#i dont believe in unpaid labor

[pathologicalreid]

you can wait if you dont want to do another smut right now but id love a fic where spencer has been helping reader study for her finals and after last exam is over she thanks spencer for all his help if you know what i mean 😉 (this has been stuck in my head all day)

ofc he is like no!!! you dont have to thank me but obviously reader just wants to finally celebrate being done with finals with her mans

i liveeee for your fics! im so happy youre doing requests again!

earned it | S.R.

when you finish your college course work, you only have one person to thank - your tutor

who? spencer reid x fem!reader category: smut (18+ mdni) content warnings: oral sex (m receiving), borderline ass play, fingering, established relationship, mild manhandling, i think that's it. word count: 1.46k a/n: so this request is definitely from when i reopened my requests last but i wanted to let y'all know that I'm probably gonna close them again soon so like get ur requests in ahahaha thank you for requesting please don't worry if this is incoherent

“How do you feel?” Spencer asked over the phone.

Smiling into the receiver, you made your way up the steps to the second floor of his apartment building as you answered, “I feel liberated,” You answered, balancing your phone between your ear and shoulder so you could knock on his front door.

He cleared his throat over the phone, “Hold on, someone’s at the door,” he told you, moving to open the door. “Hey,” he said, obviously surprised to find you at the door, “I thought you needed to pick your parents up at the airport?”

You shrugged, ending your phone call and stepping inside his apartment, “Their flight was delayed, so I’m now free as a bird for the rest of the day.”

“Most people want to relax after finishing their final exams,” Spencer suggested, setting his phone down before reaching out to you, pulling you closer to him by your waist, “How do you think it went?”

Beaming up at him, you slung your arms around his neck before pressing a soft kiss to his lips, “I think I aced it, and it’s all thanks to my tutor.” Slowly, you ushered him in the direction of the couch, hoping to coax him to the supple leather.

Following your lead, your boyfriend hummed thoughtfully, “Well, as your tutor, I’m glad to hear that.”

With a careful touch, you settled your hands on his shoulders and pushed him down, “And now that I’m done, I figured it was time to return the favor.” You offered, settling yourself down on the couch next to him and smoothing out the skirt of your sundress.

“I’m not in classes anymore,” he reminded you confusedly, tilting his head to the side so that he was closer to you. That much you remembered, he finished his philosophy degree rather unceremoniously last year, not even willing to humor you by putting on a cap and gown.

You nodded, adjusting yourself so that you could lean over until he pulled you into his lap, one knee on either side of his hips. “Yes, but I needed to figure out some way to express my gratitude,” you said, cocking your head to the side as you gave him a knowing look.

Spencer raised his eyebrows at you, “I helped you study because I love you, not because I expected anything in return.” This, of course, you knew, Spencer was too much of a gentleman to outright accept your offer of sexual favors in exchange for your study sessions.

“No, I know, but I don’t believe in unpaid labor,” you informed him, intertwining your fingers at the back of his neck, catching some of the hair at the nape of his neck, forcing him to lean his head back. Taking the opportunity that had presented itself, you attached your lips to the side of his neck, placing gentle kisses as you felt his grip on your hips tighten. “I just finished school and maybe I want to celebrate a little,” you murmured against his skin, reaching your hand up and fiddling with the knot of his tie.

Another thing that you knew was that Spencer was too much of a man to turn down head, so you weren’t surprised when the next thing he said was, “Then let’s celebrate.”

Moving away from him slightly, you giggled, “You’re so easy to convince.”

He rolled his eyes in response, “And you’re so pretty,” he mumbled, dragging your lips down to his as you grinned, letting him touch you everywhere he wanted as you moved to palm his half-hard cock through his slacks.

Getting him hard was easy, you had been so stressed during finals that the two of you hadn’t done much more than make out, but now that all you had to do was cross the stage, you each had a lot of pent-up hormones that needed to be released. You tried to undo his belt without pulling away from him, but you eventually needed to see what you were doing, leading you to pull away before undoing the belt buckle.

Desperate for more contact, Spencer ducked his head and kissed your shoulder, leaving open-mouthed kisses around the thin strap of your dress as you continued undoing the button and zipper of his slacks with ease. You let out a soft moan in response to him moving to your neck, watching the way his cock twitched beneath his boxers.

You gently slipped your fingers under the elastic band, taking his entire length in your hand, just holding him caused his head to fall back and lift his hips from the couch to move his pants and underwear down, giving you more access. You crouched down on the couch, ducking your head so that you could press a gentle kiss to the tip of his cock, continuing your motions by pressing similar little kisses down the shaft until you hit the base.

Skimming your fingertips down his member, you smiled at the way his hips bucked off of the couch before wrapping your lips around him, taking him as far as you could without gagging and staying like that while Spencer gathered your hair at the nape of your neck and secured it with his fingers. You bobbed your head slightly, resting one hand on his hip and moving the other to hold his free hand before you lifted your head to swirl your tongue around his bulbous tip.

“You’re so good at this,” he murmured, his hand holding your hair gripping tighter as you bobbed your head again, “fuck, baby.”

Even as he let go of your hand, you continued bobbing your head even as you felt Spencer’s hand fiddling with the skirt of your dress, letting out a gentle moan when you realized what he was doing.

Spencer pulled your panties down your thighs by the gusset, giving him perfect access to your pussy as you kept your lips around his cock, “My pretty girl,” he praised while gently pressing his index finger at your entrance, circling the wet hole before pushing it in. Because of the angle you were at, he couldn’t get his fingers very deep, but it did enable him to press his thumb against your clit.

You moaned around his cock, the vibrations causing him to hiss and leading you to reach your newly freed hand to gently cup his balls, squeezing them as you bent your finger and pressed the knuckle to his taint, massaging the sensitive area that always made him finish.

He slipped another finger into your cunt easily as he released a shuddering breath, “I’m close,” he let you know, grip on your hair tightening as he did.

Humming, you just continued your ministrations until he let you know that he was going to come, the white, hot liquid spurting directly into your mouth while you continued to work him through his orgasm, your movements slowly coming to a halt so you didn’t overstimulate him.

Swallowing his cum, you released him from your mouth as he pulled his hand from your wet hole. Careful not to get anything on your dress, he maneuvered you so that you were facing him, his hooded eyes had a hint of determination as he pushed two digits into your pussy, you whimpered at the depth he got at this new angle.

You rocked your hips so that you were riding his hand, placing your hands on his shoulders for support while he used his thumb to stimulate your clit. “Spence,” you whined, breath hitching as he curled his fingers inside of you.

“What is it, baby?” He asked without pausing his movements.

Opening your mouth to respond, only a high-pitched noise came out in place of words, causing your head to fall forward onto his shoulder. “Come,” you mumbled.

Continuing to curl his fingers inside of you, he gently kissed your temple, “Come on my fingers, baby. You earned it. You can let go,” he encouraged.

You gasped as you did just that, feeling your walls clench around his fingers as he continued moving them, “Fuck, yes, thank you,” you babbled into the crook of his neck, lifting your head and looking him in the eyes.

His cheeks were flushed pink as he leaned in to press a kiss to your lips, instinctively, you pulled back.

“I have cum dribbling down my chin,” you explained to him when he frowned at the rejection.

Shaking his head, he leaned back in, “I really don’t care,” he said, kissing you chastely – as if to prove a point – and placing his hands on either side of your waist before settling you on his lap. “When does your parents’ rescheduled flight get in?”

You hummed contentedly, “Not until tonight.”

“Perfect,” he responded.

[esinofsardis]

AI Is Inherently Counterrevolutionary

You've probably heard some arguments against AI. While there are fields where it has amazing applications (i.e. medicine), the introduction of language generative AI models has sparked a wave of fear and backlash. Much has been said about the ethics, impact on learning, and creative limits of ChatGPT and similar. But I go further: ChatGPT is counterrevolutionary and inherently, inescapably anti-socialist, anti-communist, and incompatible with all types of leftist thought and practice. In this essay I will...

...

Dammit im just going to write the whole essay cause this shit is vital

3 Reasons Leftists Should Not Use AI

1. It is a statistics machine

Imagine you have a friend who only ever tells you what they think you want to hear. How quickly would that be frustrating? And how could you possibly rely on them to tell you the truth?

Now, imagine a machine that uses statistica to predict what someone like you probably wants to hear. That's ChatGPT. It doesnt think, it runs stats on the most likely outcome. This is why it cant really be creative. All it can do is regurgitate the most likely response to your input.

There's a big difference between that statistical prediction and answering a question. For AI, it doesnt matter what's true, only what's likely.

Why does that matter if you're a leftist? Well, a lot of praxis is actually not doing what is most likely. Enacting real change requires imagination and working toward things that havent been done before.

Not only that, but so much of being a communist or anarchist or anti-capitalist relies on being able to get accurate information, especially on topics flooded with propaganda. ChatGPT cannot be relied on to give accurate information in these areas. This only worsens the polarized information divide.

2. It reinforces the status quo

So if ChatGPT tells you what you're most likely to want to hear, that means it's generally pulling from what it has been trained to label as "average". We're seen how AI models can be influenced by the racism and sexism of their training data, but it goes further than that.

AI models are also given a model of what is "normal" that is biased towards their programmers/data sets. ChatGPT is trained to mark neoliberal capitalism as normal. That makes ChatGPT itself at odds with an anti-capitalist perspective. This kind of AI cannot help but incorporate not just racism, sexism, homophobia, etc but its creators' bias towards capitalist imperialism.

3. It's inescapably expoitative

There's no way around it. ChatGPT was trained on and regurgitates the unpaid, uncredited labor of millions. Full stop.

This kind of AI has taken the labor of millions of people without permission or compensation to use in perpetuity.

That's not even to mention how much electricity, water, and other resources are required to run the servers for AI--it requires orders of magnitude more computing power than a typical search engine.

When you use ChatGPT, you are benefitting from the unpaid labor of others. To get a statistical prediction of what you want to hear regardless of truth. A prediction that reinforces capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy, imperialism, and all the things we are fighting against.

Can you see how this makes using AI incompatible with leftism?

(And please, I am begging you. Do not use ChatGPT to summarize leftist theory for you. Do not use it to learn about activism. Please. There are so many other resources out there and groups of real people to organize with.)

