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“Targeted” social norm play prior to the dreaded hair and make up removal for work. It is hard to believe one could finally become comfortable carrying purses and cute wallets without the confines of hair and make up, even in their own small town.
Although it has been almost three years since replacing our church broadcast engagements, I am still not 100% out to my large freelance contractors. To thwart the impending full-time future, I am doubling down most weeks to build the transition fund; bracing for at least one of my client’s choosing to lose my number when Steph arrives. 💜☮️
Maybe I have a future as a teacher or executive admin? If so I have that perfect HR friendly wardrobe. 😂
Although I blew my holiday morning on an unproductive meeting, I made the most of the day with a purse full of make up and nice change of clothes. Yep, I’m still very trans. ☮️💜
This picture is from 6 months, 40lbs ago....before the last two rear-end car wrecks slowed me down. I’m fine now and the cars are fine. (Still waiting for the cute little white SUV to come home😊)
As I continue to feel better I’m choosing to leverage these accidents as a catalyst for personal growth. It is Christmas right? The most magical and beautiful season of all.
Cheers to all of the pageantry and beauty these holidays may bring to you my friends. I adore the spirit and encouragement we share as we donn our best. ☮️💜☮️💜☮️💜
Although it was campy there was a great message and expert production elements that helped port you to Barbieland.
I believe I’m starting to look like my mother but reaffirmed this morning I look more like her mother. Oh my heart soars when mom talks about my journey of becoming a woman. I would be fine sharing any of their attributes. Now if I could only snag a Colonel or TV broadcaster as a husband! 😘
Final days of Rossendale Transport: old sign dumped at the rear of Rochdale depot. As Rossendale Transport passes into private hands, here is an article from the Commercial Motor Archive recalling Rossendale's purchase of the Ellen Smith operation - article printed in January 1991:
"Rossendale takes over Ellen Smith
Municipal bus operator Rossendale Transport is expanding its leisure activities with the takeover of Rochdale based family firm Ellen Smith Tours.
The 90-year-old tours company will continue to trade separately, but will operate from Rossendale's new bus garage in Rochdale. All existing business — which includes the 1991 tours programme, 20 staff and 14 coaches, are being taken over; only the premises in Wardleworth are being retained by Eric Smith who was seeking retirement. Rossendale's coach fleet will continue to run separately from the Rawtenstall depot: there are no plans to integrate the two.
Smith and his wife will stay with the company on a parttime basis to oversee a smooth transfer with all existing commitments being honoured."
archive.commercialmotor.com/article/17th-january-1991/26/...
“I like long walks in the park, rainbows 🌈 after a rain shower, and hanging out at Unicorn ranches in my spare time.” Oh how I love reading OKC profiles.
How close is too close? It seems an uncomfortably safe 3-5ft are the recommended distances for public health today. Prayers and virtual hugs. ☮️💜
This may sound crazy but I am very excited about today’s HRT checkup. My three year estroversary is only two months away. If all goes well, this summer I will finally confront my birth gender to begin living and working full time as a woman. Due to familial and fiscal responsibilities, this has been a super low-heat simmering plan since 10/11/2012. 🙏☮️💜
Bland Steph, without eye makeup, donning hair and lipstick after work because I couldn’t stand being Andro a second more than needed. I’m praying this is my last holiday season caught between two personas. This month has been filled with amazing client productions and even more offers than last year. I have to believe if I transition correctly and sincerely our business will remain resilient and productive. For many years I have been targeting F100’s that embrace diversity and LGBT programs like Pharma, Medical, Entertainment, and IT verticals. Finally I can see the plan coming together. There is a lot on the line for my brother and our associates, aside from my eclectic concerns.
Out taking pictures and trying new looks this morning. Last night every girl in the club was wearing a scarf and had a man hanging all over them. It’s time to go scarf shopping!
My thin hair, no makeup, and full of gratitude for my brother’s love after sending him this picture. I wanted to share this milestone text he sent me last month.
Since 2012 my brother has been slowly warming up to my impending transition emotionally and fiscally. I say fiscally because we have grown our company together since 911. This year I started my own company and only hold a small PM/advisory position at our old firm entitled “(last name) brothers”
After three years of hormones and a lifetime of hiding, I am only counting the months remaining before I go full-time.
