Diary of a call girl

So right now, i'm working as a 'call agent', basically that's a buzz word for tele sales, I don't loathe it and i don't love it, at the end of the day it's a job. Some customers are nice some aren't so pleasant, there are parts of this job i enjoy and parts I loathe..case in point inappropriate men.

I don't know what this Tom Dick or Harry aims to achieve when he phones up asking to have a new phoneline put in, but it certainly shouldn't be a girls phone number...I ask a guy if he's done his Christmas shopping yet he replies "I hope you've got me a Christmas present" its lewd and suggestive and I hate it, i don't know what makes guys think that they can talk to us like that, my girlfriends at the centre get it all the time, it's degrading and it makes us feel guarded with customers, i.e were trying to have a normal chat with them and they change it into an innuendo, a crude remark or a request for your facebook URL..it just makes you not want to build rapport with a customer because you're picturing what it could result in..you feeling used that's what.

I don't know what kind of twisted link they form in their heads, because we work on the phones we're some kinds of simpering women who will laugh at their every joke, because they're the customer and the customer is always right..well I have absoloutly no problem with hanging up on them and losing a sale, but it does give me more satisfaction to sell them a product at full price and give them no offers, in a little sweet revenge for their attitude.

Dispel that Slut-Shaming, Victim-Blaming..anti-love

                 

                 "Women should stop dressing like sluts to avoid being victimised".

A statement given by a police officer in Toronto January 24th 2011 that sparked a Worldwide outrage...from this outrage Slutwalk was born.

Slutwalk began in Toronto, but has gone on to become a Trans-atlantic movement, with protests happening in the UK,India,  Amsterdam, London Sydney,Santa Cruz,Texas. Slutwalk is a Worldwide march of solidarity, for anyone to do anywhere (wearing anything), that raises awareness of the message that no matter what you wear, look like your gender expression, how much/little sex you have, what you've been called, how you're body has been de-valued in the past... No means no, in any situation! The movement has been produced from one officer's bigoted comment is just amazing, and has given women faith that things can change, and not to just sweep comments like this under the carpet, thankfully that these women did something about the harassment that they received, however their are Voices Unheard around the globe, women who have received harassment like this, and not reported it because they think it's the norm, it's not . 


"Of course we don't blame the victim but..."
She looked older than she was, she was drunk, she was dressed provocatively...the list goes on.


One aim of the Slutwalk movement is to work on dispelling the idea of 'Slut-shaming', the idea that just because a woman was say, drunk, or wearing very little clothing, she somehow deserved  what happened to her. I know what you're thinking, in what world does a woman deserve to be raped, but then unfortunately you get cases like this one. 


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-17781842

The backlash that followed the Ched Evans case was unbelievable. A stream of what is currently referred to as 'rape apology' (rapists that do whatever they can to imply that the survivor deserved what happened to them) started on Twitter, this particular gentleman caught my eye

@Joseph Westley "In a premier Inn with two footballers after a night out. Expecting Tiddlywinks?" 

So many things are wrong with that statement, but let's just focus on the fact that Mr Westley has twinned being in a hotel room being akin to a woman's consent, pretty shocking, and this is why we march, to combat viewpoints such as this one and to raise awareness that this kind of ideology is not ok, and that rape, in whatever form, is never ok.


Some groups have criticised the Slutwalk for 'opressing' women even further by the use of the word 'Slut' in the title of the event. An example of this being an article in the Guardian, that read..

“Advocates would be better off exposing the myriad ways in which the law and the culture enable myths about all types of women – sexually active or “chaste” alike. These myths facilitate sexual violence by undermining women’s credibility when they report sex crimes. Whether we blame victims by calling them “sluts” (who thus asked to be raped), or by calling them “frigid” (who thus secretly want to be overpowered), the problem is that we’re blaming them for their own victimisation no matter what they do. Encouraging women to be even more “sluttish” will not change this ugly reality.” - Gail Dine

What these groups seem to disregard is that by re-claiming this word to (and utilizing it to their advantage) the founders of Slutwalk have brought empowerment to women, by putting positive connotations and feminist solidarity behind a word that has been used as a derogatory insult for years. Heather Jarvis (a queer sex and body-positive feminist, and co-founder of the Slutwalk movement) comments on the reclaiming of the word by stating that

"'slut' is not going away, not even close. So why not challenge it and utilize language to our benefit?"