I'm serious. Dont use AI. Not for work or school. Not for fun. Not for creativity. Not for internet clout. If you believe in the ideas I've mentioned here or anything adjacent to such, using AI is a contradiction to everything you stand for.

[yuri-for-businesswomen]

i dont know what to do.

everyday i wake up with all this knowledge about the sex industry and neoliberalism and capitalism and racism and exploitation and slave wage labour and actual slaves and child rapists and female genital mutilation and mandatory hijab and sex tourism and mail brides and child brides and domestic abuse and the beauty industry and porn and bdsm and war crimes and rape in prison and forced birth and women dying during birth and surrogacy and the fertility industry and sex buyers and male depravity and daily and normalised misogyny and micro aggressions and the lies we are told and the lies so many believe and the gender care gap and immigrant women and disabled women and mentally ill women and girls who just want to go to school and daughters who will never be treated like sons and all the unpaid domestic and emotional labor and and and

and all the harm and suffering girls and women are enduring, have to endure

and i dont want to stop thinking about my sisters’ suffering because we are where we are because too many people don’t care but it’s eating me from the inside out

[regression-1863]

And Then There Were Two

“You know the story.” 

“We know a story.” 

“So?” The brown haired man— (woman? They never particularly cared, call them a sentient goose for all they care,) leans back in the cheap orange chair. They cross their arms, as if cold. “It’ll all be the same. I already gave you my statement.” it was just the two of them here. Four if you count the facades that each of them wears. 

“You don’t seem too bothered about being in here,” the older man said. He had your typical 70s detective look, trenchcoat and all, cigar lit and being dragged on without care for the osha convention—  have that been invented yet? Seraphim couldn’t remember. Couldnt be bothered to, not anymore. 

“Should I be?” Seraphim asks, watching as  the detective fumes. 

The man takes a deep breath, before asking, “Name, age, date of birth.” 

“Se–” she pauses, “Sarah,, 19, born…” Seraphim pauses for half a second, barely noticeable, “1955, november third.” 

The detective slams his hand on the table, “You’d be 18 then, not 19.” 

“Would I?” Seraphim, aka Sarah puts ‘her’ hand on her forehead. “God, I must’ve been more messed up by this whole thing than I thought. I had my birthday celebrated a few days before  the office was supposed to be vacated.”

The detective, clearly resisting the urge of snapping at this poor young woman, as Seraphim made themself seem to be. 

“Start from the beginning.” 

Sarah, as quiet as she was, was an average worker. She did what she was told, didn’t go beyond that, did overtime when forced. By all standards, a cutboard cuttout office worker. Technically she was an intern, or unpaid labor, only a yearish out of highschool. 

By the time all of the other workers had gotten their things from the building and had left, so had she. Except, of course, she left her laptop. 

October 31st, 1973, 7:50P.M just after sunset, she remembered this little fact. There would hardly be anyone in the building. 

She went to the third floor where she worked, grabbing her laptop, before hearing the sounds of people. They were speaking in hushed voices, and of course, she followed. 

“Why?” the detected interjected her story. 

“They werent supposed to be there. I dont know how they got key’s to the building, its more likely they broke in. I was going to tell them off.” she took a deep breath, before continuing. “There were a group of teens. I told them to get lost–” 

“Can you describe them?” 

She wanted to glare at the detective. “Why, dont believe me?” They couldn’t help the snark in their voice, and quickly tried to reel it back in. 

There was Alexandra. Sarah noticed her first because she stood out the most when she told the group off. She only remembered her name because when the screaming started, her’s was the first to be called. Of course, Alexandra had an alternative fashion sense, and was mouthy, as described by the douchbag next to her. A hockey player? Sarah couldnt quite remember… 

“There were only four of us total I think—” “Five.” 

Seraphim looked at him, a bit bewildered. “Five? I dont remember a fith.” 

“Well there was one. He must’ve been the first to die then, his head was found peirced on the fence. “Ah,” Sarah said with a slight nod, looking down at her hands, into the hot cup of tea that she had no intention of drinking. 

“Lets start with the second victim then. You witnessed that one didn’t you?” the detective asks, almost snidely for a reason Sarah couldn’t comprehend. 

Seraphim could though, and it annoyed them to no end. “It was the cops found you after all. You were covered in her blood.” 

Sarah zoned off, as if remembering the scene vividly. 

She had ran off when the screaming first started. It was likely from the fith person she hadn’t heard of. She and Alexanda hid in the office landry room. It was old, not used often. She hid in the dry cleaner, jumping in to the white lid and hiding there. 

Screaming. 

Alexandra was screaming her head off, partly fearful, partly angry. And Sarah, of course, didn’t witness this. 

The detective sighed. 

“Great. Do you even know what the killer looks like?” 

Sarah gave a small, hesitant shrug. “I only found her afterwards. I didn’t know what to do.” she went quiet. “I think she…” 

“S..sarah. Thats y..your name, right?” Alexandra croacked out. She couldnt move. Her neck had been broken, her body mutilated in ways Sarah refused to look at. “I’m… scared…” 

Sarah felt her chest fall. She wanted to vomit. To rip out her own intestines in solidarity. Or just to die. It was horrific. She stumbled over, too stunned to say anything. She walked up to her. All she could think about was to hold her. Hold her gently and sing her the song that Sarah’s own mother used to sing to her. 

Sarah was crying by now, silent tears falling. “...do you think it hurt?” she asks quietly, though she knew the truth. 

The detective was clearly desensitized by the emotion Sarah was showing, as if it was just another day. “Yes.”

.

.

.

This is a new original random story im making and posting here because ill prolly never be a published book author :'D anyways! enjoy this random little series haha

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Masterlist

[benchgenderstudies]

An address of the similarities to Beauty Pageants and use of women as cultural capital.

Opening/

Introduction to Regulating of the Fashion (Model) and Casino/Luxury Industry

By Michael Bench, MEP WGSGC

Exercise Physiology Masters, Gender Anthropologist

Author of Native Supremacy.

In calling for the regulation of the fashion industry and fashion model sizes; there is a freakish pushback by the victims themselves:the models The models still believe they are indebt to a talent agency network. The talent agency has signed them on, sent them to events with a positive initial experience to remember.. and subsequently start charging them outrageous fees. Fees that ultimately keep a model quiet about the unhealthy conditions of the industry. She's mistaken that her earnings are somehow supposed to be diverted to the talent agency instead. The fashion industry borrows a common strategy used by Russian and illegal immigrant sexshops; confiscating their girls' passports and identity until they 'pay off' visa costs and other miscellaneous compounding expenses.

The talent agencies are further bold in their exploitation of the models that they would start sending her to unpaid events while holding substantial debt against her. They would send her to accused rapists and molesters in the photography/marketing industry for it is the photographer that holds the industry bottlenecked no matter what abuse he might choose to visit on his lesser known clients.

Very little research is conducted on measuring fashion model, porn actress, or pageant model intelligence. Definitions of intelligence are hotly debated to rid Science of once accepted credentials of the First World, the Third World and Civilization spheres as they were known to the Early British Empire. I will here address this debate in brevity: the pageant models and runway fashion models are a multiracial collective. Those who have previously experienced lives devoid of privilege tend to reward and guard their modeling experiences with higher levels of positivity than her Anglo coworkers. This does not mean (she) also regards modeling more positively than her coworkers. I propose across the board those with suspicious objective perspectives as underprivileged/oppressed races and ethnicities before new academic challenges will be much better educational prospects in quality learning environments.

In a Google Scholar search, no declared IQ research had been conducted on fashion models. I then searched for pageant model education levels with the same level of results. They appeal to girls working on a bachelors degree or younger. What material I could find revealed that one could not ask a fashion model or pageant model how smart she was. Her answer would reveal a skewed proposition that her model experience was a type of specialized skill This is first a paradox since females only enter pageants as temporary affirmations hoping to build from it. Some want to go to veterinary colleges, others still dont know. They just know they love the attention (Tonn) A Narcissist does love their attention. They make facts bend all around what they want to do.

The model and the abuser share this in common; In order to not sound foolish for justifying global attention at the expense of their health, safety and sans protection from financial crime and perverts.... she avoids admit the industry is a craven fraud scouting out young people to steal their commercial identity profits. Less so in the pageant environment where parents have a watchful eye on their children. In fashion modeling the parents try their hardest to avert their eyes from the quo sexualization of girls as young as ten. Thylane Blondeau's mother was already in modeling and celebrity culture. Its norms skewed her sense a photographer like Tom Ford could instruct her child to assume poses of actual adult erotica in posture and manner. The pictorial was displayed in Vogue.

The first pageants were meant to extend tourist season. Tourist season tends to revolve around hotels and casinos; the only venues large enough to have a pageant. Pageants like Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria(MBGN) have a mission statement to be a competitive event on the global stage. Silverbird, the managing company of MBGN, admits it grooms female contestants in all aspects of the competition (Balogun). The grooming isnt only about the pageant competition but of contestants gender roles and sexual norms for conquest. “They are the virgins of newly found cultural capital”. Predators observe 'fresh (unrefined) meat” for their own; the casino's high rollers.

Mr. Oke, a staff member at Silverbird, commented, “I’m always scared of these girls. They are powerful. That’s why I’m always nice to them. They’re all going to dump their boyfriends after this is over. You’d be surprised, one of them might be the future wife to a minister [head of national ministries]; they might just be the one to make that phone call to make or destroy a deal.” Newly formed relationships with business leaders, celebrities, and politicians were touted as signs of emergence into new elite circles centered on transnational culture and capital to which most contestants would otherwise not have access. ( Balogun)

This quote simultaneously exposes the pageant staff starting the courting process of the upper class and defending the experience as an opportunity. The pageant presents celebrities as the appropriate bachelors to set them back in their traditional roles as housewives. Business executives, actors, and politicians are of the few occupations that can sustain a single earner household. If a pageant is the updraft for young females to bridge their social network with the social elite, then pageants are nothing more than a sterilized abonne meeting area along side the European ballet. Males of the aristocracy would solicit select ballerinas with sexual advances in return for funds to afford her ballet costumes, slippers , makeup ; her career. What makes anorexia such a common place norm in ballet is females of the aristocracy are not allowed in the backstage area of the ballet. Conclusively to shield ballerina mistresses from suspect infidelity with married men, her extreme thinness intends to stop her menstrual period and so too any chance of pregnancy. The waif is an invitation of sexual solicitation and harassment left over from European tradition.

