Then They Came for The Prostitutes…

And I said nothing because I wasn’t a Prostitute….

When A woman takes her own life, it is something to be examined.
The Washington D.C. Madam, Deborah Jeane Palfrey chose to end her life rather than give up her life savings and work, which was an Escort Service, to spend time in prison…again.

But there is more to the story than she was caught and found guilty. Due Process? Sound familiar?
She was a victim. A victim of a society that sees a woman as a property right, not an equal to their male counterpart.

She was tried and convicted because her clientele was exposed. Senator David(Family values) Vitter. The way it works is the woman is severely punished for her role in duping the poor hapless male into somehow throwing his morals to the wind. It is always fascinating to see how women get punished for what men clearly are guilty of as well. She ran a fantasy escort service, she was made an example.

Interesting her little black book, 10.000 names, didn’t get rounded up and charged. But this is Washington.
Her life is now reduced to the proverbial fifteen minutes of fame.

When she was a young girl she didn’t expect to run an escort service. She didn’t expect to make a business out of self exploitation and she certainly didn’t run home from school and dream of being a courtesan.

Like Kristen, there are few venues where a woman can make the kind of money they commanded, as well as feeling a brief fleeting sense of power, than in the world of Prostitution, the oldest profession.

In an election year , just like clockwork, there are always the sacrificial lambs that are brought out for the perp walk to show corruption is being dealt with. This year it is tragically a woman who provided a service that those who feel they somehow have a right to objectify and pay for the privilege, do so under cover. These men are the very ones who willl distance themselves and call them whores. Hypocrisy seems to be comfortable to them, on so many levels.
No one will mourn her but family and friends, after all what she did was wrong, against the law and morally corrupt. The madonna/whore complex is rife in America and the boundaries are clear. Once the woman crosses the line she can’t cross back. The man seemingly has no line to cross.

It is permissible in our culture to have a dalliance with a prostitute and continue to be treated with respect without fear of prosecution or retribution or the modern day scarlet letter.

It was reported she left notes, but one wonders what she really thought. It is all neatly tied into a bow, now, but could she have contemplated the unfairness of it all? Did she wonder that her hard work and savings would be stripped away while her clients would go on to make more and continue to be respected and excused for their behaviour?

This was a woman who was so distraught that she believed her only option was to end her own life. Maybe if she lived somewhere other than a puritanical culture, she may have made a different choice. Looking at just a few years in real jail time she opted out.

The court sent a message to women, not unlike the one sent to the FLDS women when their children were taken. The situations may be different but the message is still the same.
Men can do the same things women can and the women will be punished far more severely. Patriarchy.

Next