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Original poster

posters about local landmarks including a brothel. I am uncomfortable.

35 replies

DoggyDaycare · 03/04/2015 14:05

Would be grateful for help clarifying my thoughts on this, please.

I live in Streatham.

Recently a business development organisation has started painting local vacant shopfronts with pictures alluding to local celebs and landmarks..there is one painted like the callbox in doc who as Roger Moore was brought up here for example.

There is one for Cynthia Payne and it makes me very uncomfortable.

She did pull off some kind of pr coup where she portrayed herself as providing harmless social fun (describes herself as a 'party hostess' FFS) when she was sent to prison for 6 months running a brothel.

I have read the appeal court judgement and Lord Justice Lawton is at pains to refute all the rubbish spouted about it being full of high profile clients mingling at a Christmas party and pointed out that no such person was found on the premises but on average 25 men a day paid for sex there day in and day out....

I think the thing I find most galling is the hype that they paid using luncheon vouchers has been bought into- they are the main image of this shopfront-

Yet what actually happened is that the men paid £25 on the door, were given a luncheon voucher as a token, had sex using the voucher which the sex worker would be given £8 for at the end of the night.....less than a third of the money.

I mentioned it to my next door neighbour who thought I was being very precious, and also said that it can't be exploiting women if a woman was in charge of the thing....

I don't have any sort of feminist education or the language or tools by which I can really explain why I find this so wrong. I just know instinctively pretending it is all harmless fun/rather glamorous is wrong, and I object to having to go past this shop every day with my little boy.

Any thoughts welcome...

OP posts:
PuffinsAreFictitious · 03/04/2015 16:54

Not spent a lot of time in the East End then Grin

StillLostAtTheStation · 03/04/2015 16:50

The Krays and Biggs aren't going to be included in an initiative to promote local businesses or urban regeneration are they?

YonicScrewdriver · 03/04/2015 16:38

It's a bit shit, plenty of criminals are glorified though (see: The Krays, Ronnie Biggs)

Naomi Campbell has been convicted several times for assault, though I agree it's not why she's famous.

StillLostAtTheStation · 03/04/2015 16:28

She should not be on that list-even if she and Naomi Campbell are genuinely the only famous Streatham women.

If Dennis Wheatley was a local then I don't see why he should not be on it. I agree he held very unpleasant views but his books are an important part of the horror genre.

Virginia Woolf was also unpleasant, snobbish and expressed anti-semitic views. Had she lived in Streatham I'm sure no one would object to her being included.

Original poster
DoggyDaycare · 03/04/2015 15:42

That is a good question... not sure if I feel better or worse after reading the list...

"Eddie Izzard - Comedian
Roger Moore - James Bond actor
Peter Davison - Dr. Who actor
Ken Livingstone - Former Mayor
Cynthia Payne - Party hostess
Naomi Campbell - Supermodel"

What do you think?

OP posts:
SolidGoldBrass · 03/04/2015 15:37

OK OP, who are the other people or what are the other events being marked out? I am not that well up on Streatham's history even though I only live up the road, but I know that the horror author Dennis Wheately lived there so presumably they have included him (and he wasn't that nice a man: bit of a tendency to racism and anti-semitism).

If, for instance, the only woman on the list is Cynthia Payne then that is a little bit iffy. But if it's a mix of people (including other criminals or dodgy types) then it doesn't seem that unreasonable to have included her.

Original poster
DoggyDaycare · 03/04/2015 14:38

SGB- this is basically what my neighbour said, too....

StillLost, yes, it is that.She is infamous here, but that isn't something to be celebrated, surely...

The blurb reads "InStreatham Business Improvement District has collaborated with local architects and designers, Beep Studio, to create an imaginative and interactive trail highlighting the rich heritage of local Streatham personalities in a bid to encourage more people to explore Streatham High Road. As well as encouraging shoppers and residents to spend longer in Streatham, the trail will deliver other positive outcomes such as brightening up empty shop units and showcasing local talent, past and present".....

I have tried to upload a pic of the shop front

posters about local landmarks including a brothel. I am uncomfortable.
OP posts:
StillLostAtTheStation · 03/04/2015 14:21

Not sure why I added SGB at the start of my post.

StillLostAtTheStation · 03/04/2015 14:20

SGB. I don't think you are being precious at all. If the aim of this exercise is to identify and celebrate local celebrities then I don't think a local criminal should be included.

I doubt very much this is being done with the aim of triggering a discussion of the wrongs of sexual exploitation. (I refuse to dignify running a brothel by calling it "industry")

SolidGoldBrass · 03/04/2015 14:12

Hmm. Given that tourist attractions the world over tend to include places where people were tortured and murdered as well as where kings and queens lived (and generally weren't very nice themselves) I think you are being a bit precious. If something happened at a certain location then it's a fact and a bit of history, and can be used as a discussion point for (if you like) the wrongs of the sex industry. It doesn't necessarily have to be a celebration of it.

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