Teleen's Journal

Now you can look like a covergirl with the magic of Photoshop, by Adobé. 

( Fake commercial under the cut. )

As someone who has been photoshopped (see icon), I can vouch for both the accuracy of the ad and the unrealistic beauty standards it promotes.

It's not okay for you to dress as a member of the NWA.  It's also not okay for you to spell out what your costume is when someone asks what you're dressed as, especially since I KNOW you wouldn't have done it if there had been African American people in your immediate vicinity.  The DJ called you out on it, which was cool, but for the love of all that is good and holy, WTF were you thinking?  

That is all.

PS - According to the picture linked in the Wiki article above, you weren't even accurate to their image, which makes me think you just dressed "tough" as a gag and picked NWA as what you were dressed as to be as offensive as possible. 

( Cut for rambling on school, writing, Doctor Who, Torchwood and House. )

So how's everyone doing?

Missing Trans Woman Found Dead

There are several issues here, so I'm going to try and address them one at a time and be as coherent as I can despite my surprisingly overwhelming sense of grief for someone I didn't even know.

A quote from the article: She worked with people with disabilities but also had a police record for prostitution.

It saddens me beyond all measure that they felt the need to mention her police record for prostitution in the same breath as her work with those with disabilities.  As if one negated the other.

But I forgot.  Sex workers are inherently tainted, aren't they? 

As far as her status as a trans woman and the bearing it has here, given past cases, I have to wonder if it wasn't the cause of her death.  If the person who killed her (assuming it was murder - the police report says she died of asphyxiation, but not if it was due to an outside person) did so because they found out she'd been born with male genitalia.  And it makes me think of all the people out there who think that transgender persons are under ANY obligation to disclose their status, when the leading cause of death among transgender persons is MURDER because of ignorant bigots finding out their status.

To be clear: if you think that a trans person should tell anyone that they are trans for ANY reason whatsoever, you're an asshole.  It's their business and only theirs.  Not yours.  Not mine.  Only.  THEIRS.  Period. 

I've had this argument before and I'm going to make something else clear - I'm done arguing.  If you have an opinion that differs, keep it to yourself.  While I'm normally okay with having discussions here... not about this, not today and maybe not ever again.  Not when I keep seeing stories like this because of the sort of hatred that still exists in this world that will allow a bigot to justify ending an innocent life simply because of how that person is living it.   

Again, I don't know that this woman was murdered, but given past history, it's the most likely cause of her death. 

Cross-posted to Abolish Slavery - Legalize Prostitution.

I've witnessed this conversation many, many times.  Note: I am not this bad!  Also, I've been thinking of doing one like this myself, only with strip club customer interaction with dancers.  I've been balking at it, though, because I DO make money off of them.  Then again, the ones I'd be posting about are the ones who don't SPEND money, so who cares about offending them?

Porn Studio Extends Deal For HIV-Positive Actor

( Cut for length. )

So where am I going wrong here?  I feel certain that I am, somewhere, but I just feel that unless you are in a relationship with the same partner or partners all the time, condom use is a must to prevent the spread of all diseases, not just HIV, to society.  Again, I'm not saying that they don't have the right to live their lives as they choose, but asking them to use condoms  doesn't seem unreasonable to me.  

Thoughts? 

So, um, yeah.

I was skimming my flist for something to read when I came across this author's note: "This story is FICTION I do not wish to glorify or support the lifestyle depicted in it. It was written for pleasure and posted for entertainment purposes only."

Naturally, I just had to know what 'lifestyle' shouldn't be glorified or supported and that's when I got into trouble.  I'll let the comment I sent explain.
( Cut for length. )

Never in a million years did I ever think that I would be this mean to any author in a comment, but I've found that lately I just can't let any hint of dehumanization of sex workers slide.  What I do isn't a 'lifestyle', it's a fucking job.  A job that basically gets no respect whatsoever and is doomed to be on the fringes of society.  

Maybe this labels me 'oversensitive'.  After all, it's only an author's note, right?  An author's note that I found dehumanizing and wrong.  And again, it was probably as I said in the comment - some moralist asshole gave this author shit about writing about prostitution and so they felt the need to put up a note about it.  Too bad that they posted it publicly where someone on the other side of the fence could be offended by it.  

And there's a (very) slim possibility that I'm misconstruing this completely and the lifestyle they were talking about glorifying was that of shopping for overpriced items on Rodeo Drive (that was the chapter where the note first appeared).  If that's the case, I'll apologize.  But I somehow, I doubt it, :(.

Just a reminder, my facebook group is Abolish Slavery - Legalize Prostitution and if you can see this you're welcome to join and invite your friends, :).  Remember - sex workers are people too! :)

I was going to lock this because I know that the author can be identified fairly easily if someone cares to look.  However, I'm really tired of having to hide what I do and/or spare the feelings of those who look down on me and mine for doing it. 

Sex workers have been around since humans first had the mental capacity to trade sex for another commodity.  Treating as something dirty, immoral or wrong IS wrong and I'm tired of being made to feel ashamed for standing up for those who are in my industry because it IS so on the fringes.  We're human beings who should have the right to do as we please with our bodies.  Period.