Thursday, September 11, 2008

Commodity to Sell




1) Breaking this down to its lowest common denominator, this woman is prostituting herself in order to secure funds for graduate school.

2) Publicity stunt or not, her conundrum speaks to a larger societal ill. It is sad that access to education, including graduate school, is becoming more and more limited to those who have funds. In this way that the gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen.

3) Further, it is sad that a capitalistic worldview has so pervaded our culture that everything has some level of commodification (knowledge, assistance, ministry, virgins). Thus, one is measured based on what they have to sell, what they can produce, or what they can deliver.

4) Did you notice the girls with the cross emblazoned on their shirts give voice to their thoughts? "Giving up ones virginity to get money for grad school is a noble reason.."

5) This Bunny Ranch dude is a pimp. (There should not be a positive sense of this term.)

6) She wants to use her virginity to secure funds in order to become a marriage and family therapist. (?!) Take a minute to marinate in the irony of that. (Perhaps my seminary friends and I should begin a drug ring to pay off our sizable seminary debt.)

7 comments:

Kelly Efurd Lawson said...

Wow. That's unbelievable. I'm not quite sure how to respond to this.

Jennifer Coomer said...

Hello, may name is Jennifer and I’m a 34 (almost 35) year old virgin.

Mostly I am just really saddened by this. But a few thoughts...

How do we know she's a virgin? Is that verifiable? It's not like she's a used, errr, "pre-owned" car & we can print a report on her from Carfax. And the antiquated idea about a woman’s hymen.…doesn’t hold up.

I respectfully kind of have to disagree with you on point #2…& # 3. There are plenty of people who work hard putting themselves through school. There are plenty of people who work hard paying off loans after school. And there are plenty of people who are way more resourceful than this girl who find ways to pay for higher education. What's wrong with working hard, earning a scholarship, or applying for a grant? This whole story says a lot about our society – but one that comes it mind is our “I want it NOW” mentality. She wants the cash, wants it fast, wants it now. Wam, bam, thank you ma’am.

My parents lived on hominy & salmon patties in a small upstairs apartment on my mom’s school librarian salary as they put my dad through seminary. Years later when my mom wanted to get her Masters in counseling she worked a semester and went to school a semester. Yes, it may have taken longer. But everyone graduated with their dignity intact.

Bottom line – a good education takes hard work. A great education requires really hard work.

Jason said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jennifer Coomer said...

"See - this is what gets me excited about blogging! This is what blogging is for - to have conversations." Exactly!

And Jason, I seem to perpetually be 27. For the last 3-4 years that has been the age people have guessed for me. Prior to that it was always 24. It's all good genes. We Coomers may be broken down with limps and gimps. But we look young doing it!

Jason said...

I am perpetually 16 - so I can sympathize.

Scott Douglas said...

Dude, I don't think I know what to say to this, it sounds like a Farrelly Brothers movie or some sick twist of a reality show.
And if you need some turf, we've got Memphis locked down.

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