Prostitution, as I understand it, involves mutually agreed to contractual terms. A square deal, between consenting adults, considerations rendered and reimbursed. Most often the transaction involves a man and a woman ("traditional" prostitution). Prostitution, however, is against the law, and the legal consequences tend to obscure and skew the otherwise level gender playing field.
Consider the case of Deborah Palfrey and David Vitter. Vitter, a United States Senator from Louisiana, entered into a so-described transaction with the offices of Ms. Palfrey. Vitter, for his part, weepily confessing his "sin" before television news cameras while Mrs. Vitter chastised the press, remains a United States Senator.
Ms. Palfrey, on the other hand, lies dead by her own hand in a Florida shed out back of her mother's house, apparently rather than facing 55 years in a federal prison. Something's very wrong about this picture.
May 1, 2008
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16 comments:
Just to complete the scorecard:
Abortion should be criminal. But Women seeking abortions shouldn't be criminals, as they are not moral agents. Unless they prostitute themselves.
And coming soon, the fetus suffrage movement.
I think I'll go dig up Brecht so we can at least get a clever ditty out of all this.
you men are all so sick. this is definitely a blog for men who are massaging each other's egos while at the same time aggrandizing their own. enjoy each other; that's all you've got. You all sound so liberal until you start talking about women. keep those pseudonyms - any woman reading you would stay a mile away. Goodbye, illusory tenant and your blog for the totally self-involved male intellectual egotist. Get some yin in your life.
I won't say more. This blog is an intellectual male locker room.
Um, okay. Apologies for the radical feminism. You've missed the point here, that the male party to the transaction remains a U.S. Senator, while the woman ends up facing federal charges and, ultimately, hanging herself.
Obviously there are situations where prostitution involves the unconscionable exploitation of women, but this ain't one of them.
What do you think the link to Limbaugh was for?
Disgusted Woman really did miss the point, didn't she? But I thought her "massage" reference was kind of hot.
Probably a disgruntled ex.
Is anyone considering the possibility that this was not a suicide?
It is likely the deceased had much additional knowledge and evidence that might embarrass or threaten the careers and personal lives of other men who have the means and motive to silence her.
disgusted woman and Sally both have a point. It is not unheard of to scratch a self-described liberal and find an underlying racist/sexist/imperialist.
Before you guys dismiss them (too late, I'm afraid) see if any woman contradicts. If not, maybe its best to reflect and consider, rather than deny and get immediately defensive.
Racketeering and money laundering are the charges she was convicted of. This isn't about prostitution...nice spin though.
Obviously there are situations where prostitution involves the unconscionable exploitation of women, but this ain't one of them.
Hard to say. I'm not familiar with Ms. Palfrey's childhood, which could have been full of exploitation. Some people, from the time they're born, are taught to fail (IOW, to accept being exploited).
Is anyone considering the possibility that this was not a suicide?
Some conspiratorialists are, I'm sure. But Palfrey said on several occasions that she would rather kill herself than go to prison.
Maybe its best to reflect and consider, rather than deny and get immediately defensive.
If I was defensive I wouldn't have published the comments. And I have reflected. This is not white slavers kidnapping and shipping young girls out of Thailand in crates. Nor is it Rush Limbaugh headed for the Dominican Republic, a notorious sex tourism destination, with a valise full with Cialis.
Palfrey's enterprise involved what many people term "sex workers" who choose to do what they do of their own volition. I don't see anyone getting harmed by it; at least, whatever harm exists is chosen by the participants and, much like John Stuart Mill, I don't think we should be in the business of choosing which harms people might choose to inflict upon themselves.
If you want to argue that even women who choose to become sex workers are somehow manipulated, coerced, or exploited into that profession by larger societal forces, then I am fine with that and I might even agree with much of it.
But in this particular case, the imbalance between the madam and her clients is about as glaring as it can be. That was my point, and I'm sure many feminists (male and female) understand exactly what I'm talking about.
<---woman, feminist, fan of this blog. Oh noes! Have I contradicted myself?
The point I drew from IT's post was that he thought it pretty terrible that, while the john in this case is still a Senator (with only a paltry apology as his penance), the madame (and one of the workers) is now dead, presumably by her own hand. I would agree that that's pretty shitty, and that we do a crap job of holding the johns in such cases just as responsible, if not more so, than the working women.
This is not to say that Palfrey wasn't guilty of and shouldn't have served time for the crimes she committed. It's simply to say that we in this nation still seem to hold a horrible double-standard when it comes to sex work.
Where I would disagree with IT, though, is when he says "Prostituion, however, is against the law, and the legal consequences tend to obscure and skew the otherwise level gender playing field." I don't think it's level at all. While certainly there are women (and men) who go into sex work of their own volition, without coercion, they are the minority. Many go into this line of work for any number and combination of reasons: lack of options, poor education, sexual/physical/mental abuse growing up, drugs, etc.
Oftentimes the workers are all-but-owned by their pimps/madames/whatever. Now, if we could find a way to decriminalize and heavily regulate prostitution, we might be able to solve some of those problems that create a decidedly un-level playing field. But I suspect that's a whole other can o' worms.
In the meantime, what we ought to do is create a climate in which fewer people fall through the cracks growing up, leaving them prone to choosing this sort of life. And we should really hold the johns accountable, instead of this "boys will be boys" attitude that allows them to just apologize and then go back to the Senate.
While certainly there are women (and men) who go into sex work of their own volition, without coercion, they are the minority.
I don't dispute that. But it seems to me that in this case the playing field was as level as it could be yet the consequences for each party were clearly not.
And I'm certainly not denying exploitation that exists elsewhere.
Just ask Poly Styrene:
I Live Off You.
Or Elizabeth Nowicki:
"I am one of three daughters, raised in an all-girl household. We were raised with the belief that everyone - women, men – are judged equally on the basis of their achievements and missteps, and gender is irrelevant.
"But, yet, the DC Madam was left dangling by her neck in some shed in Florida, while Vitter, Tobias, and Ullman are out there, happily employed, likely soon to put their affiliation with the blissfully deceased (likely their view) DC Madam far, far behind them. *That* is what prompts me to title this post 'Dammit.' We all could have seen this coming. *That* is why this post is titled 'Dammit.'"
Disgusted Woman really did miss the point, didn't she? But I thought her "massage" reference was kind of hot.
When I actually laugh out loud (really just snicker quietly to myself) after reading something I have to give kudos... that was funny.
I don't know how she missed your point so badly.
This scenario of uneven consequences for prostitution participants worked out in reverse for Spitzer. His career was ruined while his call girl was vaulted into instant celebrity with hundereds of thousands of dollars, if not millions of dollars, worth of royalties from record sales and offers for magazine spreads.
Just ask Poly Styrene.
An X-Ray Spex song? Man, IT, you're way hipper than I ever dreamed!
Which leads me to say this about the double-standard between johns and prostitutes: oh bondage, up yours!
I get you, now. When you initially said "level playing field," it seemed to apply to the thing as a whole, and not just this case.
Lordy no. I wasn't clear enough, I guess.
And hip yeah, since before you were born, girlfriend.
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