Whats Another Year

So Roz has been CEO of Object Now for a year tomorrow (thanks Brute for pointing this out and the some of the "fails" that are a part of this piece). The first part of this is a bit of fun at the expense of Object and I will finish with something that has been playing on my mind.

So what has Object achieved in terms of tangible things that they have done this year, not talking about talks or events that they have been invited to but actual campaigns that they have run by themselves and delivered this year....... I saw the campaign against the Escort ads that Vivastreet had put out but not sure you led on on it Object, the same as the bus adverts for ride around on me for £3 all day. Okay guess that this was going to be a short list anyway. Roz has been a rent-a-quote for the press when they need to be disapproving even though the papers are the centre of media sexism. Wonder if anyone from the outside might consider that a little 2 faced?

Roz did get to go to Brazil and speak at a conference about violence against women, I believe her focus was the media and it's impact on this. No idea who paid for the trip, if I was a paying member of Object I would be really upset if I had paid for it. But the weather is always nice and I know a lot of the guys on the London strip scene will know one or two Brazilian dancers.

So lets now consider what Roz and co has campaigned on this year that interests this blog and consider how successful on each they were.

No More Page 3, this was led by UK Feminista and they were all cheering when the Sun stopped page 3 for a couple of days and were a little upset when the paper brought it back. Like with Lads Mags the campaign claims victory but the platform has changed with social media and the internet delivering them now.
Spearmint Rhino, this is an annual thing where Object complain about the license renewal and in real terms achieve nothing apart from to make the dancers lives harder.
The fight against Entice in Sounthend which even though they got a couple of councillors to attend the presentation with Essex Feminist Collective in once again they failed as the club opened.

Fun in the Changing Rooms? 

I have gone over a very long set of tweets and retweets to see things where Object are the Lead Organisation and apart from the campaign from Hull on Strip Venues this year has been pretty much a year of riding other peoples coat tails. That and turning up to protest against magazines and porn which I believe they intend to do again this year. So we may well see more videos of them making fools of themselves.

So I have a suggestion for you, one you will laugh at probably because the concept of actually trying to deliver something is strange.

Roz, assuming your back from Brazil there have been murmors from yourselves about pushing for even more regulations and controls. Well perhaps before you go rambling off trying to create mayhem (from my point of view) perhaps you should do one thing. Engage with the people involved.... not talking about club owners, I know your opinions of them, not talking about the dirty mac brigade as you no doubt see the customers... I am talking about engaging with the dancers and the unions involved to see what can be done to create a better environment for the dancers without making them fight to earn a living. Go speak to those people whose lives you try to destroy most with your attacks on the industry.

And Roz lets be honest by attacking the industry in the UK you don't hurt anyone but the dancers. As a customer I can find other venues if you close one or I can hope on a train to Paris or a ferry to Amsterdam, there are always alternatives for me. Are you hurting club owners? A little but they can always open a night club where sexual violence is much more likely to be associated with it. So who ends up losing out? Dancers who may struggle to find work that fits in with their needs with study, childcare or even work that allows them to perform and express themselves. There is a lot of other people who lose out but the people you hurt most are the people that Object said when they started out that they were there to protect/support.

Perhaps if dancers dressed like this Object would be happy?

So you can e-mail me if you can't find anyone to engage with but it is about time you looked at what Object was created to do and what you are doing now. Your numbers have fallen off and twitter SJWs are fine but they won't come out on a cold November night and stand by your sides. You can call Object a human rights organisation but if you have read this blog previously you would have seen how laughable that claim looks in the cold light of day. Stopping the hate and resentment would be a fantastic opportunity to actually do something positive. Roz  you have been CEO for a year and that in itself is something but if you want to make an impact in your second year then work with the people your organisation was suppose to! Creating stigma benefits no one.

I often make jokes about Object and I probably will again (very soon) but you can make me look a bit foolish if you choose to reach out. I would be happy to apologise if you worked to better the lives of the dancers, I know I am probably going nowhere with this but I want people to understand the issue I have with Object is that they are busy hurting the one group of people that they should be working with instead. 

TonyN (tonyprince@acdcfan.com)