The world's oldest profession gets an alibi

I was quite interested to read an article the other day about businesses which provide alibis/ alternate identities for prostitutes in Japan.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-21/businesses-sell-alibis-to-japanese-sex-workers/4023420

While Japan, the land which invented used-underpant vending-machines, is perhaps the mecca of all things odd, I got to thinking about the cultures which create the market for alibi-creation agencies.

Prostitution is an industry which is met with a wide range of reactions, from disgust and outrage, to acceptance of it as a service to a market all the way to the other end of the spectrum and opinions such as I was once offered: "If you take a girl on a date and go to dinner or a movie you spend so much time and money... at least with a hooker you know you'll get sex, and don't have to waste time on conversation etc".

With such a range of attitudes and opinions you would think that sex workers would face some criticism and discrimination along the way, but, like anyone, could eventually find someone who accepted and loved them and their profession, if that's what they want. I know some health workers in Australia who frequently perform health checks on sex workers (as is required by law in most states), and report that many are married, often with children, and aside from their profession, live relatively banale lives in the suburbs with mortgages, as with the rest of us.

The creation of a service which makes fake workplace documents, answering services, business cards is undeniably creative genius, but its somewhat worrying that its required or desired at all. If these women (as it states in the article, though certainly there would also be males sex workers in the industry, and presumably accessing the alibi service) are in a situation where they feel they have to be dishonest to their partners and families, it generates risk to all involved. Would the initial shock about a partners career be any worse than having discovered they've been lieing about it for years, or even decades?

By trying to hide what their real job is, it means any suspected STIs would be less likely to be identified and treated before any harm was done, and condom use or other strategies to prevent infection with a long term/ regular partner are less likely to be initiated.

Does it come down to the stigma associated with non-monogamous sex, or is it about trust in relationships? Perhaps a combination of both, and a lot more factors? My own discomfort with prostitution lies mostly in women being treated as products or services instead of human beings, and that conservative laws stop the industry from being properly regulated, making it safer for workers and clients alike. By keeping sex work underground and illicit, it increaes the risk of unsafe sex occurring, and drug users and desperate people exploiting or being exploited for money.

Things that shit me #12- Doctors for the Family

In the news this week, a group who call themselves "Doctors for the Family" have been noted to be campaigning against gay marriage.

http://www.doctors4family.com.au/

The listed aim of the site is: "highlight the health aspects of marriage and family and ensure a healthy future for our children".

This site, and every release which has come out quoting them has been incredibly anti gay. I consider them a hate-group. Aside from the basics, like having absolutely no credible evidence other than "I'm a doctor and I say so" and other such self-aggrandising crap (which only really evidences their over-inflated senses of self-importance, nothing more), let's have a think about their position.

The website lists its leader as the recently vocal Dr Lachlan Dunjey- a Perth GP and a right-to-life campaigner who has run as a Senate candidate for the Christian Democratic Party in multiple elections.

As a GP, Dr Dunjey is well qualified to diagnose the difference between laryngitis and tonsilitis, to prescribe medication for high blood pressure, and to write referals to specialists for more complex conditions. He is neither a psychologist, capable of assessing in depth psychological outcomes. Neither is he a sociologist who studies the patterns of people interacting in society in a way which would enable him to determine the long term trends and outcomes of peoples varying social circumstances, such as performance in school, psychological or emotional wellbeing, happiness, future income, etc. even if he were, to extrapolate someone's income, overall health etc as a measure of having had any circumstance other than hetero biological parents is absurd.

What about adopted children? Those raised by their grandparents, extended family or a single parent? Or even my own situation- being raised by my biological, heterosexual parents who remained married to each other for the duration of my childhood, yet managed to fuck me up substantially? Clearly, according to Dr Dunjey, an abusive-biological-and-marital-relationship-containing-two-traditional-genders must be better than sexuality or gender diverse parents who love and care for their children.

Dr Kerryn Phelps, former Australian Medical Association president, was quoted on www.abc.net.au/news as so beautifully describing his position as "extraordinary" and having a "breathtaking lack of reason".