Mr Oke is not the only pageant staff to approach contestants with sexual and relationship comments.Donald Trump is the target of many accusations. One, walking into his Miss America Pageant dressing rooms without concern to the contestants' privacy. Contestants were either naked or topless “ theres a man in here”. Again, intelligence lacks see the narcissistic pervert. Tasha Dixon reported that Trump's pageant staff were encouraging the girls to get Trumps attention.An all too common occurrence in fashion modeling photography sessions. Assistants normalize and enable the sexual/erotica/perversion repertoire of their boss while the models protest or question his professionalism. Male and female fashion models are expected to submit to photographers 'to get ahead in the industry”. This is covered in much better details with names named in the External Motivations of Anorexia Nervosa paper.

Dixon presumed Trump stayed in the pageant business because there was no one that could limit or prosecute his behaviours.(Revesz) On separate occasions Trump would approach 10-14year old girls telling them that he would one day be their boyfriend. (Zimmerman) He was so into himself that he wouldn't hesitate to tell the press he would be his then 16yo daughter's boyfriend too.(Winthall) Pageants/ couture designers feel they are the creator spectacle over models instead of aiding them. Mere contestants seem to require their favors and services to groom them and culture them. Toxic persons can't help temptations to elaborate the model's empty stock worth as a marionette puppets to their sexual lusts. What agencies are not coldly brothels exercise a minimizing collection of exercises.. including severe diets just to keep the models loyal and working for pennies. Alexia Palmer, a model from Jamaica sued Donald Trump's model agency for not finding her enough work and being underpaid. She “felt like a slave”. (Mosk et al) Allegedly dignified contests such as those run by Cory Quorino in the Philippines choose a role as what could be described surrogate philanthropy.”Beauty in Giving” The Models advertise charities and get credit for the sums of money they raise.(Alzaga) this is a clear difference between the two realms. Pageants value women as spokespeople while luxury fashion dismisses its models only by its choice not to advance the gender role of the model to be a brand spokesperson. This is partially out of a selfish spotlight hoarding by the head designer taking a lot too much credit in fear of sewing around curves of whatever plus size statures he feels are label relevant. Haute Couture is selfish of its credit toward the feminine by restricting it from the female.

Haute couture designers of the fashion industry don't register that their homosexual male preferences and recontexting 'phemininity' is not healthy for young women to sustain for themselves. Male and female couture models are said to equally oblige an androgynous look. The female is still required to be smaller than the male in order to be a suitable to simulate heterosexual relations in ads. In a true androgynous circumstance the females would be larger and butcher than the males. If Androgyny was truly nonbinary the females would be fortunately advantaged in muscling her earnings from the corrupt agency system overseen by the Council of Fashion Designers of America (Tom Ford ,president) and the New York Department of Labor. An agency system that wont protect the female employee force from norms of the waif and “Parisian Androgyny” is an agency that injures female consumers. Shaping the young female into a mold of frail vulnerability is the industry's asset of exploitation. Their return to tradition and nod to sexual coercion. A girl cant stand up for herself if her unfit legs snap in ankle breaker heels.

And lets not ignore even if Dolce & Gibbon’ah or Chanel could argue elite athletes are just as small as the runway waifs; same body mass index; their perspective is infantile at best. The elite athlete requires an offseason to recover. Athletics is not a form of health even if it provides some measure of ideal vanity. If a female distance runner chooses not to have an offseason, she does so at the expense of her bone density and emotional health. Both influence race day competition. If a ballet dancer chooses to maintain the same size from age 15 to age 27 , she is malnourished. Sport does not recontext the abuses to the body as 'fair'. Elite ballet is not a functional skillset for the real world. Flexibility can have a posterchild like yoga that doesnt require eating disorders for its practice.

Second, the paper mathematical Body Mass Index (BMI) chart comparing only height to weight is not a clinically relevant definition of body mass index or body composition; AT ALL. It should not be used by general physicians to deduce patient health statements. At the very minimum skin fold measurements and hydrostatic weighing are two representative standards of truly investigating what a persons real lean body mass is. New clinical means of deciding body composition also recruit specialized radiology. The only group that can be easily spotted are the underweight. A female underweight for her size has not adequately resistance trained her body for strength. Without strength her bones become weak without enough tension on the tendon insertions. Without enough muscle built (hypertrophy) her metabolism and immune system are damaged. The normalcy of the waif to females (models) is an abuse of their body whether they sign on for it or not. Ergo they are damaging the public to allow diet and sport supplements to broadly advertise the thin look as an all encompassing good thing. Its not. Disinformation hurts a nation. Eventually it leads to unnecessary antidepressant use; a spectacular racket also assaulting the female American public.

The homosexual male designer relies on his photographers to emphasize his clothes. His imprint on the Waif. .. the cult of personality around Dior and Balenciaga is body modifications (ie piercing,tattoos).. not merely shape. Christian Dior started his fashion fame trying to bring back the waspwaist. Body Modification , not merely body sculpting. Body abuse, not merely the pyramid of haves and havenots. Would an industry profiting on the most rare of female body types of its stars be so cruel numerous times to sexually abuse, verbally abuse, minimize, and ignore her safety? They dont care about the models image for she is a product of misery. Very young models of 14-17 are sent over oceans without any chaperones only knowing if they dont oblige the event or photo session they'll have to buy their own ticket home. They'll be stranded. Embassies should know of every contest involving Americans and make themselves available to the industry workers so they know all their rights.)(The contracts are not legit) .

Surprise limo rentals and clerical/courier fees are sprung on her. Services anyone would presume are complementary are actually extra charges and not optional. That alone is grounds to call on state and federal government to investigate the industry. Agency services operate as such: You order a single gift basket from Harry & David . Harry and David take your credit info and data mine your Facebook account and charge you for and send gift baskets to your whole friend list. This is not a Harry and David practice. All I'm saying is Harry and David's product push is unnecessary while ordering. Unlike the seasonal gift firm the fashion agency health negligence against its staff and its financial dealings are criminal and embezzling.

If the model is raped behind the scenes or dies from dieting the public asks the family and industry, why didnt you say anything? If a model is having all her earnings withheld by her agency the public asks “ Why didnt you report it to IRS or US LABOR?” The very short answer is... the fashion and pageant industry attract unsuitable examples of females who choose fame before substance. The temporary state of that transaction seems as cheap and unbecoming as the credit she must lack to stand against them. The short answer is, the pageant and fashion models are not intelligent, know very little about the business or her rights before she arrives to the business and see the pageant or modeling only as a temporary stepping stone. She should always have a lawyer and first read the contract for conflicts with state and federal law. If pageant contestants find themselves in as ruthless a pit as fashion.. they protect the pageant for short term humiliation for long term benefits of advancement. This also means models enable zero-integrity pageants, designers, and agents to prey on new entrants financially and sexually in their silence. But are they smart? Considering the sizable preparation and expense for a pageant contestant to be touring or out of school, the trueyoung  intelligencia would be at home studying knowing she was preparing for an academic future rather than get-rich/famous-quick scams that only selectively privilege the obedient marionettes of a pageants/genre's grooming.

I should not be misunderstood that any contestant in a beauty pageant represents the lowest of intelligence in the community. They are not all one demographic. Pageants tend to feature the middle class specimens of a society on the presumption they have some cultural capital appreciation and enough education to be spokespeople of the campaign. The middle class are prone to believe they can become the wealthy class in good circumstances. Being middle class is one most important stigmas the pageant models want to overcome.

What would separate this new model from her old middle-class origin?

Feeling they are respected/ envied.

Are a contribution of upward movement for her family(Alzaga)

“The wife should be both parent and supporter”(Wu)

“Goal Oriented, Independent , Committed to Individualism, Assertive (Larsen)

“(According to Williams) In this way women's bodies stand in for and manage difference in a nonthreatening way”(Crawford)

'(About Texas pageants) Big Hair, flashy jewelry, wry wit, shoulder pads, artificial fingernails, confidence, (Mosel-Talavera)

What I found tying most contestants together is the belief public speaking with poise and confidence (as the pageant trained her) is the equivalent of having intelligence. Its not all bad a belief. People are not good at public speaking. Most could tolerate the tasks of directing their child's birthday party, telling a story at a campfire or summarize a prewritten essay. Public speaking before a live TV audience or academics asking to be impressed by 20-40 minutes of supported keynote address is very difficult. It's objectifying but it's objectifying uniformly. The audience hears the word choices, speaking tone, the speakers body undulations, quirks , the moles his neck or chest hair peaking out of his polo shirt. Do his clothes fit well? does his scalp have a full fill of hair? Did he shave? Did he use teeth whiteners? Are his shoes cool? Do he have bow legs? Is his ass firm while he turns around explains the powerpoint graphic? The objectification of the male body is as unspoken of as the females is abundantly. My explanation for objectification and especially censorship of the breasts sits with the immaturity of male based community standards to still sexualize his relationships through his relationship with his mother. Freud didn’t get it. The Male regards the breasts as a service instrument the same way traditional females are called Betty Homemakers. He hasnt grown up even if there’s too damn many missing dish towels balled up in the house corners .. surprisingly holding their pleats and reeking of salt deposits.

Opponents of pageants believe that females are being sexually objectified by the swimsuit contest or the ball gown event or softball questions like “ Are cats soft? Support your answer with three points. ” I feel objectification happens to everyone especially in cases of academic keynote speaking. Simultaneously, there is nothing perverse about sexual evaluation. All good things face defilement and misuse by bad people. The confidence that pageant contestants correctly identify is that they are not victimized by the circumstances and spheres of objectification because they chose the event. They endured the experience because they were prepared to see and evaluate their attention instead of being blindsided. As for the Miss New York pageant contestant exclamation “ Its all so fulfilling. For the first time people were asking me for my ideas. I liked the attention.” Indeed. The attention included in the pageant entry fee,huh? Perhaps pageant contestants don't connect being in front of crowds as a test and more of a 'gathering for their attention. “Its so Pageanty” N.A.R.C.I.S.S.I.S.T.

