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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
As an atheist, and hence obviously having no morals, my first reaction is that (assuming that her story is true), provided no one is being harmed, then... what's the harm? Of course, it could quite possibly go very wrong in the long term, but what relationship can't?
Anyone who thinks women OR men make partner choices without at least some consideration of financial factors is laudably romantic, but possibly in denial.
I'm reminded of an attractive friend who just LOVES to travel, because EVERYONE is so friendly - all the young men pay for her meals, invite her to their beach houses, onto their yachts, etc. So I, not being that attractive (nor that wealthy), can't help but wonder what I'm missing out on ;-)
His behavior WAS atrocious and demeaning. I'd never do that during a job interview, (at least not until she got off premises.) But seriously, I'm sure she must have put out some type of energy for him to have felt save offering this possible "union contract" during an interview. which leads me to believe, in todays office environment, that nobody would do that. so I question the validity of the story myself. But if it is true, just because someone makes an unseemly offer does not mean you have to accept it. The article wasn't about his offer, it was about her acceptance. were it an article about males treating women like meat, I'm sure we'd be tearing him a new asshole instead of "her".
BTW, This probably IS the closest thing to "legal prostitution" there is. And while I do think prostitution ought to be legalized, because a woman should do with her body as she pleases, that does not imply that I, or society, need to approve of the behavior. There are many things legal, yet unseemly in nature.Both these people need time "on the couch" to learn how to have a real relationship. because it seems to me the deepness a real relationship, wife, friend, whatever, is one of the few true gifts we are given in life. But if you never enter into one, you never learn the value, or how entering into the opposite actually may DEVALUE you or life in general. I'm not saying all relationships are or need to be deep to be successful. But as Obama said, "A pig with lipstick on it is still a pig."
the "boundaries" between "prostitution" and "getting ahead" will ALWAYS be blurred.
As a good feminist, I believe in "my body, my choice". Even if someone thinks what she's doing is wrong, it's her body and neither we nor the government has any right to tell her otherwise.
I can't wait for the day when feminists, the Supreme Court, and everyone else figures out that the only reason we condemn prostitution is that it is condemned in the Holy Bible, a document that I personally do not subscribe to.
I say more power to you, sister! Don't let these hypocritical old second wavers get you down.
if the article is even true. I read it day before yesterday at the Daily Beast and had doubts about its veracity, or at the very least the details of the arrangement. What rich man is truly fool enough to turn over a sensitive document like his tax return to the sort of organization that could one day blackmail him?
As to the author's story, if true, what makes it prostitution is that the arrangements were quite explicit. While she may be providing companionship, she is also providing sex for money (or material advancement) as part of an explicit deal.
The difference between what she is doing and what a streetwalker is doing is the level of luxury and the price. Of course, if she was a girl from some trailer park actually trying to persuade some rich man to marry her, we would all be utterly outraged. How dare she presume?
It is peculiar to me why the attitude of the typical liberal is one of being so much harder on golddiggers or even on women who marry up than it is on prostitutes.
I propose that prostitution to be defined as any sexual activity in which a woman feels entitled to less than half the male partner's total assets for her services rendered.
We already know what it's called when she feels entitled to half or moreso. Is that clear cut enough?
Yes, it's plain old prostitution. Her parents must be so proud or doesn't this girl tell her parents about her new "friend" ?
The actual feminists say, "consensual, mutually beneficial, what's the problem? She sounds like a boring and graceless person which reflects poorly on her beau, it's hard to imagine her conversation has lasting depth or sparkle, and her rates are certainly very low. But deciding to be that way is her choice."
I think it's great that two so emotionally damaged people have managed to forge a workable relationship. People who can't relate flexibly end up with some compromise like bondage, marriage, payment, whatever. It's great that these two are unabashed enough to find their happiness.
Relationships are fraught with fear of rejection, commitment, inadequacy, blah blah blah, and strategies like this one help dampen those pangs for they who are too sensitive.
She's not a prostitute; prostitutes are indiscriminate. She's not a gold-digger, those angle for marriage. She's a kept woman. Time will tell whether she jumps one way or another or blossoms into something unexpected.
a song that tells a story a damn sight more colorful than the mercenary banality of the episode depicted in that article:
Fancy (Bobbie Gentry)
I remember it all very well lookin back
It was the summer I turned eighteen
We lived in a one room, rundown shack
On the outskirts of New Orleans
We didnt have money for food or rent
To say the least we were hard pressed
Then mama spent every last penny we had
To buy me a dancin dress
Mama washed and combed and curled my hair
And she painted my eyes and lips then I stepped into a satin
Dancin dress that had a split on the side clean up to my hip
It was red velvet trim and it fit me good
Standin back from the lookin glass
There stood a woman where a half gown kid had stood
She said heres your one chance fancy dont let me down
Heres your one chance fancy dont let me down
Mama dabbed a little bit of perfume on my neck
And she kissed my cheek
Then I saw the tears wellin up in her troubled eyes
When she started to speak
She looked at a pitiful shack
And then she looked at me and took a ragged breath
She said your pas run off and Im real sick
And the babys gonna starve to death
She handed me a heart shaped locket that said
To thine own self be true
And I shivered as I watched a roach crawl across
The tow of my high heel shoe
It sounded like somebody else that was talkin
Askin mama what do I do
She said just be nice to the gentlemen fancy
And theyll be nice to you
She said heres your chance fancy dont let me down
Heres your one chance fancy dont let me down
Lord forgive me for what I do, but if you want out
Well its up to you
Now dont let me down you better start movin uptown
Well, that was the last time I saw my ma
The night I left that rickety shack
The welfare people came and took the baby
Mama died and I aint been back
But the wheels of fate had started to turn
And for me there was no way out
And it wasnt very long til I knew exactly
What my mamas been talkin about
I knew what I had to do but I made myself this solemn vow
That is gonna be a lady someday
Though I dont know when or how
I couldnt see spending the rest of my life
With my head hung down in shame you know
I might have been born just plain white trash
But fancy was my name
Heres your one chance fancy dont let me down
Heres your one chance fancy dont let me down
It wasnt very long after a benevolent man
Took me off the street
And one week later I was pourin his tea
In a five room hotel suite
I charmed a king, a congressman
And an occasional aristocrat
Then I got me a georgia mansion
In an elegant new york townhouse flat
And I aint done bad
Now in this world theres a lot of self-righteous hippocrits
That would call me bad
And criticize mama for turning me out
No matter how little we had
But though I aint had to worry bout nothin
For nigh on fifteen years
I can still hear the desperation in my poor
Mamas voice ringin in my ear
She said, heres your one chance fancy dont let me down
Heres your one chance fancy dont let me down
Lord, forgive me for what I do
But if you want out well its up to you
Now dont let me down
Your mamas gonna help you uptown
I guess she did
See? That's downright romantic, in comparison. Bobbie Gentry always did have a way with words.
(For another sample of Gentry's balladry, I suggest you youngsters Google up
"harper valley p.t.a." + lyrics
That's one you don't hear on "1960s oldies radio" very often.)
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