Vixy Dockrey

fluffmugger:

ceciliadavidson:

jenniferrpovey:

the-rain-monster:

jenniferrpovey:

lierdumoa:

Can we talk about how the Deadpool movie, which the media has largely referred to (in so many words) as a fuckboy’s wetdream, not only gives a female sex worker an empathetic role, but treats her and her work more respectfully than about 99% of so called feminist media?

.

At no point does the movie imply that Vanessa is tainted because she is a sex worker. At no point does the movie imply that Vanessa is unworthy of love because she is a sex worker.

At no point is Vanessa portrayed as “broken.”

At no point does the movie imply that being a sex worker makes Vanessa a bad girlfriend. At no point does Deadpool ask or expect Vanessa to sacrifice her job for their relationship.

At no point is Vanessa slut-shamed for her job, by either protagonists or villains. 

Think about that.

Denigrating sex workers is so taboo within the Deadpool movieverse that even the villains won’t do it.

We know that Vanessa experienced sexual abuse, and that it’s shaped the person she’s become and influenced the choices she’s made. The movie clearly acknowledges that sexual abuse is real, and that it is damaging, and that people who experience sexual abuse struggle to lead “normal” lives and get “normal” jobs.

But the movie never hands sexual abusers the mic.

There is no sexual abuse porn in this movie. There are no voyeuristic rape flashbacks. There are no misogynist monologues. The audience learns about Vanessa’s abusive past from Vanessa, on Vanessa’s terms, through Vanessa’s own words.

This seems like the bare minimum of dignity any female character should be granted, yet so much media fails to meet this extremely low bar.

The movie makes it very clear that Vanessa has a life outside of sex work. She does not live on a stripper pole. Sex work is something Vanessa does. Sex work is not who Vanessa is. She has an apartment. She wears pajamas. What other fictional universe can say the same? I can think of one tv show, but that’s about it, and that show’s viewership is nothing compared to Deadpool’s.

Now on the one hand, I’m not necessarily happy that Vanessa’s character arc revolves almost entirely around her romantic relationship with the lead male protagonist. But on the other hand, I find it very refreshing to see a sex worker in the media whose character arc does not revolve entirely around the fact that she is a sex worker. Hate to say it, but for sex workers in the media, being relegated to the role of love interest is actually a step up.

Most feminist media would rather pretend sex workers don’t exist than write storylines of any kind for them. 

This.

And the people who call Deadpool a fuckboy’s wet dream sure as heck didn’t watch the same movie I did.

The movie has:

A very funny moment in which the joke is on those who assume that sex workers have abusive pasts, not on the sex worker. (The comparing abuse thing gets ridiculous enough that they’re both clearly lying).

The male lead repeatedly posed in female come-on positions. This one is my favorite:

He’s even on a bearskin rug in front of a fire. The humor in this pose is “Haha, isn’t it silly to pose a character like that.” It’s designed explicitly to make people think about how commonly female characters are shown in these kinds of ridiculous poses. Going to tell me that’s not a feminist visual joke?

An under-age female character who is never sexualized. Yeah, this girl

Look at that. A practical costume, her breasts are minimized rather than emphasized. We only see Negasonic Teenage Warhead as badass, not “cute.” And she’s treated like a teenager, not a child or an adult.

Oh, and Deadpool doesn’t rescue Vanessa in the end. He throws her a weapon so she can rescue herself. Which she does, because she’s badass.

I’d actually call Deadpool a feminist movie, and an important one. Why?

Because they probably tricked an entire bunch of fuckboys into watching a feminist movie ;).

So, why was it so feminist?

Two words: Ryan and Reynolds.

Ryan Reynolds wanted to do this movie. He wanted to do this movie for years. Reynolds is basically a Deadpool cosplayer who managed to convince a movie studio to pay him a lot of money to be a Deadpool cosplayer.

Guess what Ryan Reynolds also is?

A feminist. He says he’s going to push for even more badass ladies in the sequel. (I think we’re going to see Vanessa with superpowers. They had her long enough to expose her to the agent, if not to activate it).

I’d love to see Vanessa with superpowers, and I enjoyed the hell out of Deadpool.

I forgot one, and an important one.