People have raised questions as to why girls are dressing in skimpy clothes for these marches, does this not portray a negative message? Sonya Barnett (another co-founder of the Slutwalk movement) answers that this kind of negativity further enforces the stereotype that people should be ashamed to be sexual beings..you can dress how you want to, if you feel confident dressing in next to nothing then so be it, no still means no, just because i'm wearing a short skirt in the summer doesn't mean I want my ass pinched thanks very much. And this kind of stigma works both ways, a woman wearing joggers and a jumper is at risk of assault too, this message was shown by a demonstrator at Chicago Slutwalk, who held up a sign saying "My friend was raped wearing a snowsuit".

Slutwalk has brought a whole new awareness of the discourse surrounding rape apology and slut-shaming, discourse that I have not come across anywhere else in society (this is a super shiny thing) hopefully our march in Edinburgh this year will have a great turn-out and raise awareness of this important message, I wrote this to try and explain the connotations behind the controversial title of "Slutwalk" hopefully this has come across..

We'll be holding our own Slutwalk in Edinburgh (date still to be confirmed)
We invite people of all gender expressions and orientations, all walks of life, levels of employment and education, all races, ages, abilities, and backgrounds, from all points of this city and elsewhere to come as you are, dressed as you feel comfortable. Look at your local Slutwalk movement too, I know Toronto's is on the 25th May this year

Pussy Manifesto, out
xx

If you can't stand the bigotry get out of the bathroom!

We've all been there, the bathroom standoff. Some girl flounces in gives you the bitchy eye, bounces her immaculately sleek hair applies a trowel-load of lipgloss,..the girls toliets = the epicentre of bitchiness.
Australian Tampon company Libra portray this brilliantly in their new advert except it's not so brilliant, more along the lines of Transphobic really..

We watch shows like 'Rupauls Drag Race' and 'America's next top model' that are peppered with characters such as Ms J and Rupaul. Here, in the modelling world the cross-dresser is accepted. Generally in the media I think that Drag Queens are accepted. Even if they are sometimes caricatured and made to over-exaggerate themselves.

But Libra have done one better. Their now banned commercial portrays a bathroom standoff between a pretty ordinary looking girl and an overly made up drag queen. The girl gives a snide look to her opponent and applies mascara, they mirror her, she applies lipgloss so does her opponent, the girl next door then adjusts her bra, so does her opponent.

Now comes the part that has caused the transphobic accusations. For her next move the girl-next-door pulls out a tampon and smiles smugly as if to say 'you don't have female reproductive organs, now step bitch' and sure enough the trans woman scowls and leaves.

The commercial then flashes the delightful slogan 'Libra Gets Girls. Love Libra'.

What I dislike about this advert is the exclusion factor in it. What Libra are saying (whether it is intentional or not on their part) is that a trans woman can never be a proper woman, there is always going to be one hurdle that they can't overcome, anatomy. I.e you're not a proper woman if you can't menstruate.

Now to be fair Libra have released this statement

' We will immediately review our future position with this campaign based on the feedback received. There are no further advertisements scheduled in New Zealand.'

The company states that the commercial was tested before it was aired and that it was met with a positive response, my response to this is get a better sample next time, this commercial is really offensive and will upset a lot of people who have seen it! The thing is, can we really be making a joke out of this scenario, when it is one that many trans women will have encountered already i.e hostility in the bathroom, it's actually pretty poignant if you think about it.

This advert will make people feel alienated, trans or no...the commercial delivers a powerful image of the alpha female dominating the ladies bathroom, one mistake and you're out. I'm glad to see that Libra have removed said commercial from our TV screens, however they only did this because of a petition that was started, ad companies really need to take off those rose coloured glasses and take a look at their target audience, I'm sure this ad will have lost Libra alot of customers.

Sources from pinknews.co.uk and youtube x