“Kristen”

Understand first. This is about Power.

When the dust settles, and the story is written Ashley Alexandre Dupre “Kristen” will be the demimondaine who brought down the Former Governor Spitzer. It won’t matter about her music or her past, it will only matter that she was a call girl.

In our puritanical society this is the scarlet woman. Throughout our history women have been thought of as sirens who seduced the unwitting male to her desires.

Power.

The almost billionaire Governor, visiting presidential parties and Congressional hearings uninvited, will somehow atone and straighten his tie and go on. Possibly to a more lucrative career. Our memories are short.

But what is witnessed if one goes to her myspace is a woman who struggled against the odds. A woman who despite the challenges and roadblocks came out with her sanity in tact. I won’t go over how she got there. How about why?

It is common knowledge in certain circles that prostitution is a given. No where is it more obvious than in political circles. Women are groomed for those who have power. They command a tidy sum but there is no comparison to what their clientele make. The women feel they have power over the men. In a way they do, sexual power is heady, it is how we got here.

Alas, the men are the ones who have the power over them. Some even pay for the woman to be the dominant or powerful one during the tryst. Power is about domination and control, it is about subjugation, it is about the illusion of superiority, the intimate need to feed the base instinct not seen in polite society, the feeling of having someone fear , be unsure, feel unsafe,violation, submission, the need to be in complete control of a woman. Paying to play a role otherwise frowned upon or outright forbidden.

This business has gone on since the beginning of recorded history always written by males and always in their favor.

“Kristen” is an intelligent, insightful, beautiful woman, who saw a means to an end and had the strength to not fall, but to seek. Unconventional, ok, wrong, no she is not wrong.What is wrong is a society that forces into the shadows a part of our basic instincts and extracts a toll on those who chose to exercise them. There isnt a living person who hasn’t thought of or fantasized about the opposite or same sex, for that matter. Some have affairs, others go to professionals. She is a Professional. Now if she had a proper society label of a sex therapist then she would pass the puritanical test. But she doesn’t pay taxes, hence it is illegal. If they could tax it, they would and then it would be renamed. However, the clients would have to be taxed as well.

This is a sad example of the oppression of women in a mysogynous culture. The most powerful man in the most powerful city had to leave his job because of a liason with a courtesan? While the women who feel threatened by her, hurry to the wife’s side to vilify her, it only serves to further divide and is an effective way men in power split women/womyn/sisters and decide who is a good woman and a fallen one. Anger at those women who would point the finger is useless, patriarchy has done it’s job well.

Women rally to please the men in their lives and label this one the vixen, the outcast. But think about it, how long have women been engaging in this profession? Could this profession have existed without the support of the very ones who will now write this chapter and again blame the woman for misleading him? Can’t you just hear how poor Spitzer couldn’t help,control, himself and as misguided as he was, she at 22 should have known better?

How about this… grown man with a wife and female children should not have taken advantage of this woman? No that is not the way the lock-step mentality in this country works. We have been so programmed to see her as the one who went astray,there will be no sympathy for her. Why should there be? $4,000+/4 hours , a lot of money to some. But is it worth the price of her dignity and self respect?

As defined by a ring and a piece of paper designating ownership. She didn’t choose legal slavery.

This woman is strong and brave. She came from challenging circumstance, a difficult place and made decisions maybe some wouldn’t make or don’t have the nerve to make, but she decided to take her destiny into her own hands, knowing the risks.

There is a bigger story here, how did they find out. oh yes, wiretapping. That very American way which we now have signed onto as a means of stopping terrorism..

Wait…Which one was the potential terrorist? The Governor or the Call Girl?

It was the transferring of funds that aroused the suspicions. Of course . That part of the story will never see the light of day. A cursory mention, at best.
So what happens to “Kristen” ?

Someone suggested she do a playboy ad, strike while the iron is hot, may even help her music career.

Reading her myspace, you will have to find the link, she talks about respect and trust. She talks about her love of music and the importance of relationships. She has been through so much and she will go through more, but she likes herself.

This is not a story for violins.

It is the celebration of a woman’s spirit, a spirit that refuses to be crushed, despite the environ that caused her circumstance…

Kristen did it the hard way without the delusion of a safe piece of paper to legitimize who she is. A maverick, maybe. Or she is a woman who did what she had to do and if anything should be shown the respect that will automatically be given the Ex-Governor the next time he puts on tux and tails for a presidential tete-a-tete or is it called a “party”?

We have a long way to go.

Sex is still treated as something to be relegated to the shadows.

At least for women.

Happy International Women’s Day!

Awaiting your Press Conference.

Bonne Merde! Kristen.