We are finally back home from our Charleston shoots. Here are a few more from the foggy sunrise on Folly Beach. You may need squint. I didn’t put make-up on until later in the morning. (Hence the filter) 😊
I've been retired for several years now, but if I contemplated returning parttime there is a dress code at work requiring me to wear a tie. Would this work?
i am going to go Germany in 2 month. ( after Tet holiday)
while i am waiting for this travel, i have a parttime work . hmmm=))i work as a shop assistant in a fashion shop . not only do not waste time, but also having more income and this girl is one of the most my impressive customers.
Oh...i hope she will come back on one day=))))))))))))))))))
Another clip from the after work lipstick series. This Girl is on course to go make up crazy the first chance she gets . ❤️
Running errands today and now at Kohl’s picking up ship-to-store items. Thankful for this half-day of me time before work. Most of all I am very thankful for our Flickr community and how we share to inspire here. just helen2010 and DeeDee Allen have been two of the many inspirational ladies here as well as Colin Ely and @mt_coots who are just a few of many sincere friends. Happy Holidays everyone and cheers to living our best lives! ❤️
New pictures from a new camera phone and more news on the way. This week’s 18 month HRT check up went very well. We have clearance for increased estrogen and a few more changes.
This month I have been sharing my transition with so many people, I am literally starting to forget who has been told. Most people have been positive, a few are becoming a bit stand-offish and one close friend is not dealing well at all. Total crickets when I told her.
Most of my family and I have known my whole life but my poor friends are having to process this shock in seconds. I truly thought my changes were more evident. Even though since 2012 I’ve progressively shaved my body, laser’d my complexion, kept these brows threaded thin, dress androgynous in women’s clothes, carry women’s wallets, wear my shoulder length hair in clips, sports bras since 2017, etc, people are still surprised??? They probably thought I was different because I am just another musician who owns a production arts firm. Wow, I really missed that mark.
Soon I will not be in control of my secret anymore. Hopefully I am ready. All prayers and good vibes welcome! ☮️💜💋
I am not going to discuss this nice postcard of Austrians with dog carts. Instead I am going to talk about my tale with Lothar. Let me begin by saying that this card is not what I purchased from Lothar. I have had a bad run lately and have three cards I doubt are going to make their way into my mailbox. One of those is my purchase from Lothar. I will add it is the least valuable of the three and neither this nor anything else I say here is meant to show Lothar in a negative light. Rather, it is opportunity for all to laugh along with me (or at me).
It began with my bidding on a postcard without observing that this dealer did not take PayPal. I noticed this relevant fact after my first bid, but since I bid 5 Euros, and I thought it was worth 10 to 15 so I figured someone else would outbid me. No one else bid on the card. Unfortunately, my bank charges $45 for a foreign bank wire transfer. Neverthless I obtained Lothar's wiring instructions and wired the money. A wire transfer requires me to go to the bank and takes at least thirty minutes to complete. For those who say why didn't you request him to take PayPal, I have been unsuccessful previously when making this request of German dealers.
Lothar emails me back and tells me that my bank did not pay for the entire wiring cost and that his bank has charged him 5 Euros. He does not want to send me a postcard that results in a loss to him. I email him back and agree. I offer to send him 5 Euros through PayPal and he agrees. Before you think that I should have asked him to take PayPal originally, hold that thought. I send him the Euros through Paypal and my account shows him receiving it. Two weeks later Lothar emails me and asks if I am going to send the Euros. I reply that I have and that PayPal states the funds have left my account. Lothar reports back that he has spent significant time with a PayPal representative including actually speaking to someone on the telephone. He assures me that the problem is resolved and that I should transfer again. I send again and he does not get the money. By now we have exchanged several emails and shared our frustrations with Paypal. It seems that Lothar speaks excellent English and is 81 years old. I am impressed with his English skills and the fact he is making a parttime living on Ebay.
The second transfer is returned 30 days later by PayPal stating that the account I have attempted to pay through has never been successfully set up by Lothar. We are both at our wits end now.
I suggest a final attempt to conclude our star-crossed transaction. I tell him that my bank charges too much for me to change dollars into Euros, but if he will do it on his end, I will mail him the money. He agrees. I send him $10 and he acknowledges receipt. So ends the saga of Lothar and me. I will update those of you wondering if the card will ever arrive.
