Pause for a feminist moment

Here, Lynn Harris at Broadsheet (part of Salon.com) discusses the irony of Randall Tobias, former Director of the U.S. Foreign Assistance and Admin. for the U.S. Agency for International Development, and his role in the D.C. prostitution scandal. Yes sir, he was a paying customer. The great part is that up until April 27th, he was responsible for enforcing the Anti-Prostitution Pledge as part of The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Any U.S. or International Agencies that wishes to receive US government money for AIDS/HIV prevention and treatment must oppose prostitution.

What it boils down to is this: a certain group of powerful men wish to maintain the odd view of women as either saints or sinners. We all know about the saint, or the nonsexual mother figure (now that has a bit of irony to it), exists solely to support and nurture men. The sinner is just as one-dimensional because that woman fulfills the role of male sexual gratification without any wants and needs of her own.

How does this directly relate to the pledge against providing sex workers with health benefits or access to contraception? When women complain about being objectified, part of the complaint is tied to the disposable nature of any object. Instead of cherishing these women as we should any other human being, the President and his ilk have already written them off for their immoral behavior. Of course, that doesn’t mean that these hypocrites (Randall Tobias) wouldn’t partake in the sexual economy. They are good American consumers, after all.