Letting her come out of this as a winner will do exactly that. I don't want parents to have to go through living with the fact that their daughter is an exotic dancer or prostitute because Ashley comes out being rewarded for her behavior.
I don't want the FBI to discover that it has thousands of willing, enthusiastic volunteers who, for some easy government money, will approach wealthy or powerful men with weak will power. I don't want pimps to be able to glamorize whoring and make it seem more attractive and enticing to kids who are already struggling with broken families, mental illness and drug abuse.
The media and the justice system have an opportunity here. If things continue as they are going, then Ashley Alexandra Dupre will get her moments of fame, take the money, and hopefully not be duped, used and prostituted in other ways. I'd rather see an outcome that portrays her as a loser, as a tramp who made bad choices, sold her integrity, her self esteem and dignity. Failure to portray her as a loser will make it far more likely that many more young women, even teens, will follow her path.
There's definitely something to allowing people to do what they want. But when a person who makes questionable choices that will affect her and her relationships for the rest of her life becomes a public person, things change.
If the media are going to have an affect on the judiciary system that makes choices on how to handle this woman, then here, my choice is to lean towards thinking about how this will affect our culture, our children and their future. I say Ashley Alexandra Dupre should be charged with prostitution and part of her sentence should be to do public service announcements about what's wrong with prostitution. I say part of her sentence should be to use the money she makes from Penthouse or Hustler to educate young people about the dangers and risks of selling one's body for money. Pay her a decent salary for the next 20 years or so to warn people away, to dissuade them from doing what she's done. That would be a way to turn this story into one with a positive outcome. And if the FBI broke usual rules to bust Spitzer, outing him, then punish those who were in the decision loop for doing so. John Conyers should investigate the circumstances of the FBI and bank investigations.
The fact is that "body workers" prostitutes, Geishas, courtesans, etc., have been a part of cultures for a long time. I'll say it again. Selling sex should not be illegal. We have too many crimes putting too many people in jail. But even if it was legal nationwide, I wouldn't want to see Ashley Alexandra Dupre turned into a celebrity who would inspire a generation. There is a serious risk of this. I realize there are other ways of looking at this, as commenters have proposed. But it's not just about Ashley Alexandra Dupre. It's not just about Elliot Spitzer, who deserves his fate.
This is not simple stuff. People want to know about who Spitzer dallied with. It makes sense for the media to fulfill that desire by the public. But we, the media, can take a stand on the narrative, or we can just serve fresh, red meat, for the audience to digest raw, or as they choose. My choice was to take a stand.
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