Accepting Help – 9.7.19

Hello lovelies, I hope you’ve had a nice start to the week. Today I wanted to have a bit of a ramble about a topic I struggle with and that I think a lot of people struggle with: accepting help.

We’re fed a lot of stories where the protagonist manages to make themselves into something from nothing either with no help or very little help from others. Usually there’s a whole bit of plot dedicated to teaching the protagonist they need help and need to rely on others which is nice and something I think we all need reminded of from time to time. Accepting help from friends and family doesn’t take away from the hard work you put into something, it doesn’t somehow make you weaker or any less capable. Everyone needs a little boost every now and then.

I’m a ridiculously stubborn person at times. I’ve gotten very used to doing things by myself and not reaching out to anyone when things start getting a bit much. Although it’s a toxic mentality to have, I definitely have a “if I don’t do it then it won’t be done right” mentality, it’s something I’m trying to work on changing but it takes time. The only way I’ll be able to change my mentality is by reaching out and trusting other people, accepting help when I need it.

Accepting help from others can involve a lot of trust and trusting other people can be hard. Or sometimes we just don’t want to be a burden on the people we care about. We can end up feeling like no one will care even if we do reach out or that there are other people worse off so we should just deal with it. But if we allow ourselves to reject help or even reject the idea that we deserve help then we’ll spiral down into some very dark places that can be really hard to get out of.

I’m not saying you should treat your friends and family as your therapist/councillor, just reach out and let them know you’re struggling. Find someone you trust and ask if you can talk to them about what’s on your mind. If you don’t want to trouble people you know then you can always see if there are any services available to you locally. Whether that’s a health service, financial advice or just a talk service/helpline – there’s a whole bunch of things available now that we’re so lucky to have.

Just don’t be afraid to seek out help.

I’ve had counselling twice in my life so far and to be honest would love to get another haha. I’ve had help from my family and friends more times than I can count. My fans are constantly helping me – they help support me so I can actually do the job that I love. Getting help isn’t something to be embarrassed about, it’s totally normal and everyone does it at some point or another.

Don’t suffer in silence, stay safe and be happy x

Quick Update – 5.7.19

Hello all!

This is your reminder that in Glasgow tomorrow the #AskThe700 will be out handing out flyers and getting people to fill in the consultation. They could always use some extra volunteers! They’ll be on Buchanan Street just by the Apple store from 1pm until 3pm.

Plus I’ll be there!

So please if you’re in Glasgow come and say hi. Fill in the consultation if you haven’t already and meet some of the main GMB people that are helping to spearhead this campaign. Along with some dancers and sex work supporters that I’m sure will be happy to answer any questions you might have.

If you can’t be there in person then try and spread the word via social media!

No matter what you get up to this weekend please just remember to stay safe and be happy x

SEV Protest & Next Steps – 24.6.19

Hello all ^_^ thanks for checking in. I’ve got an update on the SEVs legislation consultation campaign for you today so please be sure to read to the end.

(Also be sure to check out my previous post explaining more about the SEVs consultation –  HERE)

First things first let’s talk about the protest that was held in Georges Square, Glasgow on Saturday 22nd of June.

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Photo taken from – https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/closing-strip- clubs-puts-women-16760822

The protest was organised by The Empowered Woman Project (TEWP) and received a fair bit of media attention. Unfortunately the overall turnout of protesters was quite low. I imagine this could partly be due to it being Edinburgh Pride and partly due to people worrying about the stigma they might face for openly showing support for sex work.

TEWP are also the group that organised the petition that’s currently going around. At time of writing the petition has 3,753 signatures.

I have to say that turning up (a little late) to find that there were only 5 other protesters and probably 10 or so photographers/journalists was quite disappointing. It left me feeling as if the protest was little more than a photo shoot, which is really not what I had expected. Especially considering the number of people that had put themselves as going/interested in attending the protest.

Personally I felt the protest had been organised with too much focus on media presence and should have focused more on spreading information, working together to promote future events and creating a clear line of contact between everyone that wished to be involved.

 

TEWP protest jm pic.jpg
Photo by: https://www.johnmccarney.com/

 

However the official GMB campaign – #askthe700 – have said that both the protest and petition aren’t what we need to be focusing on. They say that we should focus on getting people to respond to the consultation – which I do fully agree with. In order to do this they will be hosting a family friendly event on the Saturday 29th in George Square, Glasgow where they will be available to answer questions and help people fill out their response to the consultation.

