Brexit??!!?? – 30.8.19

Hello internet people, today I’d like to dip into politics just a little.

 

As most of you will know, I live in Scotland (Britain) and at the moment we’re going through some ridiculous political hell that has brought out the worst in the country as a whole. 

 

(Guide to Brexit – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-32810887) 

 

Hate crimes have been on the rise since the Brexit vote came through in 2016 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-48692863) and many EU citizens have been terrified of what this vote will mean for them. I personally have friends that are losing sleep on a daily basis from fear of what this could mean for them.

We’ve already had the deal decision deadline moved back and are no closer to actually having any sort of exit deal than we were when the vote first came through. Now our UNELECTED prime minister has frozen parliament with permission of the queen in order to try and force through a no deal Brexit. Which virtually all of the political parties have agreed to work together to prevent (at this point in time I think we’re still waiting on the tories but I wouldn’t hold your breath). There’s a petition that’s going round at the moment which arguably is no longer useful for anything other than showing the number of people that are upset with the fact that parliament has been frozen (https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/269157/) but that is still hugely useful information. It could be what pushes politicians into bold actions that end up with some positive results (fingers crossed).

 

prorogue petition 30.8.19
Screenshot of the petition sitting at 1,591,651 signatures (the number has since increased)

 

There has been a court session brought about by 70 MPs from many different parties aiming to stop parliament being frozen by arguing that Boris (prime minister) has abused his power and mislead the queen which if the case were successful could mean that the queen might recall the order to freeze parliament (https://www.itv.com/news/2019-08-29/court-hears-bid-to-prevent-boris-johnson-suspending-parliament/). But that’s such a mess of “maybes” and “hopefully” that my head is spinning from trying to find a simple way to explain it all.

Ok just read the update on this (https://www.itv.com/news/2019-08-30/uk-to-step-up-eu-talks-as-pm-faces-legal-challenges-to-parliament-suspension/) and it seems we’ve no immediate luck but the full case has been moved forward to the 3rd of September, so keep your fingers crossed?

All in all, it just seems like this nightmare will be dragged out until it reaches it’s most horrifying conclusion possible – no deal Brexit.

 

I’ll be going along to the protest in Glasgow on Saturday (tomorrow) to make sure I know I at least showed up to be counted amongst those that stood up and made some noise. I know not everyone that wants to go to a protest will be able to and that’s why the petition is useful. Even just posting on social media about how you feel about Brexit can add to whichever side you support. (Facebook event for Glasgow protest – https://www.facebook.com/events/492734901558566/) 

prorogue protest pic.jpeg
Found via Google – https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiCoav5s6rkAhVMrxoKHeSbC8IQjRx6BAgBEAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2019%2F08%2F29%2Fbrexit-petition-and-protests-against-uk-parliament-suspension.html&psig=AOvVaw1fXg_UcKf3DSBl5eKHMHKs&ust=1567247911520322 

 

I don’t care if you voted for Brexit. Surely anyone that voted for Brexit can see that freezing parliament and trying to push through a no deal Brexit is in no one’s favour (well no one that isn’t already well off).

We had one vote back in 2016 and everything since has been decided without a public vote.

That’s not how a democracy is supposed to work.

 

I know this has been a heavy topic and it’s pretty confusing to wrap your head around it if you haven’t been managing to follow everything as it’s been happening but the deadline is October 31st and parliament is going to be frozen for basically all of September which means there will be one month to try and figure out a solution that we’ve been trying to find for the past 3 years…and I’m scared.

No deal means, food and medicine shortages, it means prices will increase and poverty will increase exponentially.

That’s not something I want to have to try and survive through. But at this rate I’m not sure there’s much can be done by the average person. Other than signing petitions, showing up to protests and hoping that as a united voice we will be listened to.

 

I know things are tough but as always, I hope that you can stay safe and be happy x

Content Age Restrictions – 30.7.19

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope you had a nice weekend ^_^ today I wanted to have a ramble about age restrictions on content. Not in a porn specific way, more about my personal age restrictions on my public accounts.

As you might have noticed I publish some NSFW content publicly (I always do my best to mark it appropriately and post it where people that see it will be 18+) due to the fact that I do this I tend to put some sort of notice on my accounts that they are intended to be viewed by people that are 18+ and that I don’t want people under that age viewing my content.

You might also have noticed that I try not to post too much NSFW content publicly and that the majority of my posts are censored. So you might have wondered why I was still so insistent on having my accounts as 18+.