Observers of pageants rely on the pageants mission statement to validate a so-called finest mix of brains and beauty. The observers and TV audience are the precultured hinterlands pageants hope to save their contestants from. When very young girls are imprinted with pageant themes, they mistake their own dreams of being a beauty queen as a long term event. Pageants and modeling are not a lifelong career. Strike Two: The intelligencia would be working toward a career directly and not be misdirected by shallow endeavors; especially ones with negative reviews, accusations of sexual harassment, and limitations on her speech.

In my Equal Employment Opportunity correspondence to the US Department of Justice during the Obama administration I addressed the problem in the Fashion industry. No real female could be hired because all woman exercising responsibility for their wellbeing would not diet herself to a size she was last at age 14. What females are hired are vulnerable to victimization because they already cast their lots for fame at any cost. The thinness standards in the fashion industry for international models are not a legitimate middle ground for anyone. Androgyny is not a middle ground between male and female when male can parade it as a fetish while females must oblige an abusive tactic to become perpetually young. Perpetually young is what couture is selling retail patrons. Buy our clothes and you will be young too.. Buy our face cream and you too will be ready for our dress. The face cream doesnt stop the aging nor does models diet to flat concave chests for the 'predeveloped' look suppressing the aging process. She's actually aiding deterioration. Is the fashion model smart? No. She's constructively ignorant to become famous.

My EEOE correspondence also relates to the clamp pageants have on women's behaviors and promotion of their personal beliefs. A Miss Michigan candidate was stripped of her title for defending then Vice President Mike Pence on Twitter. A tweet consisting of “ STOP KILLING BLACK PEOPLE!!!” directed at the Vice President caused Kathy Zhu to respond in kind “Did you know the majority of black deaths are caused by other blacks? Fix problems within your own community first before blaming others”.(McClaughlin) If this is a cause to dethrone a current pageant winner then the Miss Michigan pageant should probably spend more time in the interview section vetting the political biases and outburst potential of their contestants. Even if Zhu had promoted disinformation, it would be her lack of composure/delivery that made the tweets sub-beautyqueen-standard. “Dear Sir.Madam, The seriousness and sorrow for Black people's losses also must face their own in-race exploitations among many types of daily criminal victimization. I'd like to talk with you more about it. Sincerely Kathy Zhu. ,Miss Michigan. Tra la la deedah.” There's a difference in delivery here.

Zhu is not the first pageant winner to be stripped of her title and probably not the last. Vanessa Williams was crowned Miss America in 1994. Her title was removed when it was found the African American singer had nude unauthorized photos of her sent to and purchased by Penthouse magazine. The title was given to Miss New Jersey. A scandal like this in the pageant business is unsurprising. Allegations of sexually exploitive photography surround Terry Richardson. The fashion industry claimed Richardson was just being a scapegoat. If he is, that means of rigging pageants are as simple as which photographer the pageant staff send each contestant. The also-rans get sent to the molester so he can create a pool of unfit evidence for the smut mags or tabloids.

Compensatory beliefs motivate some contestants to enter pageants. One respondent said her interest in pageants is she was mocked by her family. She was treated as though not beautiful enough and instead nurtured to be a geek. She was sent to quiz bees instead of pageants(Alzaga) For youth attention has a quicker reward than good grades or college acceptance by her 4th-9th grade peers. Out of frustration she sought out pageants because their marketing supported her affirmations she was as beautiful as she was smart.

A detriMENTAL circumstance when the overly smart become attracted to pageants is they can be excessively competitive to destructive ends. Said destructive ends come of any competition being about narcissism which is not always 'nerds' strong suit in displaying, controlling or suppressing. This could well explain archetypes like the “librarian nymphomaniac.”

“Miss American represents the highest ideals. She is a real combination of beauty, grace, and intelligence, artistic, and refined. She is a type which the American Girl might well emulate”. (Larsen)

In the fashion world, the overly competitive female will choose to race to be the thinnest girl available for ad shoots. “Even if it kills her'. It will. So far its the model forced to take blame for her voluntary choice to be thin. But is it actually voluntary? No. The fashion industry welcomes the girl in the door, starves her down to size to get working (she is the industry while conforming to the industry) and then she is stolen from while in a dizzy state of malnourishment and physical fatigue. Fatigue: 16-20 hour work days without food/breaks so the photographers can snort oodles of cocaine, have a scone and yell at them “ You're not giving me enough!!”. In a month or so , the model is working on 15% of her real earnings holed up in a crusty apartment with either 10 more models or the agent himself as his live-in burlesque show; at best. At worst she might die of starvation a day before or after Elite Models Gerard Marie rapes a live in model next to his own sleeping daughter. And she might not even have the strength to report it let alone fight it off.

Is the pageant model smart? There's no sure answer but she is an opportunist. She an opportunist invited to a cultural framework where she is near or distant to the pageant industry's Caucasian tradition and norms. “I think this is a problem within European society because to make themselves fit, thin, and lean they take lots of medicine and so on which really does no good to the body. “ Said a Nepali resident of Kathmandu. (Crawford) . So without being Secretary of Health and Human Services Azar or US Labor secretary, or a George Washington University Professor in Public Health like David Michaels or a New York State Commissioner of Labor.. a Nepali adult living in a part of the world regarded “backward” finding transparent clothing hard to digest for ad consumption still identified drug related crash dieting and Western themes of thinness unhealthy.

Former US LABOR OIG legal counsel Howard Shapiro could not. He would not adopt the Body Mass Index as a health standard from the CDC/HHS because the 1970s document founding OSHA and NIOSH made no mention of regulation of industry by Body Mass Index. In fact the goal of OSHA is to accept and enforce all and any health standards arising from NIOSH and HHS so that the industry is made safe for all Americans of any status of employment. In the market today Americans are concealed from safety behind walls of contracts (or as nonemployee contractors) instead of employees. Employees privatized and subjected to informal harassment, threat, assault, exploitation and intimidation. This situation is illegal. Americans in any form of employment must be protected from illegal and unhealthy work environments. Former OSHA director Edwin Foulk Jr believed I should be calling the Council of Fashion Designers of America... as if I hadn't considered their lack of regulation wasn't a fit enough reason to ask them to start now. I called the government and the US government protected the ongoing abuse of women under George W Bush.

Another respondent from Nepal is quoted “ To get a good figure [some teenagers] go for starvation, thats anorexia as far as I know. I dont think it should be really promoted actually, yeah. Um if they want a good figure, they should really work hard, they could exercise instead of starving themselves. (Crawford) This Nepali has noticed that the sense of beauty is absent in the results of starvation and when people exercise and develop muscle tone with a healthy relationship with food; they look better. Amazing. So far Nepali peasants have more credible public health policy than the past three US Presidential Administrations, including Obama.

Locals observed the effects of the Kathmandu beauty pageant event in girls from 10-12. Suddenly they were very obsessed with their appearance. In other research about Pageants events in Chinatown, San Francisco and among Latin Americans came to identify some polarizing differences. Larsen raised an observation in the first thirty-five years of Miss America pageants nonwhites were banned from participating. “Latina characters in television and movies are lusty and hot-tempered objects of desire.” In this frame the pageant wants to downplay sexuality as a component of beauty.

“dressmakers modified the design of the Cheong-sam to emphasize the cleavage area, creating the “poured-in look” so high desired. Furthermore, the slit up the side of the dress was increased “to endow the basically simple Cheong-sam with a touch of intrigue..., a tantalizing suggestion about the beauty of its wearer. (Wu) The Chinese American researcher felt that beauty and sexuality are entwined correctly in race -tradition contexts. It seems objectified as the west's definition of beauty invaded the Chinese culture's traditional dress. In my valuation the Latina represents the intimidating female forceful of her will. She's obedience to misogyny. The Chinese female is profiled in western terms no greater than Vietnamese village teens/ preteens some of the US military took indulgence in raping between 1955 and 1975.

Cynthia Gouw investigated the pageant field with the intent to deconstruct and criticize it from a Leftist Feminist Viewpoint. ( Wu) Having entered the pageant as a contestant she remarked “I didnt feel exploited at all. I want to show people I can be very articulate and assertive as opposed to a stereotypical beauty pageant winner.. What I want to represent to the Asian population is that I am very concerned about the community. “One benefit pageant contestants have in events distant from western norms is they are protected by their community's unique priorities and cultural norms. Pageants in Nigeria had abusive staff that heavily enforced classism. If a contestant wasn't walking with the elegance per his commands they would accuse contestants of being mere “market women”. The Queen Nigeria pageant didn’t want their female contestants at all comparable to market women, a slur for rural laborers having stereotypes as 'rough and brash”. (Balogun)

I took a moment to type in “brash” to the Google search engine to see what definition it would offer.

Brash

self-assertive in a rude, noisy, or overbearing way.

“he could be brash, cocky and arrogant”,

Strange, the pageant believes it is helping young Nigerian girls to be empowered but suppressing and denouncing parts of the Nigerian culture that are already assertive. In the west we tend to understand this brash concept as 'a ratchet bitch” of low class. In the pageant's sense of empowerment , the female is empowered to simply be a better mate but kept from being so confident and wordsmithed that she could tell off a guy in terms on an even turf of vulgarity, insult, belittling, aggression and verbal abuse.

Chaperones affiliated to the Queen Nigeria pageant remarked of contestants”Each year she comes back cleaner and cleaner”. The comment was investigated for its inner meaning. “ Each time (contestant) returns to audition her skin looks fairer” and was to mean a physical change in the condition of the contestants skin from makeup treatments. (Balogun) Balogun found other research suggesting that this skin change was also a lightening to improve chances of upward mobility. I reference this quote especially because it is an absolute parallel to the arrogance haute couture designers and runway specialized model agencies have in objectifying their models as a property of creation rather than the individual within of blood, bone, estrogen and diet coke. Maybe the fashion model has never been an individual and why all the reason more she chases having a meaningful identity. She takes the pageants brand, is milked for her camera appeal, moos a few times for the question/answer bit and heads off to slaughter as an aged and spent heifer short of the aristocrats desires. The fashion industry has value because it attracted contestants in magazines and television to make it a goal in their lives; A superfluous goal too often.