When we are shown the strip club Vanessa works at, it is not filmed the way movies always film strip clubs.

It’s filmed as if we were going to an office. It’s just “this is where Vanessa happens to work.” No low shot angles to show off women’s bodies, no soft porn music.

Just very…matter of fact.

Can we also bring up that Deadpool does NOT shame Negasonic’s name choice? It screams OC but he’s still supportive of it.

Of course he’s not gonna shame it, it’s the best fucking thing he’s ever heard in his life and he’s pissed at himself that he didn’t think of it first.

(via seananmcguire)

seananmcguire:

I have deleted the post about the Doug Flag after being told, by several people who have lived in the Pacific Northwest longer than I have, that it has not been fully co-opted, and is still in use by several First Nations and ecological rights groups.  I apologize for mistaking rhetoric for research.  I’d say it won’t happen again, but it happens all the time: let this be a reminder that we can all be wrong.

Y’all, please remember that there’s always someone who doesn’t know what you know. There’s no such thing as “everyone knows this.”

Please be kind.

leoravioleo:

stjimmylives:

Hey, guys.

So today I was at my local women’s march, and as per usual with these sorts of things, there were some counter-protesters. A couple of guys were waving around their Trump flags and all that, getting harassed a bit, but nothing too dramatic.  

I did notice, however, that there was a guy hanging out with them with a flag wrapped around his shoulders, and I had definitely seen that flag before. Visually, it’s pretty innocuous, and I couldn’t remember what it stood for at the time, but I definitely do remember being told to avoid it like the plague, so I kept moving. 

As soon as I got home, I looked it up.

I want all of you to repeat after me.

This is the Flag of Cascadia, or the Doug Flag. It used to stand for PNW pride and conservation, but it has been co-opted by Northwest Front, a white nationalist movement in the PNW. 

Here’s another flag they use.

If you see someone flying this flag at a protest (particularly the bottom one, as it is used exclusively by NWF, where the Doug Flag is still used by some environmentalist groups), please know that that person is a neo nazi. 

Do what you will with that information. 

Just to give a little clarification on the two, and the small goggle research I did:
The top flag is still connected to the Flag of Cascadia:
http://www.cascadianow.org/
This is a link showing what this organization is about and from just a slight comb over it seems like a pretty legit, no white-power anything that I can see listed here.

On the other hand, the bottom flag, posted here IS indeed connected with Northwest Front, which is indeed a neo-nazi organization:
http://northwestfront.org/

I would say in general to exercise caution during these very tense times, but I did want to sort of clarify that the top flag is supposed to still represent peace and I would honestly hate any negativity and violence be thrown towards someone doing community outreach and conservation programs. I know OP kinda said as much but I also,

Please be safe but also be informed.

Reblogging for the clarification.

(via king-garbo-deactivated20190103)

felthief:

selphinrose:

bogleech:

bogleech:

selphinrose:

somethingsomethingbutterfly:

of-another-broken-heart:

So the USA is trying to starve its poor to death. Not even an exaggeration. 

The SNAP program is getting some work requirements applied again which are expected to leave up to (or more than) a MILLION people without benefits. Of these people, 97% are at OR BELOW the poverty line. 

And the only way to “earn” your benefits - the way to “prove” that you don’t “deserve” to starve to death - is to work 20 hours per week, or 80 per month. 

Either pull a job out of your ass (earn your paycheck AND qualify for food assistance), OR participate in 80 hours of UNPAID labor (PLUS the expense and time of transportation to and from a set, unflexible location). 

And after working 80 hours (plus paying money you don’t have for transportation to get to the designated “program” location/s) for the state to “prove” you don’t deserve to die, you get… are you ready?

I’m gonna use the Florida figures, because that’s what I was reading up on.

Less than $200 in food assistance. The average is actually less than 150.

Care to do the math? 

$150 for 80 hours. 

$1.88 per hour. 

The USA is a fucking dystopia. 

What the ever living fuck.

@fullten @lady-feral I…what

Yeah, I was hit with this. We’re okay right now since we’re staying with family, though feeding us puts a strain on them as well.