***I STARTED A BLOG***
Watching live music tonight and was surprised by this friendly decorated hallway; Eight gender free restrooms! (BTW: This is my own hair under the hat.)
Please check out
www.stillverytrans.com when get a chance and let me know what you think.
I’m just starting out and hoping we can share a few topics and stories. Hope to see you there! 😊
Rescue of a second old local photo!!
(First of all, many apologies for the age of the photograph, now partly restored.)
More background from a very knowledgeable and sympathetic collector of such old photographic memories:
‘Another view of a distant past rescued from the long-lost world of red-brick houses and narrow streets where ranks of chimneys brought a veil of soot to many places.
She is viewed again inside the same humble place, gazing, it seems, at something in her hand, probably a small mirror. Oh yes, she’s so delighted with her new confection of petals, perched on her nicely styled hair. Perfectly delicate! And, above all, a moment to raise the spirits!
Perhaps some assistance had been given by another lady who could help acquire quality clothing: “I don’t know what I would have done without her!”
In the picture we might see a very pale ‘Lady Lilywhite’, though sadly there was more demand for “char-ladies” in such places! And a spot of “charring” was never out of the question when a purse was short of a few pennies!! More seasonal work would come with the opening of better stores nearby, or maybe she’d like to be quietly serving in the local wool shop where all sorts went for their knitting requirements.
She’d do well to have a folding bag handy, so as to be ready to pick up a choice bargain or two offered at the shops. And also be able to pop smartly into respectable homes nearby, carrying a few necessary articles for use there. Yes, such time would always be appreciated by an ailing lady, or an older gentleman on his own…”Just seen daintily stepping out of Mr Soames’s again.”
So a humble place, and a tender creature from the past . Maybe gone…but not entirely lost - as long as such a photo remains.’
( Image owned by the account holder)
Being a girl (even a parttime one) is not for everyone, but if that is your desire, I say go for it!
Thanks to Curbed LA for feautring my pic!
la.curbed.com/archives/2013/06/ontario_suing_la_for_airpo...
At last I managed to get a new parttime job as a secretary in a tax consulting firm. The job posting was only available to women. Fortunately, they accept me as Stephanie if I work hard enough and also on weekends and evenings.
(I have to confess: some AI games only since I don't have time for my Stephanie side right now)
Here is an update on today’s before and afters.
- I loved how the eyebrow threading cleaned up my bushy mess. Perfect timing for New Years Eve.
- I finally introduced Stephanie to our warehouse manager Karen and she was so sweet to me. (Destiny was out today)
I can’t believe how normal and natural our conversation was after I came down to earth from Karen’s comments. She barley recognized me until I opened my mouth. I’m going blog all about this tomorrow on www.stillverytrans.com
What a liberating day. ☮️💜
anna is a Russion friend who i know on flickr,she
is still a student that study chinese inTaiwan,sometime she did the parttime model.
she got good figture and cute pure, lovely beautiful
looking,and i ask her for night shooting at warner,
we really had a good time , thank Anna did the best work
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Monument
When this staute was unveiled on M and Connecticut Streets NW, the place was absolutely buzzing. The heroic bronze figure sat draped in his academic robe, book in hand, and looked out on the streets packed with the wide spectrum of adoring fans: men, women, and children “of all races and nationalities.”
It was May 7, 1909. The Marine Band played "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "America the Beautiful" while the flag that had previously covered the statue “floated above the heads of the great throng.” Then a Reverend blessed the ceremony—such was the power of the man!
And yet for all the pomp with which it was dedicated, when DCist went to see this monument of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow one recent evening, we could hardly see him. The man described as “the joyful, enthusiastic mouthpiece of what was best in his time” sits unlit, alone, and stranded on an island in the middle of the noisy intersection southeast of Dupont Circle.
Rev. George R. Grose wrote in the Zion’s Herald that at the dedication there was a large shield in the middle of the platform which read (from Longfellow’s “The Building of a Ship”):
“Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State!
Sail on, O Union, strong and great!
Humanity, with all its fears,
With all the hopes of future years,
Is hanging breathless on thy fate!”