The other reason I mark my accounts as 18+ is because I am 23 years old and don’t really want to interact with anyone under the age of 18 in any extended way. Which might sound dumb but I’ve had friends that have formed friendships online with people younger than them, which when you take a step back and see an 18+ year old being friends with a 16 year old it feels a little weird. It’s not that there’s anything gross happening, it’s just that age gaps are important when the person is under 18. It’s something that I’m really aware of and try my best to make sure that the people viewing my content are appropriate for the content.

The only content I have that I feel comfortable with people under 18 viewing is my YouTube channel. Well I suppose some of my blog posts would also be fine but to be safe I’d just rather anyone visiting my blog was 18+.

youtube logo promo
Image description: YouTube Logo with chibi BlueMerkitten and the text “Don’t forget to subscribe!” the image it’self is a link to BlueMerkitten’s YouTube channel

 

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with how I do things, I just felt like talking it over with you all today. I figured it would be interesting to see how you feel about content creators (of all kinds) and how they set age restrictions, or don’t, on their content. I remember when John Green started getting a ridiculous amount of hate because most of his fans were young adults (he’s a young adult author) and that because he was interacting with them so much he must be gross and creepy (which is nonsense).

I know that if I were to gain any under 18 followers on YouTube they might want to follow me on Instagram or Twitter and I worry about that and that they might end up seeing content that isn’t appropriate for them.

But at the same time I’m an adult that makes adult content so really I don’t want to have to deal with under 18’s at all. Even though all of my explicit content is hidden behind pay walls, I’d still just rather keep it an 18+ community.

So here’s the ramble of the day haha, how do you feel about 18+ content creators (SFW or NSFW) interacting with under 18’s?

stay safe be happy insta size
Image Description: Blue text reads “Stay Safe, Be Happy” followed by a tiny BlueMerkitten logo on a purple background

Tuesday Thoughts – 16.7.19

Afternoon everyone ^_^

This morning I had the lovely surprise of receiving my #stopcensoringsluts package from the Be a Bimbo & Exotic Cancer collaboration!

Description: Selfie of Blue wearing the “Stop Censoring Sluts” crop top – White with black text and trims
Description: photo of the 2 postcard prints and 3 stickers that arrived as part of the stop censoring sluts package. Postcard on the left reads, “Nobody has the right to censor you, slut. xoxo” and postcard on the left is and art print from Exotic Cancer. The top sticker is a text sticker which reads “#stopcensoringsluts” then below are logo stickers – one for Be a Bimbo and one for Exotic Cancer.

 

I was so hype to get it this morning I even filmed a little unboxing video which you can watch HERE if you’d like ^_^ Honestly the crop top is so soft and comfy, I love it. Although I’m a tiny bit concerned that the text might peel off after it’s been washed a few times, so I’ll keep you updated on that. (I got a size XXL and usually buy a UK 16/18 for tops in case you’re wondering)

Amongst the other items I got as part of the package was a postcard from Be a Bimbo which had a really great message on the back of it and I wanted to share that message, so here you go.

” Dear Slut,

Are you tired of feeling like you have to hide who you are in order to avoid getting banned from social media? Are you tired of being shamed for embracing your sexuality by the very people who objectify you? ‘Cause we are!

It’s time to stand up to censorship! We have launched this special collaboration because it’s time to work together as a community of sluts. We will not accept being censored, demoted, or deleted just because we are empowered women who have taken ownership of OUR sexuality.

Despite Instagram unjustifiably deleting entire accounts or demoting our pictures, and entire countries ignoring sexworker’s rights and doing everything they can to get rid of us, we will prove we are stronger than ever!

#stopcensoringsluts is a campaign for us all to take back our sexuality, our bodies, and our human rights. 10% of all profits will be donated to Global Network of Sex Work Projects, which fights everyday to help our community. To read more about their amazing work, visit www.nswp.org.

#stopcensoringsluts

With love and respect,
Exotic Cancer & Be a Bimbo “

 

 

It’s so nice to see that there is a community that’s fighting back the stigma and reclaiming the slurs to empower themselves. Not to mention that Be a Bimbo has some really pretty merchandise! I’m not sponsored but gosh I wish I were haha.

–

Other things I was happy to see this morning included an article from The Herald (read it here) which featured Megara Furie directly discussing full service sex work/escorting in relation to unionising.

Although I’m delighted to see that this article is far more positive and shows that Megara and the GMB union clearly want to be inclusive and fight for the rights of the community as a whole it’s left me very confused as to why the article from the Daily Record (discussed in this blog post) came across as being so exclusionary. It makes me think this might be a case of misrepresentation by the media – which we all know happens – so hopefully we’ll be able to get a direct answer from Megara in the near future.