I make some internet money that works out to about 125 a week so if I wanna keep getting my food assistance I have to itemize that so it qualifies as a 20 hour a week job, which it probably does, but it’s ridiculous that anyone has to do this and most people under the poverty line will not be able to.

I HAVE had real jobs. I’ve had enough real jobs that the taxes taken out of my own past paychecks already cover all the food assistance I’ve used and plenty to come. I have already paid for this food myself.

And every day a politician somewhere in this country wastes enough money to feed our entire fucking population.

I WANNA ADD SOMETHING IMPORTANT for anyone who thinks they might need to sign up for food assistance, cause a few people just asked me some stuff about it.

In your interviews and applications, they are going to ask “do you ever eat with other people.”

This is a trick question.

You’re gonna probably think “well, technically, yeah, I had lunch with my friend last week…my mom made me a dinner….”

STOP

Answer NO. Always always answer NO.

This question is designed to weed people out. If you admit to literally ever sharing a meal with another human being, that actually allows them to deny or alter your benefit amount. Even though this is legally referred to as “supplemental” food assistance and it isn’t enough to live on by itself, Republicans already don’t want anyone to have even that, and they want to consider it “fraud” if you both receive food assistance and EVER share food with another person, whether you’ve used your benefits to buy ingredients for someone’s birthday dinner or your mom made you a casserole one visit.

The correct thing to say when asked these questions is “I purchase and prepare my own food” or “we eat separately.” Even if you’ve already told them you live with family or a roommate.

Remember: Republicans don’t even want assistance recipients to be able to buy “luxury” items like fucking pasta sauce. They would limit you to nothing but gruel if they could. They’ve fought and pushed to load the benefit process with “tricks” and catch-22′s like these to treat as wide a range of people they can as lazy fraudsters and moochers.

Hey

@fullten

, this is some super important information from bogleech here. Sorry to bother you to post it again but I think this might save some people some pain in the future to see this.

This is legit, I got hit with that ‘job requirement’ shit and luckily my Doctor helped with the paperwork to get me exempt since working is basically something I can’t do (at least not for very long – I worked 30 hours a week just a few months ago and it literally ruined my quality of life, my depression and anxiety were amplified so badly that I was unable to do basic things like clean the dishes or take showers, and slept for 24+ hour stretches). It’s a huge pain in the ass, but if you CAN’T work, you need to get some kind of doctor on board to help you by writing a note or something, if possible. Also, when you’re applying initially, list ONLY YOURSELF as your ‘household’. If you list multiple people it requires you to list all of their earnings and assets and even having a room-mate with a decent job can literally disqualify you.

(via seananmcguire)

noctis-nova:

All it means when people say “you’re speaking from a place of privilege” is that you’re likely to underestimate how bad the problem is by default because you are never personally exposed to that problem. It’s not a moral judgement of how difficult your life is.

(via seananmcguire)

jjsupremacy:

Play along with me as I take you through a subject that is my life.

You are a single parent to a 3rd grader who just moved out of Section 8 [Government assisted] housing to a better neighborhood because you wanted your child to grow up in a safe area.

You are lower-middle class [barely] and you graduated from communitycollege with average grades. You often talk about going back to school but you simply dont have the time. You do not work minimum wage neccessarily, but you do work fulltime. You hate your job. Its thankless, grueling, you’re on your feet all night because someone to be home with your kid during the day- but you’ve worked there for quite a while now. As of now there really isnt too much you can do. You’ve still got another 10 years before jr is 18 so you tough it out and do what you gotta do for their sake. 

With your full time job you bring home [after taxes] roughly $600 every two weeks [yay!].

Your rent for your 2 bedroom apartment, is $750.

Your car payment for the ride you finance in order to get to and from work is $200 a month. 

Your car insurance, for the sake of argument, is also going to be $120 a month. 

$1200 - $750 - $200 - $120 = $130

You have $130 left. “Well thats not so bad!“ 

ohoho, you’re forgetting some things.

Your electric bill is $100. 

You, deciding to be frugal, do not have a house phone. You have a cheap prepaid “straight talk” plan for $50 a month. 

$130 - $150 = -20. 

“Oh, being $20 short isnt so bad.”  And you’re right, its not. But wait. There’s more.

