Deborah Jean Palfrey: Double Standards Lead to Death
Posted at 2:38 PM May 01, 2008
When I learned of the suicide of Deborah Jean Palfrey, the DC Madam who was recently convicted of money laundering, using the mail for illegal purposes, and racketeering after being thrust into the spotlight last year as the owner of DC area escort agency Pamela Martin and Associates, I said "oh my god" out loud and felt a pang in my heart. The agency's clients included such DC luminaries as Randall Tobias, a man who was a prominent leader in the move to limit HIV-related funding to international agencies who serve prostitutes and almost exactly a year ago admitted using Palfrey's service. US Senator David Vitter also admits to having been a client of the agency, though he has retained his job as a Senator in Louisiana.
These men spent a few weeks being raked across hot coals and being the targets of gentle ribbing from colleagues. There were cries of "hypocrite!" echoing all across the American media, but just beneath that is a resigned shrug: boys will be boys.
But if boys will be boys, whores will be punished. Deborah Jean Palfrey went to trial. And now she's dead.
It saddens and angers me that this is Palfrey's end, that she saw no easy way out other than suicide, and that women have to pay such a high price for their sexual and economic sins (especially when the two are combined), when men get slaps on the wrist.
Below, a video I shot in Washington, DC last June, in which $pread editor Eliyanna Kaiser and I asked people the question: "Did the DC Madam get DC residents to rethink prostitution?"
--Audacia Ray
more: News
I am so pissed about this. And sad. Palfrey should have gotten a giant book deal and TV-movie-of-the-week deal and been able to live the rest of her life ordering froo-froo drinks from shirtless men. In my imagination, that is where she will always be.
Posted by: Annalee at May 1, 2008 3:41 PM
I'm unfamiliar with the case, but I feel the woman's death was a tragedy that should have been prevented. I think the fact that the "users" get off lightly compared to the "dealers" shouldn't be a shock. However, it's ridiculous that we accept government legislating morality in any way. Prostitution, drugs and gambling should all be legalized, taxed and regulated. I've given up hope on this society, though. America is a culture of stupidity. Where's my damn passport?
Posted by: Tim Kissane at May 1, 2008 7:43 PM
this really speaks volumes about the double standards. her death is a shame, and her treatment by the legal system is likewise so.
Posted by: Ren at May 1, 2008 9:31 PM
