This week’s class topic was about Marxist and socialist feminists. One conversation that especially caught my interest was the discussion of Sex workers. In this debate we talked about if sex work should be legalized and if these women are being coerced to work in the sex industry. This sparked many thoughts for me. 

 (Allison schrager, 2018.https://qz.com/1310338/the-us-sex-worker-crackdown-hurts-the-most-vulnerable-women/

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            In my opinion, sex work should be legalized. If sex work was legal, it would become a safer and more regularized profession. As we touched on in class, Sex work is considered the “oldest profession”. Sex work will always be around. Selling sex for money is illegal right now yet it still happens. The problems I see with sex work are things like sex trafficking, abuse and rape. With legalized sex work we could put in place legal regulations that prevent and have consequences for these issues within sex work. If a women was working for a regulated organization that offers sex, she could say what she wants to do, what she doesn’t and have a safe meeting place. In the case that she is raped or hurt, they could easily look at the booking and charge the perpetrator. With legalization will hopefully bring less stigma as well. With less stigma, sex workers will be more likely to come forward with issues within their work. Legalization could also open up other aspects of safety such as free condoms, contraceptives and testing. 

NHS Lanarkshire https://www.lanarkshiresexualhealth.org/methods-of-contraception-sh/

            In the last part of class, we talked about Marie Kondo. I really liked this deeper look into the practice of organizing. My mother and grandmother are pack rats; they have issues throwing out toys from 18 years ago. For my mother and grandmother this comes from a place of poverty. Like many farmers from our rural area, it is common to never throw anything out because it can be repaired or used in some way. They didn’t have money to buy new things, so they kept literally everything. The people that Marie Kondo helps have the privilege of getting rid of stuff; A privilege that my parents once didn’t have. Now that they do have many things, it is still hard to let go of the things you do not need. This reminds me of a conversation with an ex employer I once had. She told me that if you go to any house of an older Ukrainian, that their garage is almost guaranteed to be very full. She said that this is because Ukrainians were persecuted in Canada and therefore did not have much money or things. Now that they are no longer facing the same racism, they can keep and buy as much stuff as they want. 

                                                                         

 Marie helps those people who have had emotional ties to their materials. My favorite thing Marie does is get people to thank their items. To me this is a practice of gratitude that helps people like my parents let go of things. We learnt in class that Marx is against people having things because it is part of capitalism. However, I disagree with Marx because items do have meaning. There are things we need, things with sentimental value and things that spark joy. While it is possible to be too materalistic, it is okay to have some things that make you happy.

Lastly, here is a video about Marie Kondo : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNFt-20p21I