The only inscription we could find was one word: LONGFELLOW.
Even though interest in the monument has obviously waned considerably—our contact at the NPS said, “In my six years here, no on has ever asked about the monument”—the original context of the monument’s construction is, as the Revisiting Series tends to find with most forgotten monuments, rather fascinating.
The monument was erected not only as a testament to one of this country’s greatest poets, but also as a statement of American culture. For at the time of the unveiling, according to Grose, there were no national monuments in D.C. that commemorated American literature.
Grose mentions the Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey, and is both relieved and jubilant that the nation was able to raise the $35,000—“by gifts from rich and poor”—to celebrate Longfellow’s contribution to American literature and society. Grose was sure the monument cemented the U.S.’s legitimacy in global culture and expressed the nation’s propulsion into a new age. Indeed, Longfellow, “while he makes us feel the nobility of his white soul, and brings close to our view the great, simple, normal life of humanity,” would be a fine model for America as it sought to keep its morals and traditions in order while adjusting to a frenetically industrialized, internationalizing modernity.
There may not be “flags, wreaths, and festoons of laurel and bunches of iris, the poet’s favorite flower,” commemorating Longfellow anymore, but surely we have space in our hearts for a little appreciation for one of the most important figures in American literature. So next time you find yourself stuck in traffic or transitioning from one Dupont bar to another, take a second to pay your respects. Remember peaceful old Longfellow, the poet who was not only "the purest democrat known to humanity," but a crucial player in this country's cultural maturation.
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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet whose works include Paul Revere's Ride, A Psalm of Life, The Song of Hiawatha and Evangeline. He also wrote the first American translation of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and was one of the five members of the group known as the Fireside Poets. Longfellow was born and raised in the Portland, Maine area. He attended university at an early age at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. After several journeys overseas, Longfellow settled for the last forty-five years of his life in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in a wood frame house once occupied during the American Revolution by General George Washington and his staff.
Early life and education
Birthplace in c. 1910Longfellow was born in 1807 to Stephen and Zilpah (Wadsworth) Longfellow in Portland, Maine, and grew up in what is now known as the Wadsworth-Longfellow House. His father was a lawyer, and his maternal grandfather, Peleg Wadsworth Sr., was a general in the American Revolutionary War. He was descended from the Longfellow family that came to America in 1676 from Yorkshire, England and from Priscilla and John Alden on his father's side
Longfellow's siblings were Stephen (1805), Elizabeth (1808), Anne (1810), Alexander (1814), Mary (1816), Ellen (1818), and Samuel (1819).
Longfellow was enrolled in a "dame school" at the age of only three, and by age six, when he entered the Portland Academy, he was able to read and write quite well. He remained at the Portland Academy until the age of fourteen and entered Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine in 1822. At Bowdoin, he met Nathaniel Hawthorne, who became his lifelong friend. He was a 5th great grandson of John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley who were on the Mayflower.
First European tour and professorship at Bowdoin
After graduating in 1825, he was offered a professorship at Bowdoin College with the condition that he first spend some time in Europe for further language study. He toured Europe between 1826 and 1829 (visiting England, France, Germany, Holland, Italy and Spain), and upon returning went on to become the first professor of modern languages at Bowdoin, as well as a parttime librarian. During his years at the college, he wrote textbooks in French, Italian, and Spanish and a travel book, Outre-Mer: A Pilgrimage Beyond the Sea. In 1831, he married Mary Storer Potter of Portland.
Second European tour and professorship at Harvard
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowLongfellow was offered the Smith Professorship of French and Spanish at Harvard with the stipulation that he spend a year or so abroad. His 22-year old wife, Mary Storer Potter died during the trip in Rotterdam after suffering a miscarriage in 1835. Three years later he was inspired to write "Footsteps of Angels" about their love.
When he returned to the United States in 1836, Longfellow took up the professorship at Harvard University. He settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he remained for the rest of his life, although he spent summers at his home in Nahant. He began publishing his poetry, including "Voices of the Night" in 1839 and "Ballads and Other Poems", which included his famous poem "The Village Blacksmith", in 1841.
