownership of her body, people freak.

This becomes more evident when you look at the number of trans women who have done any kind of sex work. and there's a lot of them/us. but it's a place where there's way less hate, discrimination...

Potential pay parity, and so much more.

Yeah, we're still marginalised...forex, ManyVids does not include trans stuff on their main twitter account, relegating it to a separate MV trans account. but when the most artistic stuff is coming direct from the creator...it becomes a situation where better means of supporting those creators becomes the hurdle, not the creators or product itself.

I love my girlfriend...that's very evident here on twitter. and I love what she's gonna be doing. It makes her happy, gives her control, she gets to work with neat people. Heck, we've talked about me doing some stuff with her. But it's been great for me too because it's helped me learn to see myself and my body as things of value. And that's amazing.

I have so many friends who are sex workers, and all y'all are amazing. I love being tangential to the community, talking with y'all, being friends, and hopefully some day doing some work with you if it comes to that (which i hope it does). But what I see in each of these amazing women is so much complexity and brilliance and artistry.

And so much pride in what they do.

And it's stuff most people don't see, because they're focused on OMG TRANS WOMEN ARE PERVERTS THEY'RE ALL PORN PERFORMERS EWW.

And, like...yeah? What if they are?

What if we are?

Ain't no thing.

Sex is good. Ethical porn is good. breaking barriers and stereotypes and taking ownership are hot and sexy and so empowering.

And it's...self love.

And that's something we all need more of.

So, am I a bad tran? Yep.

Am I a pervert? Oh honey if you only knew.

Am I a bad person? Fuck no.

And that's what trans porn twitter has taught me...along with bringing me an amazing perfect girlfriend I am proud to belong to.

/thread.