The female icons in magazines like Vogue must then be empowering too. Said of a magazine with Emma Watson on the cover:”Like in Neon you have some inspiring series . But when I look through women's magazines I dont have a role model for my life (Informant A). (Put) Ellen Put's research on womens magazines revealed some other criticisms about the periodicals. Informants regarded them “flat and uninspiring”, “it was bullshit”, “it was boring when they say this is all about makeup and what to buy..”, “sometimes I read it just for fun just wondering what they are saying”, “Men are always dark, taller, though” . Ellen Put's article revealing these views was titled “ They Think We're Stupid”. We can dovetail the pageant social effects on Nepali teens, the magazine reactions, the whitening and sterilizing of the ethnicity from Ethnic specific beauty pageants and reveal a tame appealing factory of creating the ideal woman out of real women's dreams and then normalizing the ideal woman as a public health nightmare. By creating an international norm among pageants and modeling, the luxury market announces it is deaf to the anthropological heritage, biome, diet and geography that appreciates and carved out natural beauty of each continent's peoples and subgroups. There is no similar basis of lifestyle to normalize a common shape. Ever. The commonality is as the pageants product of “Female in a Can” nested on shelf among all other pageant's new talent.

What can be shown here is if the ideal female of poise and elegant, confident public address can also be trained to be shallow then she will be an ideal elite mate to be whisked away by a dominating male , possibly of a dark complexion. What could a dark complexion signal if the ideals of beauty are Caucasian-Western centric? Perhaps the fashion media have found a new way to wear Black face. I'd say they signal to ladies their obligation to the marketed Caucasian gender role rewards them with an ideal males lust and African Americans large..Luh-arge penis stereotypes. A proper pageant contestant, such as those in Nigeria, and frequenters of upperclass cultural norms are required to retire secondhand and counterfeit clothing/accessories that flood the market. Only authentic (Nigerian) couture is allowed while they are representing the pageant as winner or groomed contestant. (Balogun)

Winners of the Nepal Pageant were not allowed to marry for one year , the year representing the pageant in Miss World and at events ( Alzaga). For a pageant that allegedly“empowers women”, taking away her right to relationship seems a premium failure in respect of their freedom. (Crawford) A premium failure by contestants to oblige as well. Standards in Texas pageants also had stipulations against marriages, against having children, tolerance for annulments and further expectation that the contestants would be in high school.(Mosel-Talavera) Not all requirements related to the same pageant.

One author was also a Texas ex pageant model. She recounted her experience,.

“I am standing on stage in my highschool auditorium wearing the most expensive dress I have ever bought from Foleys, waiting for the announcer to call my name. Everyone told me I was a shoo-in to win the title. I was not even nervous as she called out the runners-up, still thinking my name would be next. “ And the winner is … What? Not Me?” Texas is also known for its biased education dept materials, being an origin of many christianity inspired sex cults and race supremacist camps. For a female to believe her high school preparation is the best source for speaking in any form to the intelligence of all women, especially here, is bald faced mockery.

A highschooler of a single mother saw pageants as a means to get money for college. Through her experience contacting attorneys and other professionals for sponsorships, building a website, and being visible to the public she was contacted by teachers to speak to their classes about her experience. “Emma” as the article infers her name.. said

“ Now I work for two different attorneys. I didn’t expect that you know. All kinds of things people messaged me about my platform and how they feel about my on-stage question, my website got a lot of people to notice it. So, I had teachers that went and saw my website and messaged me about coming and speaking to their classes and like I wish I knew all this stuff going into it. It was like I really set a foundation for myself for next year I think. It’s pretty cool. And I know that sounds cheesy or cliché but

it is honestly the truth and basically pushing myself because once I found

myself around other females who were just as ambitious as I was or as I am.” (Bowers)

The concept these females are experiencing is known as habitus. By meeting other contestants who have found meaning in pageants they too have a common vocabulary and ladder of goals neatly set before them. For women who feel baffled and smothered under the weight and anxiety of being objectified, pageants do have experiential benefits along with the potential among bad actors to be experientially sexually assaulted. That a female knows and can identify a ladder of goals may be a model of education that can be implemented elsewhere and more productively. If pageants have a credible impact on a females life, that impact is offset so severely with removing ethnic markings and norms. The pageants really just brand their contestants for events further up the hierarchy like Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss Infinity and beyond.

What I've concluded from these readings is that pageants reward the Grant Cardone proverb “ Best Known Beats Best”. A former pageant contestant working for an attorney makes the legal field seem beautiful. Wealth and fame is not just wealth , its vanity. If the lifestyles of the wealthy were papered over with ugly people, nobody would want it. Why is a good speaking 'broad' an appealing take for the Hollywood and Vegas bruno's? They need a good girl who'll manage a maid to clean the house good, sound intelligent in public, have some loyalty to criminal organizations, and announce her husbands name for all sorts of functions, awards and novelties her pride can glow alongside. Meanwhile the crowd can either respect her poise or be among the low classes remaining low class regarding the guest of honor's subtle associate. ' yeah , I'm banging her”. Perhaps its more the audience needing poise. Donald Trumps association with First Lady Melania spoke clearly of his personal codependence on her first as a White House nude centerfold. How pageants are accepted in a community is an age, state , local and national chaos of sexual maturity imbalances and education gaps.

On another angle I have captured the subtext of the pageants brand. Pageants are a measure of the females acquisition of themes from the community that are specifically dedicated to making her a good mother. “Critics from the political right, on the other hand, tend to focus on what they view as a loss of women’s purity, submissiveness, and modesty, virtues identified with nationalistic representations of ‘traditional’ cultures”(Crawford) The conservatives have made a complaint about their own side far behind the lines of rhetoric. The female is still submissive with shallow appreciations of her luxury stake. She is surely kept modest with abusive manners training and remaining under the thumb of pageant officials or talent agents for the remainder of her career. The rhetoric doesn't match the reality. Conservatives conceal that norms of oppression are not absent from the gender roles of rich couples either For each class a different type of submissive female for tradition.

Pageant and fashion event locations are hand in hand with the promotion of luxury and recreational items like sports cars, wine, cigars, yachts, boxing/mma fights, These items are considered to have high cultural capital relative to the western world. Wealth is often presumed to have high cultural capital.. Wealth is also presumed to have privileges.. like raping a girl and then threatening to humiliate her with a tabloid smear and a legal battle she couldn’t afford. Ask NFL lawyers what services their players require when police reports surface. Wealth has such cultural capital that the justice system allows criminals out of lockup based on their word to return to trial. The pageant is an advertisement of women inviting them to feel impressed by their changes when the most extensive modifications are still very above her awareness.

The only advantage a female has from the pageant developed microphone skill is to be free to say whatever wise viewpoint elevates her credibility and by whatever lengths she finds necessary to bring down anyone else.. Her voice of empowerment must be on her own terms and not under anyone elses by contract, marriage prenup or otherwise. Well, as long as she's making good decisions and prioritizing the public health ahead of her own vanity and fame. If she chooses to trade even the smallest of her rights of federally guaranteed self protection and safety then she has traded the entirety of her dignity and her own respect of being a female.

Citations

Alzaga R J B (2015. June) The Lucky One: A Constructivist Study on Pageant Women's Conceptualization of Empowerment. University of Philippines Manila.

Balogun O M Gender & SOCIETY, Vol. 26 No. 3, June 2012 357-381

Bowers E(2016) Social Stereotyping and Self-Esteem of Miss America Pageant Contestants. Walden University. Thesis

Crawford M, Khati D, Regmi A (2008.Feb)Globalizing Beauty:Attitudes Toward Beauty Pageants Among Nepali Women. Feminism & Psychology.xx

Fredrickson, B.L., Roberts, T. (1997). Objectification Theory. Psychology of Women Quarterly.,

U.S.A.

Larsen D (2011-2012.Winter Spring) Miss America Beauty Pageant. pg31-33

Concientización: A Journal of Chicano & Latino Experience and Thought Vol 7 (1 & 2)

Matthews, Brook. (2003). Miss America Contestants and the Self: Evidence for Empowerment. Ronai,

C.R., Zsembik, B., Feagin, J. (1997) Everyday Sexism in the Third Millenium.

Routledge, U.S.A

McLaughlin EC (2019.Jul 22) Ex-Miss Michigan says pageant dethroned her for conservative views.CNN

Mosel-Talavera KM(2006)Growing Up Female In Texas:The Importance of Beauty Pageants In Texas Communities.A Woman's Touch Folklore Kenneth L Untiedt. University of North Texas Press

Mosk M, Ross B, Kreider R(2016.Mar 10)Trump Model: Felt Like 'Slave' Working for Donald's Agency.

ABC News

.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-model-felt-slave-working-donalds-agency/story?id=37313993

Put E(2017)���They Think We're Stupid”. Jonkoping University.Thesis

Revesz R(2016.Oct12)Donald Trump boasted about meeting semi-naked teenagers in beauty pageants.IndependentUK,https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-former-miss-arizona-tasha-dixon-naked-undressed-backstage-howard-stern-a7357866.html

Tonn M B(2003)Miss America Contesters and Contestants: Discourse About Social “Also-Rans”Rhetoric & Public Affairs6, no. 1 (2003): 150-60. doi:10.1353/rap.2003.0037.

Withnall A(2016.Oct 10)Donald Trump's unsettling record of comments about his daughter Ivanka.IndependentUK

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-ivanka-trump-creepiest-most-unsettling-comments-roundup-a7353876.html

Wu J T-C (1997.Autumn) "Loveliest Daughter of Our Ancient Cathay!": Representations of Ethnic and Gender Identity in the Miss Chinatown U.S.A. Beauty Pageant. Journal of Social History, Vol. 31, No. 1, , pp. 5-31

Zimmerman N (2016.Oct 13) Trump told 14-year-old girl he'd be dating her soon. The Hill. https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/300928-trump-told-14-year-old-girl-hell-be-dating-her-soon

[iolyne]

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

ok answers should be under the cut

1. who’s your celebrity crush?