Marriage to Frances "Fanny" Appleton
Fanny Appleton LongfellowLongfellow began courting Frances "Fanny" Appleton, the daughter of a wealthy Boston industrialist, Nathan Appleton. During the courtship, he frequently walked from Harvard to her home in Boston, crossing the Boston Bridge. That bridge was subsequently demolished and replaced in 1906 by a new bridge, which was eventually renamed as the Longfellow Bridge. After seven years, Fanny finally agreed to marriage and they were wed in 1843. Nathan Appleton bought the Craigie House, overlooking the Charles River as a wedding present to the pair.
His love for Fanny is evident in the following lines from Longfellow's only love-poem, the sonnet "The Evening Star," which he wrote in October, 1845: "O my beloved, my sweet Hesperus! My morning and my evening star of love!"
He and Fanny had six children:
Charles Appleton (1844-1893)
Ernest Wadsworth (1845-1921)
Fanny (1847-1848)
Alice Mary (1850-1928)
Edith (1853-1915)
Anne Allegra (1855-1934).
When the younger Fanny was born on April 7, 1847, Dr. Nathan Cooley Keep administered the first obstetric anesthetic in the United States to Fanny Longfellow.
Longfellow retired from Harvard in 1854, devoting himself entirely to writing. He was awarded an honorary doctorate of Laws from Harvard in 1859.
The death of Frances
Longfellow was a devoted husband and father with a keen feeling for the pleasures of home. But his marriages ended in sadness and tragedy.
On a hot July day, while putting a lock of a child's hair into an envelope and attempting to seal it with hot sealing wax, her dress caught fire causing severe burns.She died the next day, aged 44, on July 10, 1861. Longfellow was devastated by her death and never fully recovered. The strength of his grief is still evident in these lines from a sonnet, "The Cross of Snow" (1879) which he wrote eighteen years later to commemorate her death:
Such is the cross I wear upon my breast
These forty five years, through all the changing scenes
And seasons, changeless since the day she died.
Death
Longfellow died on March 24, 1882, after suffering from peritonitis for five days.
He is buried with both of his wives at Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1884 he was the first American poet for whom a commemorative sculpted bust was placed in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey in London.
Longfellow's work
Longfellow was such an admired figure in the United States during his life, that his 70th birthday in 1877 took on the air of a national holiday, with parades, speeches, and the reading of his poetry. He had become one of the first American celebrities.
His work was immensely popular during his time and is still today, although some modern critics consider him too sentimental. His poetry is based on familiar and easily understood themes with simple, clear, and flowing language. His poetry created an audience in America and contributed to creating American mythology.
Longfellow's poem "Christmas Bells" is the basis for the Christmas carol "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day".
Longfellow's home in Cambridge, the Longfellow National Historic Site, is a U.S. National Historic Site, National Historic Landmark, and on the National Register of Historic Places. A two-thirds scale replica was built in Minneapolis, Minnesota at Minnehaha Park in 1906 and once served as a centerpiece for a local zoo.
Noted minister, writer and abolitionist Edward Everett Hale founded organizations called the Harry Wadsworth Clubs.
Trivia
A number of schools are named after him in various states, including Maine, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, California, Minnesota, Montana, Pennsylvania, New York and Texas.
"Longfellow Serenade" is a pop song by Neil Diamond.
In March 2007 the United postal service made a stamp after him.
Yashica FX3 - Kodak Portra 160NC
Gemma Gullotta la giovane e avvenente prostituta sordomuta..
Chi sono questi personaggi? Scopritelo su Part-time!
Traveling girl’s night shooting practice inspired by her new photography friend. Now I am looking for nice restaurant to unwind before I have to wipe down and get back to my room. Mercy. 💜☮️
This majesty of this location took my breathe away. I snapped over 1700 pictures and recorded 18 hours of video on this trip. I can’t wait to go back.
Kashashi always ends an Okinawan party and the folks here love it. If your an American they love to have you join in it's just good fun.
A well seasoned security guard casts a wary look my direction as I line up and take my shot. I must not have posed much of a threat, however, he just went back to drinking his coffee.
at the Bad Students protest nr Siam Paragon
Nalinrat Tuthubthim, 20, who claims she was sexually abused by a teacher, has her mouth covered with tape as pro-democracy protesters demanding the resignation of Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and reforms on the monarchy gather during a rally.
