I'm calling bullsh!t

[beanpot]

CNN is reporting that the DC Madame has committed suicide in Florida. She was convicted of money laundering, etc back in mid April. Now I am not going to take the time to discuss if it is morally abhorrent to sell sex or not. I do think that if you believe it morally abhorrent to sell it, you should hold those who *buy* it in equal disdain.

Comments

[abyssinia4077]

So, I ask you - can someone please explain to me why the women are judged and labeled and prosecuted, but the men basically get to walk away?

*sigh*
You don't understand anything, do you?
See, men have a horrible time trying to repress their sex drive and it doesn't help at all to have us walking around with our breasts and our vaginas that it's their god-given right to sex up. So they try so hard but the poor dears, it's so much harder when other evil women are willing to exchange sexual favors for money because we're evil temptresses.

The poor dears are just victims of temptation, don't you know? It's not their fault!

[beanpot]

Sigh. You're right- I should never have stopped my ironing and started thinking.

It is all our fault for having the boobies and the icky yet fascinating girl parts. Those poor, poor men.

***HACK!! COUGH!! SPLUTTER!!***

Yeah, even I can't keep up the sarcasm that long without eyes rolling out of my head.

[abyssinia4077]

But remember you should only iron while completely covered in form-less fabric or they might realize you have boobs and NEED to touch them!

Oy.

[there was actually an interesting article in the paper this Sunday relating to the Spitzer case and our society's attitudes toward prostitution and then one about sex-psoitiveness and sexual education and I started wondering if the Chicago Tribune was reading LJ]

[shutthef_up]

I'm probably about as sex-positive as it's safe to be, but I get really... rageful at misogyny that implies that men are *entitled* to sex, but the women who capitalize on that need are some kind of lower life form. And not only are men *entitled* to free access to sex, but they're entitled to privacy, even when committing an illegal act (soliciting prostitution. I won't get into actual illegal sexual acts because most of those laws are antiquated and frankly stupid.)

I get further rageful at how just about every heath plan out there will pay for Viagra, to ensure that men can continue to get it up, but many *won't* pay for birth control for women. Because apparently women exist only to procreate and to deny that biological imperative goes against God, Country and Apple Pie.

Everyone knows that women have no sex drive of their own and that women who have sex for their own pleasure and enjoyment are evil temptresses and whatever they get as a result is only what they deserve. /sarcasm

Ack!!! Sorry to be all ranty on your LJ

[gabolange]

I could point out all of the places I agree with you or where I think you make a good point, but I'd probably just end up with the whole post copied out.

So, instead, in a word: word.

[beanpot]

Lol! Thanks! I suppose I could say the reverse happened in the Eliot Spitzer situation, but I think that just goes to show how much *fail* there was here.

[gabolange]

The sad thing is we have a long history of punishing those who distribute goods very differently from those who purchase and/or use those goods. It's true with alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, pornography, and sex. And the problem is that for the most part, that kind of morality makes sense: if you stop the problem at the source, you are, at least ostensibly, more likely to see a reduction in the distribution of said good.

And yet, in cases like this, where the impact on one specific group is so overwhelmingly and unnecessarily harsh, you have to scratch your head and shake people. Not because I think selling sex should be legal or that those who do shouldn't be prosecuted, but because I don't understand the prosecutor's tactic: why question the women and not the men? If you have to drag people through the mud to prove a point, and I'm not sure they did in this case, why not do so in an equal-opportunity ruination sort of way? That's where the misogyny gets me on this one.

Bah, humbug. Fail is right.

[beanpot]

During the entire Spitzer thing, there was an article that showed only persecution of the johns (to use official terminology) seems to stop prostitution. And not really the concept of going to jail but the shame of the arrest/trail can be a hindrance, but not sure if I fully believe that.

It was very interesting to watch this trial unfold via the Post, etc. Even my parents, who are very conservative, were horrified at the prosecution. The questions asked were unnecessary to the case and very creepy. I've also heard from lawyer like people that most cases that involve prostitution rings do rely on the testimony of the johns/clients and that they do put them on the witness stand. And this one didn't. It seems to me that this guy went out of his way to protect the men while branding scarlet letters on the women.

So I call bullshit.

[holdouttrout]

Oh, yes. Gotta love that double standard, there.

[beanpot]

Big huge blinking neon sign double standard.

Sigh.

[shutthef_up]

I just... yeah.

*flail*

What rather freaks me out is that a while ago (read: before this latest wave of ultra-conservatism) one of the Denver Newspapers actually *supported* an anti-prostitution scheme that targeted the MEN! Yes, you heard it, the Men who made Prostitution profitable. And for some time, published the booking photos of the men who solicited sex from undercover female police officers! What a concept!

It didn't last too terribly long, before it was pretty much decided that it was too harsh a punishment for the men.

Grah! This is not a happy news day. Bleh!

[beanpot]

I do think there has to be a concentrated effort on persecuting a men. Especially as non-escorts, as in the street prostitute, tend to be women with so many other issues that selling their body for sex is the last resort. The system lets them down so many times and then the men who buy them get to walk away for free?

Fail.

[shutthef_up]

Exactly. That's what this sting operation was targeting. The cops will bust an upscale operation, but they're not as concerned about it.

We also have a problem with 'massage parlors' where many of the girls are Thai, Korean or Vietnamese and are basically indentured servants forced into prostitution. They've busted a couple of those here recently.

[ultranos_fic]

It never fails to make me want to find the nearest wall to bang my head against (or even better, someone else's) whenever I hear of yet another case of blatant misogyny or "men deciding what's best for women's bodies".

Yeah, that's always good. Just once, I'd like to see one of those men stop for a moment, think "hey, you know what? I'll never have to deal with this sort of shit. Maybe I'll go ask a woman", and then do so. While I'm asking for impossible things, I'd like a pony.

I was reading an article awhile back about prostitution in Amsterdam and the differences between attitudes there and here. Also, I forget where it was (maybe it was Amsterdam), the more successful campaigns against prostitution always seem to involve going after the johns, not the women.

Then again, what do I know? I'm a woman; clearly I don't know anything. *looks significantly at engineering textbooks currently sprawled on the desk* (This is why I like numbers; unlike people, they make sense.)

[beanpot]

While I'm asking for impossible things, I'd like a pony.

Sigh, you had to bring up ponies.

What struck me is that this guy attacked these women for doing "dirty" things yet gave the men a pass. And it was so, so creepy I kept thinking "thou dost protest too much, you big fucking creep."

[ultranos_fic]

Sigh, you had to bring up ponies.

I can't help it! Someone asks for the impossible, it follows up with "I'd like a pony." It's an ingrained reaction at this point! (Don't make me link to the "Nice things" macro.)

Yeah, word on the "dirty" things. It's really funny how the people who raise such a big fuss and make all these grand, sweeping statements are the ones that seem to inevitably end up caught in their own trap. Poetic justice, yes, but come on.