Dr Kuruvilla George, of Victoria's Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, has also signed a petition supporting the Doctors for the Family anti-gay-marriage campaign. Seemed somewhat more than slightly incongruous to me- Human Rights activist AND massively right wing bigoted hate campaigner...hmmm. The Victorian Attorney-General has defended his right to lobby against gay marriage, and this may be the case- he does have a right to voice an opinion.

It's the flawed logic (aside from the human element of treating people as equals blah blah) that's bugging me- how is gay marriage in any way directly related to someone's parenting worth? If gay marriage is his objection, then why extend this to parenting? Is he also insinuating that unwed parents in a long term stable union with a biological chil are also unfit parents? Somehow, the signing on the dotted line of a legal marriage contract and perhaps supplementing this activity by placing a circular band of alloyed metals around a digit must impass some power, deeming said individuals capable of great and powerful thing, my preciousssss?

Anyhow, my ranting begins to descend into ever-decreasing circles, but I think my point has been made, so I'll leave it here: A child needs love and support, it does not matter what combination of genitals the parents have.

Technology- a Love Hate Relationship

Over the last week I have been unwillingly exploring the depths of my addiction to the internet.

Through the blithering incompetance of Telstra, a malfunctioning wireless connection, and customer service that could inspire Ghandi to test out an underwear bomb, I have had no internet access.

At first I was annoyed. I ended up sorting out some tax papers and other chores that I have managed to avoid for some time though, and generally got over it.

On the second day I woke up with a horrendous cold- coughing and sniffing all over the place. I went into work for a few hours, but realised I wasn't doing anyone any good by being there in that state, and went home sick.

To spend the remainder of the day on the couch, not feeling well enough to do anything constructive, my normal chosen respite would be the glorious endless internet. Yet this was taken from me, and I found myself increasingly irritated.

Day 3 I was even sicker. Managed to get out of bed around midday, and after sitting through Dr Phil on TV I found I was suffering quite serious internet withdrawals. How could I have any human contact- these days with a plethora of friends, randoms and all sorts just a click away, I felt very disconnected and isolated not having this option.

Although I have oft lamented the existence of mobile phones, and how people have lost the ability to plan in their reliance of being able to just call or txt at the last minute or when they get around to it- Thank goodness for mobile phones and being able to annoy half those in my contacts list with text messages in this circumstance.

We love to have our technology at our fingertips to connect and entertain, and get irritated when we are able to be contacted at all hours for work, but could you live without it now?

Knowing your shit vs knowing you're shit

One thing I find myself persistently frustrated by is the stupidity of others. While to a certain extent I try to life by the adage:

Never argue with a stupid person; they drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.


how do we know what is stupid or crazy? Thousands of years ago there were some influential figures who claimed to be receiving or channelling messages from deities.

These days, if you hear voices, you receive a prescription for anti-psychosis medications and a clinical management plan with a team of specialists.

I was reading through a psychology proposal which featured a measurement instrument, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 25 www.cd-risc.com , at work today and noted the following item:

3. When there are no clear solutions to my problems, sometimes fate or God can help

People are asked to respond on a 5 point Scale from 0- not at all true to 4- true nearly all the time

On face value you might think- sure, these seem like reasonable statements, and that any extreme answer could indicate a problem, e.g. "God/fate will always take care of things".

Now consider the inverse- the response of "I believe it is never true that God/ Fate will help with my problem". Hmm, what a negative response, you might think on face value. As an atheist, however, I find it amusing that people cannot cope with the fact I do not believe there is a God or in concepts like fate, and feel the need to suggest there is a problem with my sanity for it.

I accept that many people are religious and have these beliefs, but do not personally ascribe to them. To have included such an item in a tool designed to measure people's mental state of being is interesting- in that it potentially rejects the tenet that any atheist could be completely sane.

It takes an incredible arrogance to assume that your beliefs or a cultural norm are RIGHT and any other beliefs are WRONG or even suggestive of poor mental health. Yet it is the default position adopted by so many, as beautifully described by the Dunning- Kruger effect:

It is one of the essential features of such incompetence that the person so afflicted is incapable of knowing that he is incompetent. [or in other words, some people are too stupid to realise they're stupid] To have such knowledge would already be to remedy a good portion of the offense. - Miller
http://people.psych.cornell.edu/~dunning/publications/pdf/unskilledandunaware.pdf