- - - - - -
Nalinrat Tuthubthim: assaulted by her teacher, ignored by the school, blamed by the adults
Thisrupt - October 6, 2020
“Five years ago, a teacher sexually assaulted me. He touched my breasts and my body. I asked him to lock the restroom door. It was stupid. There was also a security camera. I did what I did, to act like everything was normal because I was afraid others would know I was being sexually assaulted. I thought it was shameful. I thought society would condemn me for allowing a man to assault me.”
These are the words to the Facebook post on 20 September by 20-year-old Nalinrat Tuthubthim. In the post, she detailed her experience from when she was 16 years old.
What happened
According to the post, this was the third incident regarding the teacher in question. The teacher who said to her, “You give consent.” However, Nalinrat explained in the post that her “consent” was out of fear and ignorance.
“When I walked into the restroom, he kept switching the light on and off. I was scared and started to cry. So he put his arms around me and asked, “Are you okay? I didn’t think you would be so scared.”
“Of course, I didn’t do anything. I actually thought the teacher was playing a prank innocently. I thought to myself that he was a good teacher,” she wrote.
The first incident was when the teacher stroked her leg after he took her home on his motorbike. The second incident involved tricking her into sitting astride on his motorbike, so that when he brake, which he repeatedly did, her chest would bounce on his back.
What followed
In July this year, she gathered enough courage to approach the school authorities.
The answer she received was, “We already have the [safety] measures, but we understand that there are bad people among good people. No matter the measures, there will be those breaking the rules,”
“We can’t introduce specific [safety] measures for the school, because we are an educational facility under the Education Ministry.”
She was told, “Many teachers touch the kids out of affection. If you study psychology, you would know it is to make the kids feel good.”
An hour after her post went public, she received a message from one of the school teachers. He asked her to take the post down, worried that she was ruining the school’s reputation.
The past five years
Over a phone interview, Nalinrat told us she has been suffering from mental health issues. She had nightmares of sexual assaults and had tried to commit suicide.
“Schools [in Thailand] are the place that creates and normalizes the authoritarian system and the sexual harassment,” she said.
“The sexual harassment is just the tip of the iceberg; there are many other problems beneath it.”
However, as Nalinrat witnesses young Thais’ political awakening, with students from high school to universities demanding justice and safety, she feels there’s hope.
Blame the victim
Traditionally, Thai culture blames the victim. As per Nalinrat’s quote at the top of the article, it frames a victim mentality of “suffering in silence.”
“If I put myself in a ‘risky’ situation, the society would automatically think that ‘I was asking for it,’” Nalinrat said.
Even news headlines reinforce this belief system. For example: “Security footage revealed the victim was wearing a short dress” or “Teacher revealed the student wanted to trade sex for a grade.” Somehow, it’s always the victim’s fault.
“It’s not just teaching about sexual harassment,” said Nalinrat. “But more about teaching people to respect each other’s rights.”
Children must know their rights
Nalinrat explained that when the first incident happened, she did not realize it was wrong. Until later, when she told her friends, one of whom said it’s sexual assault.
“In Thailand, children don’t have any rights to say no to any physical abuses or authoritarianism from the adults,” Nalinrat said. “Children don’t know what rights they have, so they end up giving ‘consent,’ out of fear and the thought that they are supposed to, that the adults are always right.”
“My school never taught us anything about consent.”
The repercussion
After her Facebook post caught on, Nalinrat received both sympathy and condemnation. The disapproval comes mainly from older generation people who attacked her for being “inappropriate” and “aggressive,” and that she’s ruining the school’s reputation.
“The older generation keeps fighting this, which makes the younger generation seem even more aggressive,” said Nalinrat.
They need to stop fighting the truth and hiding problems, pretending like everything is perfect. We should expose problems and fix them.”
According to Nalinrat, her intention is not to ruin the school’s reputation.
“So, let’s talk and fix this together. I’m not trying to burn anyone down,” she said.
- - - - - -
Government Lawmakers Attack Student For Speaking Up About Abuse
By Khaosod English - November 23, 2020
Conservative lawmakers allied to PM Prayut Chan-o-cha on Monday lashed out at a university student who publicly identified herself as the victim of sexual harassment in her high school years.
