Women’s Butts The Latest Election Issue; NYPD No Longer (Always) Using Condoms As Evidence Of Sex Work

What would you like to see from your elected representatives in Canada, ladies? Do you care about whether they’d like to ogle you? Whether the shape of your body is sexually appealing to them?

Well, if you do, you might want to start doing some squats—at least according to an Ontario Liberal candidate—who posted pictures of his ideal derriere on Facebook next to a thinner bum he didn’t find so appealing. Note to politicians: learn how social media works before leaping into the race, and for the sake of all, keep your sex life off the internet. Have we not learned this already?

The other thing that drew my ire this week is the fact that the NYPD has ceased using condoms as evidence of “prostitution”—but only kind of.

Ontario Liberal Candidate Spends Time On Internet Overtly Ogling, Then Judging, Women’s Arses

It appears the shapes of women’s asses have eclipsed your typical election issues in Ontario, at least for one Liberal candidate. Niagara West-Glanbrook candidate David Mossey posted this on his Facebook page in March, and it’s coming to the public light now, thanks to the PCs:

Screencap via Facebook.

Well, Mossey, I’ve taken notice, and so has the rest of Ontario. And guess what?

The only person who gets to comment on/concern themselves with these women’s lovely butts is the women themselves. Their bodies are absolutely none of your business, and from the looks it, you would be exceedingly lucky to glimpse either of their asses in person, rather than publicly judging/drooling over them like a teenage internet perv in his mummy’s basement.

And further, don’t you have anything more important to do? Or are you such a scumbag that you can’t even pretend to be helping people? Hamilton, for example, is in the Niagara West-Glanbrook riding, and there are a number of issues there Mossey could busy himself with other than the shapes of women’s bodies. Transit frequency and general functioning, for one. Gridlock, for two. Solutions to create housing affordability and higher-paying jobs are also, you know, something he could consider posting to Facebook, as opposed to filthy posts about women’s butts.

For a creature running for provincial office to comment in such a public forum on the states of ladies’ butts and how to maintain them is beyond comprehension. Take note: you need to grasp the fact that if you post something to Facebook, it can, and likely will, become public, especially if your job is to be in the public eye.

And Mossey isn’t the only one in the party whose colossal fuckups were revealed this week. Ottawa Liberal candidate Jack Uppal posted in January about supposed differences between men and women:

“If a woman has a lot of problems, her brain can not [sic] classify the problems,” he wrote. “Women talk a lot without thinking. Men act a lot without thinking.”

Unfortunately, premier Kathleen Wynne has apparently “forgiven” them, and the posts have been removed. To me, it’s clear they’re only sorry for getting caught, like bad little boys playing with their mum’s dildo collection. I don’t believe, for one second, that the first woman premier of Ontario has actually forgiven this filth. It’s straight politicking, and guess what? She should have given these children more of a spanking.

Honestly, I’m not won over by any of the major parties in Canada right now, but this is an all-new low. Trudeau said last week that anyone running for his party would have to be pro-choice, and I thought that was a worthy step for the party when it comes to respecting women’s rights. But I guess a pro-woman stance is just lip service, and candidates aren’t actually making an effort to tow the party line.

A thousand curses on Mossey’s head. Fat asses, skinny-ass asses, round asses and flat ones, whatever you have ladies: love it, own it.

Senseless donkeys like Mossey don’t get to weigh in. Am I right, witches? Screencap via YouTube.
Condom Carrying Apparently No Longer a Sign You’re A Durty Whore

So up until recently, if you carried condoms in New York City, it could be used against you as “evidence” that you are a sex worker (or, in their ugly words and for the sake of specifics, “prostitute”). This week, the NYPD decided that this will no longer be the case.

That said, condoms will still be used in New York as evidence in sex trafficking and promotion of “prostitution” cases. These practices will disproportionately impact young, queer people of colour, who are often stopped and assumed to be sex workers regardless of what their actual circumstances may be. Advocates for sex workers and LGBTQ++ folk are saying the new policy will still allow police to take condoms from both sex workers and teen runaways, under the guise of “investigating pimps and traffickers.” The real story is that police action on this front is informed by racism, bigotry, and outmoded, puritan values surrounding sex, which are being unjustly foisted upon the rest of us. Verónica Bayetti Flores of Feministing points out that this could lead traffickers to punish sex workers carrying condoms because they fear the practice will be used against them.

I don’t have a book deal at the moment, so I can’t give this its due by full addressing everything that is wrong with the fact that condoms will still, ostensibly, be used to supposedly “prove” a person has been engaging in sex work. But I can say this:

1.)  Everyone out there having a wonderful life full of casual sex should be able to take every precaution to make sure they, and their partners, stay safe. We should be free to carry condoms, diaphragms, dams, whatever suits us best, in order to protect us and our partners (whom, yes, we may not always have feelings for, but whose health we should respect, as they are, hopefully, also human beings sharing our planet). This is middle school sex ed stuff, but apparently it’s lost on New York City cops.

2.)  Criminalizing safe sex is just about the stupidest fucking thing anyone could ever do. STIs can develop to the point that they can threaten your immune system, cause complications with conceiving, and with giving birth, and they can wreak psychological havoc and have a long lasting impact on overall health. That’s not to shame anyone who has had an STI, only to say they’re not the most desirable diseases to deal with, and for police to stop us from protecting ourselves accordingly is idiotic. Lack of condom use can also lead to unwanted pregnancies, which are generally unfair to everyone involved. (Again, so obvious, but apparently not to all of us).

3.)  What we’re discussing here is an issue of human rights. The UN specifies that all people should have the right to life, liberty, and security of person. Some STIs can seriously threaten all of that, and by criminalizing those who carry condoms, police stand in the face of those rights.

4.)  There is nothing wrong with sex work. Sex is incredibly healthy for many of us, can be a form of therapy, and I believe (or at least hope) people who provide it as a service will soon be recognized as legitimate therapists.

5.)  It’s our party and we’ll be sluts if we want to. As you were, NYPD, as you were.

Happily, mayor Bill de Blasio agrees. Bayetti Flores of quoted him as saying:

“A policy that inhibits people from safe sex is a mistake and dangerous…And there are a number of ways you can go about putting together evidence” without condoms.

@sarratch