I dont know i guess i would say lorde??? i love her so much

2. are you single or taken?

im single!!!!!!!! haha!! but im not looking 2 be a girlfriend right now ;-;

3. rant. just do it

uh ive almost been in 3 accidents today???? people keep driving right towards me? is my car invisibe or some shit????? im right fucking here learn how to drive im so mad!! and im a nervous driver and i never honk my horn so i just. slam on my brakes and they just never notice they almost slammed into me i guess. anyways fuck everyone who drives in florida i hate this shit

4. do you think its ok to separate the artist from the art?

i think it really depends on the art itself and what the artist has done.  artists always put a piece of themselves into what they create and i think you can always see that.  like,,, one of my favorite bands is the smiths but morrissey is a piece of shit.  I wouldnt listen to bowie though ?? i think it depends on what the artist believes in/has done as well :0

5. how many accounts do you have?

HAHA uh i have 7 active blogs on here and i have like. 11 urls im holding. im gonna get rid of some soon but a couple im holding for a certain time :/

6. how many pairs of shoes do you have?

uhhh i wanna say like 12 but im sure im forgetting some :o

7. u didnt specify anything so 

8. how many accounts do you follow?

too many!!!!! i need to unfollow a lot !

9. favorite brand of clothing?

i dont know i just thrift shop im poor!!! i like adidas like pants and bags and shoes?? 

10. name a dog

Machiavelli 

11. what unusual talent do you have?

im not talented! im good at rhythm games i guess i dont know :(

12. what’s the most interesting schools gossip you’ve ever heard?

uh idk about an affair between 3 of my high school teachers

13. ever prank called a store?

no

14. what’s your coffee order?

i always get coffee from dunkin donuts when i buy coffee and i always get a brown sugar cold brew, no cream but extra sweetened

15. what’s a question do you constantly get asked?

where i got a piece of jewelry

16. if you had to get a tattoo right now, what would you get and where?

cupid from botticelli’s Primavera on my thigh :,0 I also want Matisse’s Dance but going around my arm I think it would be pretty!!!

17. google the top song from the year you were born

the kiss by faith hill 

18. rant about your favorite musician

i love death grips so much i wish it wasnt reduced to meme music???? why is it meme music?? i dont understand,, their music is really complex and you could listen for so many different things in it and you can get tons of things too. i like that they emphasize individuality and like. idk acting on your personal impulse like bringing the you on the inside out? dont know how to say that. i wish more people gave them a chance i also wish guillotine wasnt their most popular song.

19. what’s your favorite teacher you’ve ever had?

my speech professor!!! she was an angel she was so nice and supportive i would risk my life for her

20. describe your blog in 3-5 words

a lesbian that likes anime

21. what’s a conspiracy you believe in?

the war on drugs is just to put more people in prison so the state can profit off their unpaid labor

22. if you could see any concert tonight what would you choose?

uhhhhhhhhhhhhh i dont know ive never been to a concert

23. if you could break one of your bad habits which would you choose?

unhealthy eating habits!

24. can you dance? sing?

yes but not well

25. what’s something you can’t stop buying?

uhhhh idk I buy a lot of energy drinks

26. crowds or small groups?

small groups are nice

27. how long before a trip do you pack?

idk maybe the day before leaving I guess it would depend on the trip

28. what celebrity would you rate a PERFECT 10?

I dont think any celebrities are deserving of a perfect 10??? I have no fuckin clue

29. what quote or inspirational setting do you think is bs?

you cant love anyone if you cant love yourself. fuck that!!!!!!! I have issues with myself as a person and I’m trying to improve but that doesnt negate the love I have for other people

30. if you had to dye your hair an unnatural color right now, what would you choose?

green

31. you can change one thing about your life right now. what are you changing?

that I wasn’t born in poverty

32. how old do you get mistaken for?

a little older than I currently am, I dont really get mistaken

33. what do you think about a lot

lately it’s been bnha unfortunately

34. do you like your hogwarts house or do you wish you were a different one?

I’m slytherin that’s fine with me, I dont care about harry potter

35. what does home mean to you?

feeling safe. for the most part

36. what do you think you’d be arrested for?

idk man hitting someone maybe or shoplifting

37. have you ever been called down to the principals office?

yea but it was for my sister in elementary school

38. post a picture of the outfit you would choose if you could have any outfit you wanted

I kind of do wear whatever I want :/

39. describe your aesthetic

like fake goth but also likes anime. I like 90s stuff and the oldweb aesthetic a lot too. in my photography I incorporate a lot of catholic imagery and I use neon lights

40. answer with one of your ‘school memes’ (inside jokes you have with your class/grade) with no explanation

I dont have any!!!!

[patriotsnet]

How Many House Republicans Are There

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/how-many-house-republicans-are-there/

How Many House Republicans Are There

Republicans Flip Democratic Seats Keep Majority In Michigan House

Democrats take House, Republicans keep Senate in historic midterms

LANSING ; Republicans are poised to return a majority to the Michigan House next term after offsetting potential losses by flipping two Democratic seats.

Losses by incumbent Reps. Brian Elder of Bay City and Sheryl Kennedy of Davison killed Democrats quest to seize control of the lower chamber for the first time since 2010. GOP candidates held enough other seats to retain at least a 57-53 majority.;

Its a tough blow for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who hit the campaign trail last month for Elder, Kennedy and other Democratic candidates in an attempt to break the GOPs decade-long grip on the Michigan Legislature.;

Instead, Republicans will retain control of both the House and Senate for the remainder of Whitmers first of two possible terms, limiting her ability to advance an agenda that has been largely stymied by partisan fights and COVID-19.

Related:

In Michigan, Trump expands support in rural counties; Biden carries suburbs

The people of Michigan have spoken loud and clear they want two more years of House Republican leadership at their state Capitol, House Speaker Lee Chatfield of Levering said in a statement.;

House Republicans have the best plan of action to lead our state forward, and we have a proven track record of turning those plans into tangible results over the past ten years.

Chatfield could not seek re-election this year after serving a maximum three years in the House. Rep. Jason Wentworth, R-Clare, is expected to succeed him as House Speaker.;

Voting Members By State

As of July;30,2021:

District Executive Director of EMILY’s ListPolitical aide Delaware Health and Social Services SecretaryDelaware Labor Secretary Assistant General Counsel to the Florida Department of Community AffairsPresident of the Florida Association of Women Lawyers McLean County Board of CommissionersAir Force pilot President of the Maryland Board of Higher Education

As of January;3,2021:

District

“Directory of Representatives”. United States House of Representatives. Retrieved September 9, 2014.

^

“Biographical Directory of the United States Congress”. United States Congress. Retrieved October 31, 2020.

^Washington, U. S. Capitol Room H154; p:225-7000, DC 20515-6601. “Mike Rogers ), 117th Congress Profile”. Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved January 14, 2021.

^Washington, U. S. Capitol Room H154; p:225-7000, DC 20515-6601. “David Schweikert ), 117th Congress Profile”. Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved January 14, 2021.

^Washington, U. S. Capitol Room H154; p:225-7000, DC 20515-6601. “Doug LaMalfa ), 117th Congress Profile”. Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved January 14, 2021.

^Washington, U. S. Capitol Room H154; p:225-7000, DC 20515-6601. “Julia Brownley ), 117th Congress Profile”. Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved January 14, 2021.

^

^“History of Maryknoll”. Retrieved March 13, 2016.

Changes To House Rules

After Democrats took control of the House in the 116th Congress, they voted to change some rules from the previous session of Congress when Republicans were in control. Some of the changes appear below.

PAYGO: Democrats approved PAYGO, a provision that requires legislation that would increase the deficit to be offset by spending cuts or revenue increases.

Ethics: Democrats made changes to House ethics rules that required all House members to take ethics training, not just new members. The rules also required members to reimburse taxpayers for settlements that that result from a members discrimination of someone based on race, religion, sex, national origin, or disability, among other things. Lawmakers were also prohibited from sitting on corporate boards.

Climate change committee: Democrats created a new climate change committee to address the issue. The committee was not given subpoena power or the ability to bring bills to the floor.

A full explanation of the rules changes can be viewed here.

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The Six Republican Senators Who Voted For A January 6 Commission

Six Republican senators voted in favor of creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the deadly Capitol riot on January 6.

The Senate voted 54 to 35 in favor of advancing the commission but the majority failed to reach the 60 votes needed to overcome the filibuster, effectively sinking the commission.

Forty-eight Democrats and six Republicans voted in favor. There were eleven senators who did not vote, including two Democrats.

Those Republicans who voted in favor were: Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rob Portman of Ohio, Mitt Romney of Utah and Ben Sasse of Nebraska.

Of these six senators, all but one voted to convict former President Donald Trump at his second impeachment trial earlier this year.

Portman voted to acquit Trump on February 13 but backed advancing the commission on Friday.

Murkowski had been outspoken in her support for the commission and criticized her own partys opposition to it, saying the GOP was making a decision for the short-term political gain at the expense of understanding and acknowledging what was in front of us on January 6.

Truth is hard stuff, but weve got a responsibility to it, Murkowski said.

I dont believe thats whats the motivation but I think thats the perception, he said.

Newsweek has contacted the six senators offices for comment.

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How Senate Majority Leader Is Chosen

The Senate Republican and Democratic floor leaders are elected by the members of their party in the Senate at the beginning of each Congress. Depending on which party is in power, one serves as majority leader and the other as minority leader. The leaders serve as spokespersons for their partys positions on issues.

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United States House Of Representatives Seats By State

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Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

The U.S. Congress consists of two houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Each state elects two senators, while seats in the House of Representatives are apportioned by state according to population, with each state receiving a minimum of one representative. After each decennial census, the House of Representatives used to increase in size, but in the 1910s overall membership was capped at 435 . Now, after each census, legislative seats are reapportioned, with some states increasing their number of representatives while other states may lose seats.

The number of representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives by state is provided in the table.

U.S. congressional apportionment

How Many Republicans Will Vote To Impeach Trump

The third most senior Republican in the House, Liz Cheney, has vowed to back impeachment, saying Mr Trump had “summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack”.

“There has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution,” said the Wyoming representative, daughter of former Vice-President Dick Cheney.

So far, eight more Republicans have voted in favour. Dan Newhouse, a Republican from Washington state, said: “Turning a blind eye to this brutal assault on our Republic is not an option.”

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, a Trump ally who has said he opposes impeachment, decided not to ask rank-and-file members of the party to vote against the measure, US media reported.