The woman, who would only identify herself as Muay, came under fire not just from the politicians, but also a pro-establishment media outlet, after she dressed up as a high schooler and held a sign saying “I was sexually assaulted by my teacher. School is not a safe space” during a pro-democracy rally on Saturday.
“It’s inappropriate to say you were sexually assaulted and wear a student uniform,” Phalang Pracharath MP Sira Jenjaka told reporters. “Now this is famous worldwide, not just in Thailand, and damages the reputation of her educational institution.”
“Do you wear seducing cosplay costumes to instigate sexual assault, or not?” he added. “Do not embarrass your parents further.”
Sira, who chairs the House committee on law and order, went on to say that he will summon Muay for questioning – and she will be punished if her allegations turned out to be lies. He did not specify how they will be proven.
Parina Kraikupt, also an MP from Phalang Pracharath Party, wrote online Sunday that she would file a criminal case against Muay Monday at Pathum Wan Police. Her crime? Dressing up as a high school student.
“When a non-student wears a student uniform to create viral content online, you must be responsible to society and consequences,” Parina wrote.
There is no law forbidding non-students from wearing school uniforms; a large number of alumni at the all-male Suan Kularb School donned their high school outfits on Monday for a much publicized reunion event.
Junta-appointed senator Somchai Sawangkarn said Sunday that Muay damaged the country’s image and had ulterior motives.
“To talk about something that happened 4 to 5 years ago, is it even true or is she wanted to make news in the protest?,” Somchai said. “If it didn’t happen, she should be punished.”
In a phone interview, Muay said a male teacher at the high school touched her breasts and body without consent inside the campus. When she brought it up to the school administrators, Muay said, she was told that “teachers touch children out of endearment.”
Muay requested that details about her real name or the name of the school not be published, but said the teacher who groped her is still teaching there. Muay said she was underage at the time.
The student also said she made an appearance at the student-led protest on Saturday because the pro-democracy movement should also tackle culture of abuse on school grounds.
“Authoritarianism has been a very long-term problem,” Muay said on the phone Monday. “If we don’t talk about it, it won’t be solved.”
‘She Should Be Ashamed’
Although most of the media outlets reported about Muay’s allegations in a sympathetic light, Manager Online – a news agency with an established right-wing streak – stood out.
Instead of discussing the accusations concerning the sexual assault of an underage individual, the website ran a story linking Muay to her parttime job as a social media influencer and a model.
“Link to the Schoolgirl Holding Up a Sexual Assault Sign by Teacher in Various Sexy Cosplay Costumes!” read the headline. The story spent little time on the student’s symbolic protest in favor of multiple photos of Muay’s modeling photos.
Manager Online is a popular news site among many in the pro-establishment camp who already oppose the pro-democracy student protests for touching on a wide range of social issues. Many readers reacted to the story by using Muay’s background as a model to cast doubt on her stories.
“She looks like she wanted to be gang-raped. What a flirting beggar,” wrote Facebook user Viriya Poompetch.
“If the student didn’t make the first move the teacher wouldn’t dare. Don’t underestimate kids these days,” wrote Nungning Tat-chai.
“If this is true, she would probably be pregnant by now. She should be ashamed. Aren’t her ancestors embarrassed that she’s outing herself like this?” wrote user Wilaiwan Sukngam.
“She’s just a pretty [promotional model] who was hired to be there, not to take off her clothes, but to bullshit,” wrote Picitawan Plum.
Muay said she’s seen the derogatory comments, and she and her supporters are currently gathering evidence to file criminal complaints against the authors who wrote them.
But she said she also saw a positive side in the controversy: some women also came forward with their own experience of sexual assaults, especially in schools, after seeing news about her.
“I want to hug you; you are so brave; you are not the guilty person,” Muay said. ““If you had an experience like me but don’t wanna talk, it’s not your fault. You don’t have to, if your heart can’t take it yet. But when you can, let’s share.”
At least one in five Thais have experienced sexual harassment, according to a UK-based survey.
However, despite some gains in protecting sexual assault victims in recent years, very few come forward to press charges due to male-dominated police force and the media, who tend to ‘blame the victim’ for the crimes.
Even the Ministry of Public Health was widely panned for releasing a public service announcement in March telling women it was their responsibility to avoid sexual assaults.