Feminism Is For Everyone

May 1, 2008,9:40 PM

Goodbye, DC Madam

Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the "DC Madam" who blew the whistle on several politicians/clients, has committed suicide. She hung herself at her mother's house after facing what apparently looked like a bleak court battle.

After the prostitution charges were brought against her (about) 2 years ago, she decided she wasn't going to go alone, and she released the phone records of her company--dropping some very high-profile, political names in the process. (David Vitter, the neo-con Louisiana Senator, and Randall Tobias, the man behind the Abstinence-only-or-no-AIDS-funding in Africa program, were two such names on the hot list.) However, as Ms. Palfrey was swinging from her mother's rafters in favor of going to jail (a second time), her hypocritical clients got get-out-of-jail-free cards. Read more about her, as well as a great interview, at Susie Bright's Blog. (By the way, if you're not a Susie Bright fan already, I suggest you become one.)

I realize that prostitution (and the sex industry in general) is a controversial topic in (and out of) Feminism. However, can we at least all agree that the prostitutes are not the problem? Why is prostitution the great evil? Why do we need to further ruin women's lives when they've already been dragged through the gutter? A lot of them turn to prostitution because they need money--because the system has failed them. So we compound the injustices by throwing them in jail as well?

And the worst part is: the clients often walk! Boys will be boys, right? I mean, we can't blame men for exercising their god-given right to have sex with every woman possible, can we? This is ridiculous. When we consider the fact that Deborah Jeane Palfrey hung herself rather than enduring another prison term, and that the hypocrites who frequented her business are getting a walk in the park, can we finally deduct who the real victims are?