Ren Ev, a beautiful woman.

I have now had the privilege and the pleasure of meeting Renegade Evolution in person, and I hope she won't mind, but I'd like to take a minute to respond to the negative comments and incorrect assumptions about what she looks like that tend to fly around the internet every so often. There are some folks who call themselves radical feminists who want to discredit her and do so by calling her out on her looks (and I provided just one link, but really, this is something that happens fairly regularly and that I've witnessed over the last couple of years that I've been reading her blog). I think that they think that she is some sort of Barbie-doll lookalike, or maybe just that she is someone who looks different than they do, and the fact that she is a sex worker makes it somehow ok to focus their hatred on her body.

In fact, one of the things that continually surprises me (because I, too, fall prey to stereotypes about sex workers) when I meet sex workers is that they look just like everybody else. I think Ren is lovely - you've seen her pictures on her blog, but in person, there is a sparkliness (Ren, has anyone ever described you that way before?) that doesn't come through in the photos. But I also think that Ren looks like a regular person - she could be an ad executive, a college professor (or student), an artist, a health care professional. She may make money off of her looks, but let's not forget that, just as is true for models and actors, there is a lot of work that is done before showing up for the shoot. I say this only to point out that, guess what? Many of those who like to dis Ren's body might well look just like her. Many of those who like to assume that Ren has privilege because of her body might well find they have the same body privilege if they did what she does to prepare.

And also - I find it incredibly distasteful and unfeminist (and I don't really throw around charges of "unfeminist" too often) to talk about other women's bodies in negative ways. More than being unfeminist, it's just uncool. And that's true no matter what they look like, and no matter what they do with their bodies.

...More to follow on Ren's appearance here in the Twin Cities...