According to the New York Times, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told confidants he was pleased Democrats wanted to impeach the president because he believed it would help rid the Republican party of Mr Trump.

On Tuesday, the House passed a resolution calling on Vice-President Mike Pence to help remove Mr Trump using the 25th Amendment – a plan Mr Pence rejected.

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Top Gop Lawmakers Call For Swalwell To Be Removed From Intelligence Committee

Top Republicans in the House are calling for Rep. Eric SwalwellEric Michael SwalwellOvernight Defense & National Security Milley becomes lightning rodThe Hills Morning Report Presented by National Industries for the Blind Schumer: Dem unity will happen eventually; Newsom prevailsHow lawmakers aided the Afghan evacuationMORE to be removed from the Intelligence Committee following reports that he was allegedly targeted by a woman believed to be a Chinese spy.;

In a letter sent Tuesday to Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Because of Rep. Swalwells position on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, his;close;interactions with Chinese intelligence services, however unintentional they may be, are an unacceptable national security risk, they wrote.;

It said the panel handles some of the most sensitive information our government possesses, and that as a result Swalwell should be removed from his position.;

Axios first reported that Swalwell had been targeted by an alleged Chinese Ministry of State Security operative named Christine Fang, who also goes by Fang Fang. The woman, according to the report,;helped Swalwells fundraising during his 2014 reelection campaign and she also helped place an unpaid intern inside his office.;

The lawmakers said that Swalwell should be held to the same standard as Sessions, arguing that his interactions with the Chinese agent were more dangerous.

Fang left the country in 2015 during the FBI investigation into her activities.;

Its Time To End This Forever War Biden Says Forces To Leave Afghanistan By 9/11

Rep. Schiff: Only Question Is How Many In GOP Will Support Impeachment | Morning Joe | MSNBC

The enormous national anger generated by those attacks was also channeled by the administration toward the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, which was conceived to prevent any recurrence of attacks on such a massive scale. Arguments over that legislation consumed Congress through much of 2002 and became the fodder for campaign ads in that years midterms.

The same anger was also directed toward a resolution to use force, if needed, in dealing with security threats from the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. That authorization passed Congress with bipartisan majorities in the fall of 2002, driven by administration claims that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. It became law weeks before the midterm elections.

Once those elections were over, the Republicans in control of both chambers finally agreed to create an independent commission to seek answers about 9/11. Bush signed the legislation on Nov. 27, 2002.

The beginning was hobbled when the first chairman, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and vice chairman, former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell of Maine, decided not to continue. But a new chairman, former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean, and vice chairman, former Rep. Lee Hamilton of Indiana, filled the breach and performed to generally laudatory reviews.

Long memories

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About Legislative Sessions In Florida

The Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution declares that any power not already given to the federal government is reserved to the states and the people. State governments across the country use this authority to hold legislative sessions where a state’s elected representatives meet for a period of time to draft and vote on legislation and set state policies on issues such as taxation, education, and government spending. The different types of legislation passed by a legislature may include resolutions, legislatively referred constitutional amendments, and bills that become law.

Article III of the Florida Constitution establishes when the Legislature is to be in session. Section 3 of Article III states that the regular session of the Legislature is to convene on the second Tuesday after the first Monday in March of each odd-numbered year and on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January of each even-numbered year. Regular sessions of the Legislature are not to exceed sixty days, unless extended by a three-fifths vote of each house.

Section 3 also allows for the convening of special sessions, either by the proclamation of the governor of Florida or as otherwise provided by law.

Republicans Suddenly Sweating Falling Deep Into House Minority

GOP leaders tout their chances to win back the majority, but falling poll numbers for Trump have some worried they could lose seats in November.

07/29/2020 04:30 AM EDT

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A slew of dismal summer polls and a persistent fundraising gap have left some Republicans fretting about a nightmare scenarioin November: Thatthey will fall further into the House minority.

Publicly, House GOP leaders are declaring they can still net the 17 seats needed to flip the chamber. But privately, some party strategists concede its a much grimmer picture, with as many as 20 Republican seats at risk of falling into Democratic hands.

Far from going on offense, the GOP could be forced to retrench in order to limit its losses.Theres a growing fear that President Donald Trumps plummeting popularity in the suburbs could threaten GOP candidates in traditionally favorable districts, and that their partys eagerness to go on offense might leave some underfunded incumbents and open GOP-held seats unprotected.

Internal Democratic surveys in recent weeks have shown tight races in once-solid GOPseats in Indiana, Texas, Michigan, Ohio and Montana that Trump carried handily 2016 data that suggest the battleground is veering in a dangerous direction for the GOP.

And should the environment worsen, other seats in North Carolina, Minnesota, Missouri, Washington state, central Virginia and Michigan could be at risk.

Read Also: Who Is Right Republicans Or Democrats

Val Demings Democrat Of Florida

Ms. Demings, 62, is the no-nonsense former chief of the Orlando, Florida police department, the first woman to hold the position. The youngest of seven children, she likes to tell the story of how she was born in a two-room wood-frame house in Jacksonville to parents of very modest means; her mother worked as a maid and her father was a janitor. Like Mr. Swalwell, she is also on the Judiciary Committee, which means she will both listen to evidence and help draft any impeachment articles. In questioning witnesses, she often draws on her law enforcement experience.

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Why Are There 438 House Of Representative Members

On this date, the House passed the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929, fixing the number of Representatives at 435. The U.S. Constitution called for at least one Representative per state and that no more than one for every 30,000 persons. Thus, the size of a states House delegation depended on its population.

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Personnel Mail And Office Expenses

House members are eligible for a Member’s Representational Allowance to support them in their official and representational duties to their district. The MRA is calculated based on three components: one for personnel, one for official office expenses and one for official or franked mail. The personnel allowance is the same for all members; the office and mail allowances vary based on the members’ district’s distance from Washington, D.C., the cost of office space in the member’s district, and the number of non-business addresses in their district. These three components are used to calculate a single MRA that can fund any expenseâeven though each component is calculated individually, the franking allowance can be used to pay for personnel expenses if the member so chooses. In 2011 this allowance averaged $1.4 million per member, and ranged from $1.35 to $1.67 million.

The Personnel allowance was $944,671 per member in 2010. Each member may employ no more than 18 permanent employees. Members’ employees’ salary is capped at $168,411 as of 2009.

This Is Exactly How Radicalized House Republicans Have Become

Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large

In 1967, Ronald Reagan, then governor of California, gave a speech in which he sought to define what the Republican Party was — and who it included.

“This proposal is not because of a policy or political difference, but because some members have chosen to work with the Democrats to investigate and potentially remove Republican Members from the House. Republican Conference meetings are an opportunity for elected House Republicans to come together and strategize the most effective path to push back on the radical policies of Speaker Pelosi and the Democrats.”

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Arguments For Expanding The Number Of House Members

Advocates;for increasing the number of seats in the House say such a move would increase the quality of representation by reducing the number of constituents each lawmaker represents. Each House member now represents about 710,000 people.

The group ThirtyThousand.org argues that the framers of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights never intended for the population of each congressional district to exceed 50,000 or 60,000. “The principle of proportionally equitable representation has been abandoned,” the group argues.

Another argument for increasing the size of the House is that is would diminish the influence of lobbyists. That line of reasoning assumes that lawmakers would be more closely connected to their constituents and therefore less likely to listen to special interests.

Florida House Of Representatives

Democrats regain the House as record number of women elected to Congress

The Florida House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Florida State Legislature. Alongside the Florida State Senate, it forms the legislative branch of the Florida state government and works alongside the governor of Florida to create laws and establish a state budget. Legislative authority and responsibilities of the Florida House of Representatives include passing bills on public policy matters, setting levels for state spending, raising and lowering taxes, and voting to uphold or override gubernatorial vetoes.

The Florida House of Representatives meets in the state capitol complex in Tallahassee, Florida.

All 120 Florida House seats were up for election in 2020. The chamber’s Republican majority increased from 71-46 to 78-42.

Florida has a Republican state government trifecta. A trifecta exists when one political party simultaneously holds the governors office and majorities in both state legislative chambers. As of September 24, 2021, there are 23 Republican trifectas, 15 Democratic trifectas, and 12 divided governments where neither party holds trifecta control.In the 2020 election, Republicans had a net gain of two trifectas and two states under divided government became trifectas. Prior to that election, Florida had a Republican trifecta. There were 21 Republican trifectas, 15 Democratic trifectas, and 14 divided governments.

This page contains the following information on the Florida House of Representatives.

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[noassallclass]

For the final boss battle of C2, M*tt worked with a musician for music. A musician who has already done countless songs for CR. Do you know any rumours whether this guy got paid? Have you heard anything? CR seems to benefit a lot off the unpaid work of their fans. As a musician and audio technician myself, I’m afraid this is just another case of theft by CR. I hope not, but when M*tt says “worked with” rather than “commissioned” it does not sound promising.

idk haha i dont follow cr enough to know anything about that but one would hope the artist got paid for it but knowing cr they might have thought the working for cr is honor enough and were not properly compensated/cr felt entitled to the free labor for so graciously reaching out to the artist

but for the most part i believe cr pays artists for their work at least in terms of their merch

[edwad]

the left is in fetishistic love with labor and moralizes the usual marxian categories in a way that makes it really hard to make sense of anything. for marx, labor is exploited in pretty much the same way that agriculture was exploited in the eyes of the physiocrats. the term “exploitation” itself conjures up all sorts of negative connotations, but in the history of economic thought its used to represent a pretty amoral and “scientific” idea. the moralization of these categories comes after the fact and i think thats where a lot of problems arise too, because we think marx is talking about a moral issue rather than an issue which is in some way related to the construction of morality itself. class struggle is going to be bound up with all sorts of moralizations, and i dont think thats necessarily a bad thing, but the way we moralize is going to have an effect on how we read and reflect on these categories. 

a classic example that i mentioned earlier in another post is how we treat productivity as being Good. being an exploited laborer means you are actually generating a surplus for capital and that means youre better than unproductive workers because [something unintelligible]. this literally accepts the logic and moralization of capital, which is certainly what marx was trying to capture when he employed the terms because he was specifically talking about whether or not labor was producing surplus value for capital, but that isnt to say he was attempting to construct a labor politic around a moralized understanding of exploitation itself. 

in my eyes, marx sees the working class as being in an advantageous position regarding the overthrow of capitalism specifically because of its economic role, but the way this gets distorted is by saying that workers are getting ripped off and are entitled to the full value of their labor (the ricardian socialist position, and what most commentators ASSUME marx was saying, as if he wasn't obviously interested in the abolition of the wage system itself), or that theyre inherently revolutionary because of the exploitative conditions of their labor, which has some absurd implications, and marx even acknowledges time and time again how productive and unproductive labors aren't types of labors in the concrete sense; that one sort of job can be productive or unproductive depending on the terms of the labor, not on the type of labor itself, meaning that conditions of labor can be the same for both kinds of laborer. 

to quote theories of surplus value, 

“The capitalist production process, therefore, is not merely the production of commodities.  It is a process which absorbs unpaid labour, which makes raw materials and means of labour—the means of production —into means for the absorption of unpaid labour.

