@anastasia beaverhousen: Good point! I wish I had known that then.
I reserve judgment about the libertarian agenda, but Little House on the Prairie definitely contributed to my body issues.
Does anyone remember the part where the Aunts and Ma were talking about how Pa could span Ma's waist with his hands when they were first married? Yeah. I couldn't even do that as a 7 year old and held the image as the barometer for a perfect body shape for years.
I guess Ma was like that before all the goose fat and venison...
@ytuhermanotambien: Um, do it! but if you plan to make it a long term thing it is really in your best interests to let them both know...
@whoneedslight:
Yup! A guy I'm seeing is half an inch taller than me, at 5'9 but we spend so much time horizontal I hardly notice...
Oh Lord, why didn't I know about this?! Is there still time to enter?
I need to nominate my boyfriend's apartment, also in Brooklyn. It would win without a doubt. They have dead mice slowly decomposing in traps. They have dishes that haven't been done since April (I took a picture in April and it looks the same, except with more dishes piled on top). They call one corner of the kitchen the 'janitor's closet' because it has a mop and a box of trash, all of which is inexplicably covered by construction debris.
It is a railroad style place with 5 adjoining rooms (luckily my bf lives in the end one which has a door). A few weeks ago someone apparently ran from one end to the other profusely bleeding and the blood trail is still there.
I fear for my health and sanity every time I go over there. I think at least one of his roommates has the plague, and at least two probably have scurvy judging by the state of their fridge...
The whole televised exploitation part of the story is indeed icky, and good job Otto for figuring out your emotional needs and morals and sticking to them.
Having said that, sex workers often play an important role in the lives of disabled people. Often people with mental disabilities in particular have a hard time expressing themselves sexually, and a compassionate and empathetic stripper or prostitute can help them a lot.
When I was dancing I had a great customer, Joe, who had Down's syndrome and came in at 7pm when the club opened, and left at around 8.30 when other patrons started to arrive. If it was completely dead the DJ would let him put on his Monkees cd and it was obviously the highlight of his week. Sometimes I felt bad about Joe spending what must have been a large proportion of his disability check on strippers...but he often told us we were his best friends and that no women ever talked to him outside of the club.
Having said that, sex workers often play an important role in the lives of disabled people. Often people with mental disabilities in particular have a hard time expressing themselves sexually, and a compassionate and empathetic stripper or prostitute can help them a lot.
When I was dancing I had a great customer, Joe, who had Down's syndrome and came in at 7pm when the club opened, and left at around 8.30 when other patrons started to arrive. If it was completely dead the DJ would let him put on his Monkees cd and it was obviously the highlight of his week. Sometimes I felt bad about Joe spending what must have been a large proportion of his disability check on strippers...but he often told us we were his best friends and that no women ever talked to him outside of the club.
@dj_chick: Same. It's on its way to my 13 year old girl cousin, AND her brothers. I feel like if we get all teens, male and female, to start showing an interest in feminism then girls like Julie hopefully will not have to grow up and go to college with guys who think feminism is a joke and only of relevance to 'ugly chicks'.
(Bitter, me? Never...)
(Bitter, me? Never...)
@undefined:
SQUIRM as a New School poetry major tries to lure her out to a roof with a Keats quote!
SQUIRM as a New School poetry major tries to lure her out to a roof with a Keats quote!
GAG as she sits in a urine puddle on the subway!
SIGH as her band once again is paid in drink tickets!
All this, next week on Real Poors of NYC.
YES!
This makes my sick sad world so much better.
This makes my sick sad world so much better.
@hellosunshine:
GAPE at Pocahaunted as she points the fan at her crotch once again in an unconditioned brooklyn apartment!
GLARE at the hipsters blocking her entrance to the L train!
LOOKAWAYINDISGUST as she pukes up the last of the $3 beer and shot combo!
@JerseyGrrrl: Exactly! I see it kind of like garment industry workers who are employed by, say, American Apparel, campaigning against sweatshops and being horrified by conditions for workers/slaves in such environments.
@Beets.Go.On in solidarity with her sisters in boobage: Yup, that's why I usually stay out of these posts. It's such a shame how sex workers and former sex workers are often shut out of feminist discussions on this kind of work.
I always try to be friends with the exes, and most times it works. However I am a little wary now, after the ex of I guy I was CASUALLY dating a few weeks ago tried to push me down a flight of stairs.
She was mad. Crazy mad. They had been broken up for six months. I feel bad for girls like this, I wanted to hug her and tell her to move on but I guess I was not the right person to attempt this kind of intervention.
For some reason when I was a little girl the Frederick's of Hollywood store in Santa Monica Place mall (RIP) fricking ENTRANCED me. I was captivated by it, and begged to go in and buy a maribou trimmed dressing gown to wear whilst watching Pokemon and eating fruit rollups. Luckily my feminist Mom and her partner were horrified at my fascination and to this day I have never visited a store.
Number 7 on the shoe page looks remarkably like the Nina Ricci offerings everyone exclaimed over a month ago! Who knew she got her inspiration from Frederick's?
@Pocahaunted: @LaFemme: No problem! You should go with her/him next time, it's amazing.
@LaComtesse: Ha! I cried every time during the Atlanta Olympics whenever the McDonalds commercial came on, which was about a farmer tearfully saying goodbye to his potatoes.
@dichotomy: @fluxus flucker: I'm seriously considering donating my eggs. I have had one abortion and do not plan to ever have biological children, and consequently have a very strong desire to help women who desperately want to give birth but cannot.
Plus that $8000 is mighty appealing.
@LaFemme: It's kind of a mecca for people who love weird art orientated places. From what I can remember about the history of the place (wikipedia would probably be more helpful) a minimalist artist called Donald Judd moved there in the early 70s and started buying up property and even a whole military base to turn into art installations and galleries. The Fort there was turned into an 'anti-museum', where artist's works would be shown permanently instead of for short periods of time, allowing viewers to truly experience the art.
Since then foundations have been established and there are a lot of opportunities for residencies and gallery spaces. Now loads of conceptual artists live in the area and there are tons of art spaces, a disproportionate amount considering only 2000 people live there. There's an open house every year where thousands of artists and dealers visit, tripling the town's population for a few weeks.
I go there at least once a year and I find it really inspirational and supportive for artists and musicians. There are huge parties out in the desert, and it is the most creative atmosphere I have ever experienced. There is a sense of other-worldliness about Marfa, as though you are in an alien landscape populated by hyper-creative people and shit tons of minimalist art.
@Pocahaunted: AHRG!!!
