The Commodification of Women as Sex Objects

Dear insansapinas,

Hanep ba sa bigat ng topic? Commodification. Sa bigat ng term na ginamit ko kailangan kong ubusin ang isang maliit na lata ng mani para dagdagan ko ang aking brain power sabay taktak ng kamay sa noo para magising ang mga brain cells.


Sa e-mail group kasi namin napagdidiskusyunan ang pagtatapat ng isang may PhD na British scientist na nagbenta siya ng sex para matapos niya ang kaniyang PhD.

Brooke Magnanti, a cancer specialist at a university in western England, unmasked herself in a British newspaper as the woman behind "Belle de Jour," the salacious online diary of a high class call girl.

Naging popular na series ang kaniyang isinulat at marami siyang book deals. Kung totoo nga na naging escort siya at tumatanggap ng $ 300 per hour para lang makatapos, ang katumbas ba ng kaniyang PhD ay ang pagkawala ng puri.

Ano ang kaibahan nito sa mga babae sa India na ipinambabayad sa utang sa mga usurers na kanilang farmer-husband.  

Some farmers work as bonded laborers for a lifetime to pay off their debts. Others here say because of years of little rain and bad harvests they are forced to give money lenders whatever they ask for.Sometimes that includes their wives."It happens sometimes when somebody borrows money," says a farmer's wife who did not want to be identified. She should know, considering what police say she told them. She said a rich man bought her from her husband."He did buy me," she says. "That's why he told me he bought me."For 30 days she says the man forced her to live with him.

 Kahit ang mga magulang ay binebenta rin ang anak na babae. 

A farmer's wife in yet another village in the region said she was sold by her own parents 14 years ago.
"My mother and father got 10,000 rupees (about $200)," she says. "That's why they sold me."
She says she was 12 years old at the time her husband bought her. She never considered going to authorities because she says she had no where else to go. She accepted it as her destiny.

Comparing the case of the well educated British lady scientist who sold herself for sex to get by while pursuing her studies, this statement of the social workers about women in some parts of India: 

Social workers say this isn't just about poverty, but also an indication of the low social status of women in poverty-stricken areas such as Bundelkhand.

made me think. O di va, intellectualizing pa ako. Educated ka man o hindi, commodity ka pa rin. May price sa ulo. Magkano ka?   

photocredit from photobucket

Pinaysaamerika