Interesting article in the Globe and Mail

[yellow_dog 804]

Gang,

 

Perhaps some of the ladies know Mr. Brown:

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/my-friend-the-john-on-chester-browns-graphic-memoir/article2021715/

 

Interesting article. And the comments, so far, have been quite good. I'm sure they'll break down soon, but the points raised have been well thought out.

 

Enjoy.

[Nicolette Vaughn 294340]

We as sex workers all know "Chester Browns" and I think he has provided some much needed insight with his memoir and bringing it into the media. Society only sees one side of prostitution and the more it is hidden, the more taboo and immoral it will be. Surprisingly for Globe and Mail readers, the comments have been quite enlightening epsecially with their views towards prostitution. Thanks for posting this.

[Guest W***ledi*Time]

See Cato's thread http://www.cerb.ca/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=47904 for previous discussion. I've ordered the book, but haven't received or read it myself yet.

 

(signed) a Globe & Mail subscriber, ha ha ...

[Jabba 18389]

This really sparks my imagination from several POV - artistic, literary, social, political. I'm no intellectual, but from the comments in the article, I do see the work has attracted a following. I'm really impressed with Brown's chosen format for a number of reasons:

 

As a graphic novel, it brings the subject matter into the mainstream - maybe appealing to those who know the GN genre. While not on the same scale or artistic dimension, it appears to conquer quite a bit of territory visually and through raw subject matter.

 

Literary, the work has drawn interest from the mainstream media to the underground audiences (us). Is this based purely on titillation or something more?

 

Socially - I LOOVVVee the comments from the article, especially from little girl WendyStone (bless her backwards girly heart). Does she represent the mainstream injured female POV? Good for her to stand up and be counted. I love her and her thoughts about control - I really do! What she doesn't quite understand is that extra-marital sex is going to happen regardless of what she wants. She doesn't seem to want to address the female infidelity thing though...interesting.

 

Politically - Stephen Harper and his guardians of moral turpitude (I didn't vote for anyone in his party btw) should find plenty of fodder for clamping down on freedom of expression. I should expect a scandal or two - whoops, already happened!...Bruce Carson.

 

But really - I believe this work to be one of the cornerstones to building a more libertarian approach to sex work. Despite the current Conservative political agenda, the word must be spread that SexWorkers deserve and need the same protections as any other citizen. The Robert Pickton case should be held in the face of the government as a shameful reminder of the government's continued failure to protect society's most vulnerable. This case was Canada's Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Disgusting!