I realize I’ve been posting a lot of “issues” pieces lately but these things are bearing on my mind quite a bit.
Just a few minutes ago I read something I wouldn’t have believed possible in 2010. According to Alternet.org:
New Orleans city police and the district attorney’s office are using a state law written for child molesters to charge hundreds of sex workers like Tabitha as sex offenders. The law, which dates back to 1805, declares it a crime against nature to engage in “unnatural copulation” — a term New Orleans cops and the district attorney’s office have interpreted to mean anal or oral sex. Sex workers convicted of breaking this law are charged with felonies, issued longer jail sentences and forced to register as sex offenders.
How can this be? Oral and anal sex are “unnatural copulation”? What’s next? Arresting people who are engaging in the same “unnatural” acts in their homes? So.. the DAs, the chief of police, the police officers – none of those people are participating in these heathen activities?
According to Alternet’s article, many of the convicted are among the poorest of the poor. Most cannot receive assistance or food stamps to aid with their plight because of these felony convitions. If these women are forced to evacuate to a shelter because of hurricane warnings, they are required to go to a special “sex offenders” shelter where there is no separate space provided to shield them from male sex offenders. I would assume this means they also may not stay in any shelter under normal conditions. Their driver’s licenses have a label affixed labeling them with this status, and they must send out cards to all the neighborhood notifying them of their presence in the community.
Many of these street workers have been turning tricks since they were young teenagers. Whatever their age or circumstance when they began, I cannot imagine many, if any, of these women are working the streets because they want to do so. How are they ever to walk away from prostitution if they not only have no help, but they are branded in a way that must make it almost impossible to get a job?
Surely there must be a better way – a hundred better ways – to deal with this issue. I can’t even imagine how this is Constitutional. I, for one, consider it cruel and unusual punishment.
It’s been a busy week so I haven’t had time to post or respond to emails nearly as much as I wanted. Surely time must be a woman, because if it were a man I think I could persuade him to be a little more relaxed with his rules. Thirty hours in a day? Oh my, yes! Such a good boy.. that’s precisely what I need. Could you arrange with the Sandman to be a bit more frugal with his magical dust so I can sleep less and feel better than I do now? Thank you! I am so very pleased :)
Ah well, back to the real world.
At the moment I’m sitting in a warm car waiting for Richard to pick up a few things in the pharmacy. Since we had 6 inches of snow on the ground when we awakened and much deeper drifts along the driveway, etc., we pretty much stayed indoors yesterday. When he mentioned getting out, I didn’t even wait to see where he was going – what did it matter? It was the great outdoors! Ok, the great parking lot.
It’s interesting to sit and watch people when they don’t know anyone is paying attention. A 50-something man just let the door slam in the face of an elderly woman, leaving a visibly indignant 20ish man to assist her. People say today’s young people have no manners (something that people have been saying for decades or longer I am sure), but that certainly doesn’t always seem to be the case.
Speaking of misperceptions about people…
I’ve been thinking about discrimination a lot this week. Someone I spoke with recently said he didn’t believe women were really treated differently than men in the work place. Just wondering.. do you find that to be the case? I admit, I have worked doing private duty nursing care for the past several years, but I can’t imagine things have changed that much in such a short time. More on that in another post, but I do hope you’ll share your insight in the meantime.
On a related note, do you find the people around you frequently gender bash? Perhaps it would be interesting to take note this week to determine just how often we are exposed to gender bias and even hatred. If you are frequently exposed, do you believe it has an impact on you?
An ad run by Focus on the Family, a Christian ministry whose purpose is “to strengthen, defend and celebrate the institution of the traditional family and to highlight the unique and irreplaceable role that it plays in God’s larger story of redemption”, will be aired during the Superbowl on February 7th.
Featuring “college football star Tim Tebow and his mother, Pam”, the ad “will share a personal story centered on the theme of ‘Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life.’ ”
I caught a glimpse of a portion of the ad on Headline News a few days ago, but could not as yet find it anywhere online. (If you do, please forward the URL.). Keeping it close til the day it airs may be a wise move by Focus as this will heighten the controversy and curiosity about the ad. The clip I saw was a pro life ad, telling of Tebow’s mother’s choice not to abort him and what a wonderful choice that turned out to be.
Not loved by CBS, the following two ads that won’t be aired because CBS refused to sell Godaddy and Mancrunch the air time:
CBS has deemed it acceptable to permit one controversial ad and deny two. Is it discrimination, a savvy business decision, their right to do whatever they want, or something else? Are the ads (or the concept of the ads) offensive in your opinion? Do you agree with those who say the two rejected ads are too racy? Have you seen other aired Superbowl ads that were similarly “racy” but not as controversial?
I do believe the execs at Mancrunch and Godaddy are geniuses. Thanks to the internet, vast numbers of people are seeing their ads and talking about these issues with NO money going into the pocket of CBS. I consider CBS’ decision to be discriminatory. Personally, I have no problem with any of the three ads being run as I don’t have to accept everyone’s point of view simply because it is presented to me.
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"Being dominant isn't determined by how you control, it's quite simply that you do control." ~ Lady Julia
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