Either way I’m ecstatic to hear that GMB is looking to fight for decriminalisation as well as fighting discrimination of sex workers.

Thanks for checking in and be sure to go check out Be a Bimbo and Exotic Cancer!

 

Stay safe and be happy x

Public Figures Are Still People – 15.7.19

Good Evening all, I hope you had a lovely weekend. I managed to catch a little too much sun and have a tiny bit of sun burn which is making me sad but I’ll survive it haha.

Over the weekend there was an article published by the Daily Record (read it here) which featured some comments from Megara Furie – one of the main faces of the AskThe700 campaign – in regards to the possible future of the dancers if the clubs were to be shut down.

askthe700 cover pic
Description: Banner image with pink top and bottom and white centre along with the text “#AskThe700 save Glasgow Strip Clubs”

The basic point Megara is making in the article is that dancers are being propositioned by escorting agencies that are aware they may be losing their jobs in the future which shows that if the clubs are closed people could be pressured into working for the agencies despite not really wanting to and that lap dancing clubs/strip clubs should be treated as separate from other parts of the sex work industry.

So what’s wrong with that?

I understood the need to separate strip clubs from other sex work for the sake of the campaign – considering that the campaign was started as a reaction to the consultation which is only regarding strip clubs (sexual entertainment venues) – however the persistence outside of the campaign to separate strip clubs from other sex work gives off some very clear warning signs. It suggests that other areas of sex work shouldn’t get the same protection because they are “less valid” or more likely less legal. By saying that strip clubs are separate it says to me that any other sex work industry is fair game for political attack and that any of the people working in those industries are going to be left to fend for themselves. Which is not at all what I support or what I thought AskThe700 would support.

Now of course I don’t want anyone to be pressured into doing any type of sex work, that’s not what I’m saying.

I’m saying that the narrative Megara has presented has painted those that choose to do full service sex work/escorting as not being in control of their own lives and somehow lesser. Which is upsetting to hear from someone you thought was a sex worker activist fighting to protect all sex workers.

Which brings me to today’s title – public figures are still people – and people have their own views and opinions which can sometimes seem at odds with what they are representing. People can also be misconstrued or misspeak, it can be really hard to get across the message you want people to take away. However if Megara is truly meaning to drive a wedge between dancers and all other sex workers then I can’t explain how upsetting that is. As an industry we stand the best chance by uniting and working together, not drawing lines around which work should be protected and which should be left for the prudish vultures to pick at.

We’ve already seen the Glasgow SEV consultation inspire Edinburgh to run a similar consultation (which you can read and reply to here) which got a brief mention on the BBC news (here). It’s important to get the word out about these consultations now whilst there’s still a chance for us to have a positive impact. Once the consultation is over and the decisions are made it will be a much harder fight to get the council to listen to us not to mention that the damage will have already been done.

 

Description: Blue is holding an AskThe700 leaflet whilst in Glasgow wearing a yellow top and large sun hat. Photo by @dovrob (instagram)
Description: group photo of AskThe700 volunteers in Glasgow. Photo by @dovrob (instagram)

 

I will continue to support the AskThe700 campaign in any way I can, spreading awareness as best I can and just generally not letting this topic go by without a fuss. I believe that all workers that are part of the sex work industry deserve protection and deserve to have someone fighting in their corner so that’s what I’ll be doing – as best I can. I don’t think we should be separating dancers from other sex workers, I think we should all be banding together to take down the stigma and policies that never once asked what we wanted.

I know today’s blog turned into a bit of a rant (no real change there haha) but thank you for taking the time to read it ^_^

Stay safe and be happy x

TGIF! – 12.7.19

Happy Friday! The week might have been long but it’s over now ^_^ and some of you might even be going along to TRNSMT festival which looks like it’s going to be great fun 🙂

I’m also going to remind you all super quickly that the #askthe700 will be back in Glasgow tomorrow from 1pm until 3pm outside of the Apple store on Buchanan Street – hope to see you there!

This week has been a bit slow for me and had a bit of a disappointing end this morning. I’ve had some issues in my flat for the past while and it had looked like everything was finally going to be resolved this morning but it’s not to be. Ah well, 8th time getting someone out is the charm, right? Haha, I’m sure it’ll get sorted eventually.

Although it’s not been all bad. I made some very tasty cake yesterday ^_^

cake 11.7.19.jpg
Description: home made fairy cakes with cream and jam in the middle stacked into a rough pyramid shape.

 

It was so hard not eating them all in one sitting haha. I hope you’ve all had a lovely week and I hope the weekend is what you need it to be ^_^

Stay safe and be happy x