In today’s world internet is essential. You’ll need to use it for your work, your kid for school in a couple of years, and driving all the way down to the library every time you need to check something online– is a pain. So you get a [cheap] internet plan for $35 a month. 

[-55]. 

Still not looking too bad? 

Jr can ride the bus, but you’ve gotta get to work somehow. The car doesnt put gas in itself and its $5 for an all-day bus pass. You have a choice of either putting in $40 worth of gas to fill up the tank and only going where you “need” to go [$80 to fill up twice a month] or setting aside $100 a month for bus fare. 

Since you have the car you’d might as well use it. there goes $80

[-135]

And if you dont want social services to come knocking, you’d better get some food in that fridge. You “could” apply for foodstamps, but NOPE. That’d be LAZY. And LIVING OFF THE SYSTEM. You’re not a WELFARE QUEEN are you?  After all, its not taxpayers responsibility to feed you and your kid lolamirite??? YOU decide to pick yourself up by your boostraps and live the American way. :3 [besides, since you constantly work overtime social services says you “make too much money” to qualify for government aide. All they see is the $1,200 a month. ouch.]

the kid eats lunch at school, so you really just need somethings for yourself and snacks at home.

Or you would, if the free/reduced lunch program didnt get cut. Aaah America. Taxpayer dollars are precious indeed. still, you decide to do the economical thing and get all your food from dollar tree.

You  put aside $70 a month for food for you both.

[-205]

You need an extra $205 a month just to break even. This is not including doctors appointments [co-pay], dentist appointments [co-pay], eye exams [co-pay], clothes.

Well now you’re in quite a bind now arent you? So you do what people do in this situation and start borrowing money. From friends, from family, and somehow you manage to scrape it together. Somehow, every month, you manage to work something out with the landlady [who charges late fees after the 5th btw]. You keep doing this. And doing this. And doing this.

You realize something isnt working. 

Your kid never has any nice clothes, never has any new toys, never goes anywhere or does anything that isn’t free or cheap or on somebody else’s dollar. The other kids make fun of them. They start bullying them. You yourself arent doing too hot either. Every month its stress stress stress. You dont even get to SEE your paychecks. You dont even get to ENJOY your money, yourself, your child, or even your own life.

Something has to change.

You start looking at things and saying “what can I get rid of?”

Immediately you look at your car. Possibly the only nice/decent thing you own. You cant make the payments or the insurance so you just let them come and repo it. 

This puts $115 into your wallet each month! Yay! Go you!

But now you have to take the bus for sure. So lets say you work about 21 days out of the month. $5 a day, 21 days, that’s $105.

which leaves you, after food and bills and everything else, with $10.

Which you spend on your child. Maybe on a new toy, or some ice cream or mcdonalds or just something nice for them every now and again. You start saving that $10 from each pay-period and lets just assume you always have that $10 because everything is consistent

One day, you’re out shopping, and you see something you really want. 

You have not had anything nice for yourself in so. Long.

Even now you still dont even get to enjoy your money. Because something always happens. But you’re minding your own business and this thing catches your eye. Its nice. Very nice. You hesitate. You think of everything you’ve been through. You think of the struggling, the crying, the “final notices”, all the hell and fuckery and then you remember back in the day when payday used to be something you looked forward to.

You decide to get it.

And you get that, and you get it home, and you login to the internet while your kid is watching a DVD and the first thing you see is–

“how the fuck are poor people getting iphones and gucci bags? so this is what my tax dollars pay for? You know how I afford nice things? I get off my ass and I WORK for them. People like that are what’s wrong with this country.“ 

and all of the comments are exactly like this. These are the people who dont want you to receive any sort of help whatsoever but then chastise you for being poor as if it were of your own volition. 

I want you to think of how depressing it would be to do that for months. For years. Hell, think of how depressing it would be to grow up in that as a child and watching your parent do that. Believing nothing would ever get better. Struggling as hard as you can just to barely get by and opening the fridge tuesday night, seeing its empty, then going “all we gotta do is make it until friday” and fill up on water digging for change around the house. 

Poor people buy nice things because they actually want to be happy sometimes too. 

Which is apparently a sin. Poor people dont deserve happiness according to America.

(via seananmcguire)