It follows from what has been said that the designation of labour as productive labour has absolutely nothing to do with the determinate content of the labour, its special utility, or the particular use-value in which it manifests itself.

The same kind of labour may be productive or unproductive.

For example Milton, who wrote Paradise Lost for five pounds, was an unproductive labourer.  On the other hand, the writer who turns out stuff for his publisher in factory style, is a productive labourer.  Milton produced Paradise Lost for the same reason that a silk worm produces silk.  It was an activity of his nature.  Later he sold the product for £5.  But the literary proletarian of Leipzig, who fabricates books (for example, Compendia of Economics) under the direction of his publisher, is a productive labourer; for his product is from the outset subsumed under capital, and comes into being only for the purpose of increasing that capital.  A singer who sells her song for her own account is an unproductive labourer.  But the same singer commissioned by an entrepreneur to sing in order to make money for him is a productive labourer; for she produces capital.”

this flies in the face of what many people think marx to be “about”. they think hes saying productive laborers are Good and deserve everything while unproductive laborers are Bad and useless. this is usually paired with the assumption that in the historical materialist outlook, unproductive people are cops, kings, etc, those that defend and dictate, rather than produce and reproduce the social surplus. but here marx is very clearly saying that, at least under capitalism, that is not the case and that two people doing the same thing can be on different sides of the productive line. 

this also has serious implications for how we talk about labor in the first place. for example, i pulled this quote up in the past regarding someone’s insistence that “marx defined the proletariat and it didnt include professors”, but here is a mature marx saying quite clearly that there is such a thing as a “literary proletarian”, and when he says “of Leipzig”, he’s clearly referring to the university, not the place. this is further confirmed by a frequently used quote from capital, where marx is basically repeating what he said here in TSV by stating “a schoolmaster is a productive labourer when, in addition to belabouring the heads of his scholars, he works like a horse to enrich the school proprietor. That the latter has laid out his capital in a teaching factory, instead of in a sausage factory, does not alter the relation.”

now, whether there is a noticeable difference between the two laborers of the same sort as potentially revolutionary subjects, one productive and the other unproductive, as far as how they feel in relation to capital (one being exploited by capital, the other more or less trying to compete with capital), there might be an argument to be made that one standing in a direct and exploitative relation to capital is more likely to fight for the abolition of capital than someone trying to provide a petite-bourgeois service (although, i think this gets dangerously close to lumpen territory and history has typically shown this sub-class to be a revolutionary force), but that says nothing about the real revolutionary potentiality other than abstract tendencies that appear to be based on assumptions further from actually existing capitalism than we might like.

theres also the further danger here in missing the other half of the whole issue and omitting realization and distribution from the analysis. on the one hand, the notion of effective demand has to be a crucial part of the marxian lexicon, so we have to take consumption into account (a big pet peeve among leftists, but certainly not to marx), and on the other, distributive workers can again be lumped into a sort of productive/unproductive schema simply from a cost-price perspective, even if in reality they are wholly unproductive in the typical marxian sense, only contributing to the price of the commodity as a cost in aiding its realization rather than its production. they do not necessarily experience capitalism from the petite-bourgeois pedestal that is often ascribed to them, and there are a number of ideological issues that make more sense in dealing with the issue of revolutionary subjectivity than simply exploitation in the first place, but all of these things require that we think long and hard about labor in a new way because these things are more complex than many of us believe.

in this sense, workers who are not normally considered to be members of “the proletariat” are often wrongfully ejected from the discussion, usually for “marxist” reasons that have no basis in marx. if anything, the problem of revolutionary capacity has less to do with these abstract economic issues and more to do with how we experience capitalism in the real world. that these categories have some presence outside of their abstractions does not mean they are all we feel as navigators of every day life, and i think a decent anti-capitalist movement has to understand this. 

when we approach marx to help us with this task, its important that we take his analysis as a description of capitalism in a pretty pure form in order to help us comprehend the problems generated by its fundamental logic and purpose. it is not a set of moral concerns, although the two aren't incompatible, but we have to move beyond this sort of crude workerism that plagues the left and actually reinforces/reproduces capitalist ideology itself. marx wasn't expressing his admiration and pity for something like the “soviet man” model-worker, he was trying to explain how the system worked and why labor was at its foundation. these kinds of typical misunderstandings on the left have been a conservative force historically and risk undermining the workers movement when applied practically. 

[narcisbolgor-blog]

As Vero Blows Up, Backlash Builds Against Social Apps Shady Founder

Every few years a new viral social platform emerges to supposedly rescue us from the clenches of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and all their associated problems.

In 2014 we had Ello, in 2015 it was Peach. In 2018, its Vero, a buggy Instagram clone that promises to bring back meaningful connections.

Vero skyrocketed to the top of the app store this week, claiming the number one spot in the social media category and surpassing 1 million downloads, but already some users are calling for its deletion due to the problematic past of its founder and CEO, Ayman Hariri.

Hariri is a billionaire Lebanese businessman and son of the assassinated former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. He told CNBC earlier in March that he founded Vero because he was frustrated with other social networks.

When I did join existing social networks, I found the options for privacy were quite limited and difficult to understand, and also when I decided to get on and connect with a few of my friends, I noticed that their behavior online was very different than their behavior in the real world, he told CNBC.

Hariri and his co-founders hired a team of Russian developers to build the social app and has since been on a media tour promoting it as the next Facebook.

The app actually launched back in 2015 billing itself as a relationship first social network. Though it looks almost exactly like Instagram but with a darker, more cluttered color scheme, the platform does have some notable differences that have fueled its recent growth.

Photographers like it because it doesnt make you crop your photos into any set dimensions. Influencers like it because it offers a chronological timeline free from algorithms. And other people like it because you have the option to delineate who is a close friend, who an acquaintance, and who is just a follower. You can set the audience for each post. Also, there are no ads. Instead, users pay a subscription fee to use the app.

In order to sign up, youre asked to provide a name, email address, and phone number. The app then requests access to your contacts. Vero only collects the data we believe is necessary to provide users with a great experience and to ensure the security of their accounts, the company explains, which doesnt say much.

We created a social network that lets you be yourself, hence the name Vero, meaning truth, Vero states on its website.

The website is littered with these types of platitudes, declaring Vero is a social network for anyone who loves anything enough to share it.

But Hariris shady past is enough to give many new users pause and think twice about trusting him with valuable data.

Before beginning his social media escapades, Hariri served as deputy chief executive officer and vice chairman of his familys now defunct construction company, Saudi Oger, a business that was the source of most of his familys wealth.

Throughout his time there, the company was plagued with problems and allegations of abuse and under Hariris watch over 31,000 complaints of non payment for wages were filed against the Saudi Oger.

The company was so negligent that in some cases the Saudi Arabian government had to step in and provide food and basic living supplies to workers spurned by the company.

Unpaid workers were forced to live in crowded dorms in labor camps constructed by the company, Reuters reported in 2016. Throughout their time working for the company many workers were denied access to food, water, and medical care.

So far, there have been no allegations of abuse or unpaid wages made against Vero, however many in the tech community have spoken out about against Hariri, imploring users not to download his app, with many voices citing his past infractions at Saudi Oger as a reason to delete Vero.

Just so everyone knows. The people behind this app are just about as awful as the app itself, one user tweeted, linking to a report on Saudi Oger abuses.

Dont download that thing unless youre using a burner phone, a Palo Alto-based artist named Mr. Fingg who previously founded his own social network called Fingg.com, told The Daily Beast.

Fingg said that it also made him uncomfortable how vague the company is about what it plans to do with user data and he, like many on Twitter, was frustrated when he discovered that he couldnt simply delete his account after signing up.

You cant just go in and just delete your account, you have to put in a request, he said.

Pasquale DSilva, an animator and software designer who has previously worked on social apps created a Twitter moment on Monday raising similar concerns.

The more I read the more I realize it wouldnt be a stretch to call the CEOs previous actions heinous, he tweeted.

DSilva also told The Daily Beast that the foreign development team was a huge red flag. Though plenty of startups outsource development, many dont have CEOs whose brothers are close with Putin.

The DNA of the team is absolutely influential in the shape of the product and network, DSilva said. Also, ideals from an all Russian production team will inevitably have an impact on the way stuff is done at the company.

I think this whole thing is insane, he added. I dont get why a billionaire wants to make a social network and a shitty social network at that what does he really want out of this shitstorm?

Vero has not responded to request for comment on its terms of service or founders past.

But despite Hariris shady past and Veros ambiguous terms, many users are still clamoring to join.

The barely capable social apps popularity suggests Facebook and Instagram may be facing a deeper backlash than we thought, Will Oremus wrote in Slate.

For every five Vero boosters, however, there is at least one person attempting to voice concern. By Tuesday night many former Vero users began tweeting with the hashtag #DeleteVero.

Been looking into the people and money behind Vero and its kind of shady. One of the founders previously started Epok, a cloud-based platform that streamlines sharing for law enforcement and intelligence agencies. this is what yall want to replace Facebook with? Lmao, one man said.

Im always wary of the shiny new social media platform, but this is appalling. #DeleteVero, Tweeted another woman, linking to a report claiming that Hariri had supported human trafficking.

Bye Vero, you shady bitches, tweeted another.

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As Vero Blows Up, Backlash Builds Against Social Apps Shady Founder was originally posted by 11 VA Viral News