#exploitation men

[songandflame-archived]

Talk about Fantine's childhood maybe? Did she make any connections or did anyone help her, even if she doesn't remember it?

@reverdies || thank you!

Ooh! I think Fantine was lucky in the regards that, while most people did not make an attempt to ouright adopt her, whether it be due to personal reasons such as lack of space or money — especially for those already in poverty — there was already a community formed amongst the poverty stricken. Those in the upper rungs of society never graced the areas of town in which Fantine ran barefoot with children in similar circumstances to her. Even if someone wealthier did come across her, Fantine was not worth their time or attention.

The poor had to be selfish to survive, no-one could blame them for that, but Fantine can remember those who gave her what they could (after their share, of course). Often, older women would take pity on the motherless child, clothing and feeding Fantine before sending her on her way. Although not educated, she could take advantage of an exploitative child labour; it was not well paid work, nor was it safe, but it allowed her a roof over her head and at least a meal whilst in various employ. Of course, as she grew older and became taller, she became unviable in that line of work, causing her to seek out other work such as farm work.

To have managed to survive infancy as she did, she must have had various people help her when they could; perhaps a woman who had lost a child and therefore cared for Fantine like her own. Honestly, Fantine can barely remember her earliest years. What she does remember is keeping those around her at an arm's length, trying to navigate the society she had been born into whilst simultaneously surviving by following unwritten rules.

In hindsight, it benefitted her that she should be a girl; most pitied her more so for nothing other than she was a young girl. Yet, there were times she wished nothing more than to be a boy— most employers preferred boys over girls, and there were times that unsavoury people would try to exploit her for more sinister purposes. However, when that happened, she would often be intercepted by an older, more streetwise woman who protected her from the consequences of exploitation. That stayed with her, most noticeably when she eventually did find herself working the streets and she made an effort to protect younger, more vulnerable girls.

[burningtheroots]

IDK who made this but it couldn’t be more true.

[ayaahh00]

Every day, I come across news of the terrible things men do to women, and many of these acts are sexual in nature. Sexual assault and harassment are pervasive. Recently, a man ejaculated on a girl who was shopping at a dollar store, and not shockingly, he had done this to three other women before. In New York, there's a man who punches women in the face and insults them. Reading about these acts makes me question how men have held power and control in society for so long. How is it that, for centuries, men have maintained such dominance that dismantling the patriarchy now feels like an impossible task.

In the case of the Dollar Tree incident, the perpetrator wasn’t even charged with sexual assault, even though it clearly was. Why? Because the police force, like many other sectors, is predominantly male. The justice system and government positions are overwhelmingly held by men. Even where women are present, their numbers are so low that their influence is minimal.Why does the justice system and the government fail to protect women? Where is the control, the safety, and the protection for women? How can women ever feel safe when we read about police officers who themselves commit acts of sexual violence? When men hold most positions of power, how can we expect women to be safe? How many more stories should we hear of men in power raping, sexually assaulting, and abusing women? Exploiting their power to abuse women. How many more of those stories should we hear? Until when will you keep having men in power? Until when?

[heterorealism]

[thegoodmorningman]

Good Morning!!! You better hope your manager doesn't see you right now.

[hadesoftheladies]

it's normal to be insulted by femininity as a girl or woman and it's really simple why.

the core philosophy of patriarchy is that men and women are not defined by their sex but by their sexual roles in the male sexual hierarchy (a naturalistic fallacy). the philosophy of patriarchy cannot allow for equality at any given point, because a man ceases to be a man if he is not dominant and a woman seizes to be a woman if she is not submissive. keep this in mind.

so a woman as defined by patriarchy is a complementary thing (non-human, like animals or "nature") to a man's estate. the woman identity, as construed by patriarchy, exists solely for male pleasure and estate. that means the woman is only a woman if (it/she) is an asset to a male's estate. so it/she must be a wife, a concubine, a tradeable daughter (this is opportunity for wealth), a prostitute or mother. please note, in all these roles, a woman is always meant to be subordinate or she/it is not a woman.

now remember, this is only patriarchal philosophy, but this philosophy/worldview needs to become an ideology and way of life. so patriarchs, in order to justify their made-up bullshit about the sexes and their right to exploit without consequences, must naturalize this worldview. they can create patriarchal religions (for whichever has the power over life and death defines the value and purpose of a soul) and language (whoever defines the world controls how it is perceived).

but CLOTHES are an expression of both. clothes, aside from simply being utilitarian (even in ancient times), were visual symbols denoting things like class, age, sex, nationality, and beliefs. NOW UNDERSTAND, the first class distinction in human societies was between men and women. men were higher humans hence were to be treated as a distinct upper class, and women were lower-class.

