Reading List #38 (Patreon)

Hey!

Here are 12 things you might want to read. 

1. Will you still medal in the morning? (Sam Alipour)

An article from 2012 detailing the sexual proclivities of Olympians. There's an episode of American Dad that made a joke about this, and I had no idea it was so realistic.

2. The Police Called It an Accident. She Turned to 1-800-Autopsy.  (Erika Hayasaki)

I never gave it much thought, but it becomes obvious very quickly in this article that a corrupt system obviously begets lucrative adjacent industries. 

3. The Serene Fortress: A special report.; Many Seek Security in Private Communities (Timothy Egan)

This is an article from 1995 detailing the rise of private communities, something I've been researching for Lexual Does the 80s and a long-format video about police abolition and reform.

Although the people in Klahanie vote heavily Republican, they cherish their regulations and their environmental restrictions.  For 99 percent of the people, the reason they're in Klahanie is because of all the restrictions," said Victoria Baldwin, director of the community association. "The whole idea of a self-sufficient community, with regulations for color of house and standard of lawn care and protecting the environment, is what's driving this."

4. The Authoritarian Instincts of Police Unions (Adam Sewer)

Whether you are pro-police abolition or not, you can agree on the immediate demand to abolish police unions, which are not like traditional labor unions (something I specifically wanted to scream at a recent twitter troll)

Like any other type of union, police unions view their duty as protecting the interests of their dues-paying members. Yet these unions are fundamentally different, because their members are armed agents of the state. In practice, this means police unions reflexively come to the defense of men like Chauvin, while opposing any meaningful reforms of department procedures. The most modest attempts at change—banning choke holds or even gathering data on misconduct—are met with fierce resistance.

5. The Pop Music You Listen to Really Does Matter (Spencer Kornhaber)

As someone who listens to Doja Cat daily, this article, about her working relationship with alleged rapist Doctor Luke, scalped me. It also made me overthink about all the alleged and unrevealed rapists, woman beaters, and racists involved with any media production I consume. This hits especially close to home after the recent revelation about my former video editor. I want to discard every piece of media that is tainted by rape culture, but I know that I'm a human who is tired of overthinking AND holding women more accountable for the sins of men and masc abusers. With the breadth of rape culture, me not listening to Doja, who is contractually obligated to work with a man she did not know the true colors of before signing with, is like me using paper straws when corporations are poisoning the earth with oil spills and private jets. This is something I'll definitely think about and explore more.

6. A Tale of Two Poles: What Stripping in Guam Taught Me About Colonization (Natassja Schiel)

It was 2009, and I was feeling the impact of the Great Recession. Three years earlier, I’d made so much money stripping in Portland, Oregon, that I paid my college tuition without the assistance of loans, but my workload changed when the economic recession hit the United States. I was forced to drop out of school and max out my credit cards, but that still wasn’t enough to turn the tide. My car was repossessed, and I couldn’t afford my rent.  I’d learned that sometimes dancers would move to Guam to work; under the threat of homelessness, the prospect glinted differently.

7. THE FUTURE DYSTOPIC HELLSCAPE IS UPON US: The Rise and Fall of the Ultimate Doomsday Prepper (Sam Biddle)

Sovereign Deed offered a variety of consultation services, but the big sell was the comprehensive evacuation package. After paying the sizable membership fee, customers were guaranteed access to the Haven, a spot on the ark. Members received an emergency evacuation plan, printed in bright red as if it contained nuclear launch codes, detailing with GPS specificity exactly how to arrive at their premium post-apocalyptic hideaway, whether by car, boat, or jet. Clients were asked to “avoid discussing the existence of this haven with anyone other than your immediate family members,” and were told that the “identity of individuals invited to use the haven facility is tightly controlled.”

8. The Real-Life Zola on Storytelling, Sex Work, and Turning Trauma Into Art (EJ Dickinson)

Zola was a terrifying movie. This article puts the real story (and the real woman behind it) into perspective. 

9. Why Are Right-Wing Conspiracies so Obsessed With Pedophilia? (Ali Breland)

Another article from my research on Lexual Does The 80s. 

10. HOW THE SOCIAL MEDIA CENSORSHIP OF SEX WORKERS AFFECTS US ALL (Chingy Nea)

“The truth is, what affects sex workers eventually affects everyone,” says Cora Harrington, founder and editor in chief of The Lingerie Addict, the internet’s leading lingerie blog; she believes that shadowbanning has affected her social media presence and, in turn, traffic to her site, given that many of her posts feature models in lingerie. “Sex workers are most at risk of having their livelihood and lives threatened, but anyone having any conversations related to sex and sexuality, or perceived as being related to sex and sexuality, are likely to be marginalized and excluded from platforms that are necessary to modern-day marketing and advertising.”

11. Gaslit: How the fossil fuel industry convinced Americans to love their toxic stoves (Rebecca Leber)

One of the fiercest debates I had during my college years was not over Reagan, communism, religion, or sex work (and I had plenty of fierce arguments involving those), but gas stoves. In my hometown of Charlotte, NC, electric stoves were the standard. I did not grow up with gas stoves so when I got to Ohio and noticed everyone's homes smelled like gas, I was appalled. I'd preach the merits of electric stoves (HELLO, NO GAS BILL!) to unhearing ears and I wish I had this article to quote to the brainwashed. GAS STOVES SUCK, PEOPLE! 

12. A Peoples History of Black Twitter, Pt. 1 (Jason Parham)