I found out the night before the protest that they weren’t actually involved in it and it left me a little unsure as to whether I would still go along, but I decided that the protest was a good way to bring extra attention to the campaign which in turn would be a great way to get more people to reply to the consultation. Despite the low turnout I am really glad that I went along as it was a great opportunity to meet like minded individuals, I also got to meet Mandy – one of the founders of TEWP. She’s certainly very passionate about wanting to help and had a very positive group supporting her, which was lovely to see.

On the AskThe700 website they have a statement regarding their relationship with Mandy and TEWP, I’d recommend going and reading it for yourself – https://www.askthe700.org/please-read – as the information is very important and should influence how you interact with TEWP.

askthe700 cover pic.jpg
Photo taken from: https://www.facebook.com/AskThe700/?eid=ARD4zeJxe7eX-tvKUQb9JLBMqekZDuB2AJFozLe6v2cvcL9MaySeug0Mk8XU7LlgZatS_IhWakfIxOLP

 

AskThe700 has my full support and I will endeavour to do better at double checking which events they are endorsing before passing on this information to my followers. I’m so happy that TEWP is speaking up and drawing attention to the issue but I personally feel that if we don’t follow the wishes of the official campaign (the 700 worker’s representative) then we’re going against the very thing that we are asking for.

I hope to see you at the info day/consultation response day on Saturday 29th.

Until then, stay safe and be happy x

Glasgow Strip Clubs Under Threat – 14.6.19

*** Edited 24.6.19 – removed template response as there was a risk these responses would be ignored. Left a link to the official #AskThe700 consultation response help page ***

Hey everyone, I want to talk to you about the SEVs (sexual entertainment venues) consultation that’s potentially threatening the livelihoods of sex workers across Scotland.

You may or may not be aware of the consultation, which was first brought forward at the end of May, that is going to decide on how SEVs are to be legislated and if the legislation will result in closures (thus loss of employment). You can read the basic outline of how the legislation consultation started off here.

stip club.png
Image from – https://barcelona-famous-strip-club.business.site/

Strip clubs (and sex workers in general) have been fighting off stigma and well meaning “saviour” types for years but rarely get listened to when it comes to legislating themselves and their work places. Instead they have to deal with invasive and intimidating police raids (like in August 2018) where despite the fact that the work and workers are all perfectly legal they are treated like “naughty school children” and have to deal with loss of earnings on top of the emotional trauma a raid like that can cause. Or even worse they have women claiming to be feminists film them (without their consent or knowledge) and then present that footage as evidence of a license breach in attempt to have the club – that they rely on for income – shut down (read about it here). These incidents both claim to be about protecting or saving the women involved but in both cases have left the women worse off in some way and have threatened their ability to continue earning a living.

It’s not all doom and gloom though.Glasgow already has a sex worker union! The GMB Union has an adult entertainment branch which sex workers can join in order to rally together and start making some positive changes. Megara Furie, a spokesperson from adult entertainment branch of the GMB Union, has spoken out in defence of the clubs. Megara has said that the legislation itself isn’t the main issue it’s the threat of closure that’s unreasonable, where as Marie Penman, a former councillor and woman’s activist would rather abolish all strip clubs entirely (read more here). Marie Penman believes that strip clubs themselves are an act of violence against women – and she’s not the only one to hold that belief – despite the numerous workers coming forward defending their right to choose their work and what they do with their lives. It’s a very lively debate with passionate arguments coming from either side but at the end of the day shouldn’t we be listening to the voices of the people who’s lives this will directly impact?

Now after reading over those articles and having listened to me talking about standing up for sex workers right’s in whatever way you can, you might be asking yourself “but what can I do?”.

I’ll tell you what – you can respond to the consultation!

Scotland SEV legislation consultation info.jpg
Screenshot from – https://www.glasgowconsult.co.uk/kms/dmart.aspx?strTab=PublicDMart

The consultation is open until the 26th of August 2019 so you have time to let them know what you think.

You can email them LicensingEnquiries@glasgow.gov.uk  or you can write to them Mairi Millar, Head of Licensing and Democratic Services, City Chambers, George Square, Glasgow, G2 1DU.

“But what do I say?” – I hear you ask. Not to worry GMB have you covered! Follow this link to their help page for a step by step guide on how to write your response.

 

I know this has been kind of a heavy topic but it’s important that we do our best to bring these issues to the attention of the general public. Use this opportunity to educate your friends and family. Help fight back the stigma that sex workers have been struggling with for years.

But most importantly…

Stay safe and be happy ^_^

 

 

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Now available as a t-shirt – https://www.teepublic.com/user/bluemerkitten