class distinction via sex was the first kind of class distinction. so it became increasingly important to the patriarchal state that women and men had to dress according to their class (the Old Testament of the Bible shows that this was indeed important to early patriarchal states in the ANE via verses like Deuteronomy 22:5 which reads, “A woman shall not wear a man’s garment, nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.”) In short, clothes do not have sex (no garment can chan he your chromosomes), but they do have sex-class (which is gender).

in the development of patriarchy, the veil in the ancient near east, became a symbol of women's sexual status, publicly announcing them as married, concubines, virgins, etc. (i encourage you to read The Beginning of Patriarchy by Gerda Lerner for more in-depth information on all this). clothes then, and today, have always been about determining women as a sexual class and what role they performed in that sexual class (modest, up for sale, married, low-value, lesbian/deviant).

because men get to define what women are, they get to define what our clothes mean. they get to decide if something is modest or if a woman is "asking for it."

what does this have to do with femininity?

patriarchal belief= a woman is a thing, defined explicitly by her inequality to man, that exists purely for the pleasure and purpose of the man. this means a woman can only be a sexual slave (whether as a mother/wife or a whore) and cannot live or exist outside of this male-defined sexuality (temptress/justified sexualization of underage girls) without becoming something other than a woman (a monster, a witch, ungodly, mentally ill). since it was made for man, it cannot pursue interests outside of pleasing him and still be a natural, healthy thing.

enter gender.

femininity (and gender) is how women are regulated by the patriarchal state. it is a costume, a uniform, that signifies an obedient subordinate, but it is also a performance that is constantly tested and scored. women with low scores get re-educated or removed from society (via death or ostracization). femininity is how women are policed. all you have to do is to look at the traits of femininity and it's rules.

the natural female face/body should always be palatable, pleasing and presentable to the man and what he specifically finds attractive (so it doesn't matter that you're from a different culture or of a different class, if you're dressing "modestly" or "promiscuously"--this is the only primary rule: that you please men and that you are tasteful to the man who fancies you)

this means that the woman's health is secondary and her body should be editable, adaptable, picked apart and put back together on a whim, on any and every level to appeal to any man who wants her (cosmetic surgery, corsets, trends)

nurture is paramount to the character of a woman (because a woman is meant to be an excellent breeder)

softness and smallness (signals submissiveness, passiveness, defeat, weakness--all of which are proper womanly behaviour)

martyrdom (a woman exists for the preservation of the man and his estate)

silence (this communicates mental submission which is important, women should not voice their experiences, grievances, frustrations, desires, stories because she is showing agency and none of these qualities aid her identity as a sexual servant)

i want you to look at and analyze, even within your own cultures, what femininity is defined as wherever it exists, and then see if you can find any connection to how it enforces the idea of the patriarchal woman-thing. the entire performance, clothing and behaviour, is enforced in order to justify the fictional woman-thing in patriarchal imagination.

but you are a human being.

you have always been able to think, feel, disagree, feel anger . . . because you are a person with a sense of dignity, history and purpose outside male-defined sexuality. so when you as a girl or woman express disdain at femininity, it is not because you think "feminine" women are beneath you. it is because you know femininity is beneath every woman and yourself.

the capitalistically driven insecurity market that pushes women to seek out the security of male validation is beneath all of us. the performance is beneath all of us. we were human before we were mothers, wives, sex workers. we were beautiful and wonderful before makeup. we were human before men looked at us and called us fuckable. we were powerful and divine before men told us we were demonic and simply angelic, servants of gods rather than goddesses ourselves. we had the capacity to create and invent the world before men told us we didn't have heads for learning.

we have always been human and always will be.

femininity is a patriarchal polemic against our humanity. it's fundamental philosophy disagrees with the reality of us. that's why there's so much anger and fear around this culture.

some of us, as girls, resented the fact that our mothers asked us to swallow the fact that they accepted (as right) their humiliation and ours. that they wanted us to show men and boys that we accepted that we were made to be humiliated. of course we got angry. of course we felt confused. didn't our mothers, sisters, aunts, friends care that this performance was never-ending humiliation as we were forced to parade ourselves in order to compete for male approval? in front of the eyes of men and boys we knew mocked us for everything? so we said, we're not like other girls. other girls want to keep up with this. maybe they like humiliation? but we can't live this way. something must be wrong with us, or with them. they're sheep, or we're disgusting lesbians. but the truth is that we're all just in a world of pain and desperation.

your (feminine) clothes are not made with you in mind, but they are also made to keep you minding yourself. checking yourself. making sure your bra doesn't show. your underwear doesn't slip. your belly isn't too prominent. it keeps you eager to perform your role. to win against a race you can't even define because you haven't ever questioned if it ends. you get approval from the state because you are trained to self-regulate, and you have been trained well. the relief you feel at the approval of other girls or boys is that they are giving you a high score. which means you are safe. you are beautiful, you are a good performer. you will be picked and not left behind.

