Content on this page is in response to Tara Servatius’ story “Pimps Slapped!” published Jan. 24.
No Escape Clause
Let’s not pretend in this era of women’s rights that these women had no other choice in life, despite the fact that they may have been limited and not as financially rewarding. Pimps don’t go knocking on people’s doors, demanding that women prostitute themselves. Yes, pimps are disgusting criminal losers with their own mental problems, but the women who get involved with them are used to men treating them that way and find it appealing and even arousing. Men know this to be true and so do women. It’s why many men deliberately treat women badly, because they know they will become obsessed with them through some weird childhood traumatization of not properly bonding with a present or absent father figure.
These women could have at any time picked up the phone and told the police exactly what was going on and would’ve been placed in protective custody. The fact that it was a black man with some white women involved makes it the reverse of slavery to white people, so it’s much worse than if the pimp had been white. It’s almost as if sexism and capitalism combine with racism to make all three of them worse. Why capitalism? Because the way the U.S. implements capitalism ensures that there will always be millions of poor and thousands of rich people. People with few or limited options end up making the wrong decisions. It’s not their fault. Maybe it’s not the pimp’s fault either.
Women don’t deserve any more breaks or excuses than men do for their behavior. This double standard needs to stop. When women make bad decisions, especially under the influence, they always act as if they had no choice when they sober up in the daytime and don’t want others to think badly about them. They will even lie in court to prevent it. It’s just like the GGW (Girls Gone Wild) who sue the producers when they agreed to do the dirty deed while they were drunk and/or high. Sorry, ladies, but agreeing to do something that makes you look like a slut does not include an escape clause for intoxication.
— George Thompson, Charlotte
This article appears in Jan 31 – Feb 6, 2007.
To reply to Mr. Thompson’s comments about “women making bad decisions”, please read the article again. Many of the “women” were as young as fourteen. These are children or little girls not women. Had the article been about fourteen year old boys being turned out by an adult male, would you consider this as “men” making bad decisions?
Well if they are as young as 14 then they should be at home with their parents. If their parents are unfit, which they obviously are since their daughters even know a pimp, then they should be placed in the care of Social Services. Girls have sex these days much earlier than 14 so are you saying that women can have sex without being responsible for their own bodies? That is hypocrisy.
You cannot blame the problem on the final result. Many bad things happen before the pimp even comes into the picture. Where is your critique of that? This is typical female double standardism. Women want to be treated like men when it comes to equality, and they should be, but they also want to receive the soft treatment so often associated with being considered the “weaker sex”. Once again, you cannot have it both ways. You have to be equal all the time or unequal all the time. Men should not have to worry about figuring out how women want to be treated.
I agree with some of what you’re saying Mr. Thompson, but I think you’re making it out to be easier than it really is. Being someone that has dealt with Social Services as a child, I can tell you that they are slow to act and often do more harm than good. I think if you really want to do something about this problem, you have to start by educating men and women about self-respect and sex at a young age.
If parents took the time to teach their sons to respect women and their daughters to respect themselves, I think that would cut down on the number of prostitutes and pimps.
When I was about 15 years old, growing up in Columbia, S.C., I called the police to report the violence in my family. When a police officer even showed-up (after 45 minutes), his only concern was with his macho-man attitude. There was blood smeared over several walls, pooled on the floor, a blood trail that led out of the house.
Despite the fact that my little brother and I were MINORS, the cop NEVER spoke directly with us, NEVER checked to see if some of that blood was ours, NEVER did any follow-up. He clearly was shocked when my mother admitted that she had beaten-up her husband (instead of the expected male-on-female violence), but apparently never contacted Social Services since no social worker EVER contacted me or my brother to see if we were OK.
So, Mr. Thompson, don’t even try to tell me about the system works because I know from personal experience that THE SYSTEM DOESN’T PROTECT KIDS.