The XX Factor: What women really think.

Poor Ashley Dupré

Over the last couple of days of reading XX Factor, I have been lured into this notion that this scandal is not about powerful men having their way, that in fact it was poor Eliot Spitzer who got played by a young vixen, a conniving madame, petty payment schemes, and a culture that suffocates its public figures. I can often bring myself to believe that prostitution, as Judith wrote, should not be illegal but highly regulated, and that for certain women it's a smart career choice. Then, this morning comes the Ashley Dupré moment (and there is always in these sordid connections the Ashley Dupré moment). She is like the pathetic contestants in the early phases of American Idol: broken, rejected, exploited through a fantasy in which she willingly particpates. I read her story and the old '70s feminist in me (admittedly, a tiny presence) rears up. A broken home on the Jersey shore. Abused as a kid. A nightclub singer. Worried about paying her rent. Men walking out on her. "Broke and homeless," and known for giving extra food to homeless guys. OK, so she's not a Thai village girl smuggled into Amsterdam. But she is a sad American type: This is Marilyn Monroe territory—a woman who can play the role of sexy and powerful but is always herself being played. I think about Ashley looking at an eviction notice and Spitzer cavalierly wiring $4,300 from one account to another, and it's very hard for me to feel sorry for him. 

Read the rest of our discussion about Ashley Dupré.