you may say you dress for the girls, but that's part of the problem, still. you and the girls are. you are still agreeing with the political philosophy of patriarchy when you uncritically wear the uniform of the woman-thing. you think of yourself as the woman-thing. you think of your face and body as infinitely editable. delete the breasts, delete the pores, enlarge the eyes like you're a doll on a Wii avatar creator. and so other girls are scared of being themselves because you all know there's something here to fear. there's rejection and punishment waiting for pretty ladies who don't comply.

but you're a living, complete human being, darling. you are an ecosystem with mysteries as old as the universe in you. you are a person that deserves to be here fully and freely. this is your world, too. our world.

so you see why gender cannot be reclaimed by us in a meaningful sense? it is a performance that is invented, re-invented and validated by the philosophy of our dehumanization. it will never be independent of it in this system.

you are worth the freedom and strength you can give yourself. you are worth the fight out of this.

[just-french-me-up]

For the kiss prompts, Dreamling and joy, happiness, or adrenaline?

@just-j-really said : I meant joy, /habit/ or adrenaline lol. Should've just used the numbers.

How about I give you joy AND adrenaline? I can't get Olympics AUs out of my skull so here it comes! This is 100% inspired by Manon Apithy-Brunet's victory and what came afterwards! Also Death is called Thana in this, cause I couldn't have her go around named Death, so Thana, because Thanatos and all that

"And we're back with James Anderson at the Grand Palais, where the men's foil final is about to begin."

"Indeed, Anne. Team GB's chance to snatch the first gold medal of its history in men's foil fencing! The stakes are high at the Grand Palais tonight, but Team GB can count on Morpheus Endless after the stellar performances he gave us earlier today."

"It's going to be one for the ages!"

"It sure is!"

**

11-13

Hob had lost any semblance of control over his nerves ten touches ago, his legs bouncing up and down relentlessly while his eyes burnt holes into the piste below. Two touches. Two touches to strike gold. He could do it. He was so close.

The South Korean fencer on the other side of the piste wouldn't go without a fight, though. Morpheus was faster, but his opponent was taller, more imposing, covering more ground. Every touch scored was given right back, filling the Grand Palais with the deafening roar of the audience. It is too loud, Hob kept telling himself. He hates it when it's loud. It was everything, the lights, the sounds, the screams... God the overstimulation going on under that mask, he could not even fathom.

Morpheus lunged forward, aiming at the South Korean's flank. Hob felt his breath catch in his throat.

12-13

The room exploded again, members of the audience standing up, waving flags and signs. Hob buried his head in his head.

"God, I can't even watch."

"He's going to be alright," Thana told him, her hand braced against his knee.

Before Hob could look up, cheers erupted again, louder still. Thana's fingers tensed around his knee.

"Fuck! Who scored?"

"He's almost there! He's going to make it! Hob, he's going to make it!"

12-14

One more. One more to the title of Olympic fucking Champion. Hob hadn't even noticed he'd stood from his seat, his heart beating in his ears. He could not even hear the crowd. All he could focus on were the lights. Red or green. Red. It had to be red. Please let it be red. The South Korean came at Morpheus, lunging forward. Morpheus parried, lunged, fleche at the ready.

The red light blinked, sending the Grand Palais into a frenzy. It happened all so quickly, Morpheus yanking off his mask, his face glowing both with pride and relief, erupting in a disbelieving chuckle as the audience chanted his name, Thana's arms squeezing Hob tight, her voice saying words he could not make out under the uproar surrounding them. He did it! He fucking did it!

He didn't know at what point his entire body had decided to move, but Hob found himself rushing down the stairs leading to the pistes. Security met him at the bottom, preventing him from going any further.

"I'm his husband!" he kept saying, oblivious to the fact he and the man standing in his way probably didn't speak the same language. "I'm his husband! I'm―"

In a desperate attempt at communication, he waved his athlete badge under the man's nose. That seemed to do the trick, as the security guard stepped aside, leaving Hob free range to run up to the piste.

His chest could have burst from pride seeing Morpheus there, victorious, facing the crowd, sweat dripping from his brow, years of effort and sacrifice leading him to that very moment. Morpheus Endless, gold medalist, Olympic Champion.

As their eyes met, something in Morpheus seemed to give, all the pressure escaping his body as he fell to his knees, letting go of his foil to wrap his arms around Hob, the strength in them gone as the crowd and cameras, everything other than them, vanished.

"You did it," Hob took his face in his hands, ecstatic. "You did it, duck! You did it!"

Morpheus could barely speak, going from uncontrollable laughter to choked sobs. He pressed his forehead to Hob's before kissing him hard, salt, exhaustion and gold in his tongue. Hob leant into him, his hand combing the back of his hair, bringing them closer. The cameras probably got an eyeful, but who cared. Gold medalist was a once every four years kind of title.

And he couldn't wait for Morpheus to kiss him in front of the whole world again in 2028.

Send me a kissing prompt?

[bixels]

So I l’ve been getting into your ko crisis story lately (it all sounds rlly awesome btw) and i was curious - you’ve said in the tags in a previous ask that ash is comphet, so is that gonna play a major role in her character arc/journey in any way?

Yeah, the story basically covers her journey of redefining her identity as a queer Asian-American disabled woman in a sports-entertainment industry, which is a media landscape that specifically targets, exploits, and fetishizes people like her.

[charcharliee]

John doe x 1x1x1x1 is awesome 🙏🙏

[womendeservehumanity]

If you ever need a reminder of how much men hate you and how little empathy (really none) they have for you. Look no further than Mason Greenwood. A footballer who has literally got more famous and more support AFTER he was exposed with audio clips and photo evidence of abusing and attempting to rape his girlfriend. So many man that like this man not even in spite of his crimes but BECAUSE of them and their inclination to support and protect even the most depraved of males. Go on any of his social media accounts and he gets nothing but love and praise. He has collective support from men. And the few outliers that condemn him and support for him get called simps and white knights. You are considered a white knight as a male for saying that a rapist is bad and shouldn’t be able to represent the hugest sport globally. If that doesn’t tell you all you need to know about that gender idk what will.

And yes. His girlfriend forgave him. And they now have a daughter together which is terrifying. But to this poor woman is nothing but trauma bonded to this man and her forgiveness doesn’t make him any less of a monster. She has NO ONE but him. When she came forward she got so much harassment and vitriol. Her own fucking family told her to forgive him because he’s a rich footballer. She had no resources, no support system, nothing. And what’s crazy is to this day this woman gets more hate and harassment than the man that abused and raped her. They hate her for being victimized by him and exposing that. They hate her for staying because she made a big deal for “nothing”. Again, men hate you. So much. I pray this woman finds healing and can get out of this situation. Sadly, I think it will have to take another escalation. No matter what, trust and believe males will have more vitriol towards her.

This is why I cannot for the life of me care about false accusations and men’s supposed fear of it. They try to convince us they’re not silencing victims when they immediately dismiss every woman who comes forward with a story of abuse/rape as a liar. They simply want to make sure innocent men aren’t getting their lives ruined. Meanwhile men that they 100% cannot deny did it (greenwood, playboi carti, Chris brown, etc.) literally face no repercussions. They still support them. It has never and will never be about the insanely rare instances of false accusations. It will always be about silencing women and protecting men.

Because if it was truly about the truth they’d be doubting males. When they’re accused of abuse or rape and obviously lie 99% of the time and say they didn’t do it and it comes out they did in fact do it, no one generalizes males as liars. No one is like “oh he said he didn’t. But so many men have and it turned out they were lying” but all it takes is a handful of women lying for every woman to be a possible liar. What a joke

[yuri-for-businesswomen]

we need more feminist horror

[sailing-ever-west]

don't join reddit you'll find yourself trying to explain things to men online and before you know it you'll suddenly understand sisyphus

[coochiequeens]

Showing concern for an exploited woman is not homophobia"

The woman has three kids and a mother that needs her? Surrogate mothers face an increased risk of pregnancy complications. If something were to happen to her that would leave 3 kids and her sick mother without her.

[emoboygenderenvy]

so uh. how are we feeling about the three hour torture porn game ft the creator’s foot fetish gang……..

[wheredidalltheusersgo]

Total Drama Future AU design number 8!

Alejandro is 39 in this AU.

After All Stars, he took some time to improve his mental health and rekindle his relationship with Cody. Little did he know that Cody had been hopelessly pining for him, and he couldn't deny that he liked that funny little guy as well.

After 1 year and 3 months of dating, Cody proposed to him at the Café they had both grown to love.

It was nice to have someone who loved and appreciated him for more than his body.

With the help of Alejandro's mother, they had a lovely wedding and invited both the Gen 1 and 2 casts as guests (Minus Chris and Chef).

For their honeymoon, they went around the world and revisited all the destinations from World Tour. (Minus the island from the finale).

On December 26th, 2013, at 4:49am, they welcomed Axel Burromuerto-Anderson into their lives.

Alejandro runs his own Pub in Toronto, he's very fond of his work.

Alejandro never thought this is where he would end up in life, but he's quite pleased he got this far.