Craigslist as Intermediary Procurer?

There was a time when I recall washing machines in people's homes that still had to be hand-cranked.  Others had electric ones that just needed to be set and forgotten until the bell rang.  Automated teller machines came along shortly after microwave ovens as television remotes, the wired kind, developed at about the same time.  People are simply creative.  Now, in our Electronic Age, we have passive e-pimps such as Craigslist doing what used to be done by fedora-wearing, gold chain emblazoned men on street corners. Perhaps that isn't nearly as damaging as the serious allegations that under-aged children are being sold into sexual service on Craigslist as well.

Seventeen attorneys general from around the country have written to Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster, and  founder Craig Newmark (see left), to request the removal of the adult services section on Craigslist.  Three attorneys general have added their voices the letter as well.  This advertising section, it is alleged, permits people to sell their sexual services to adults seeking sex.  The larger problem is that the services of young girls are also trafficked online in this same site.

As long as the internet has been functioning, there have been sexual ads of all types available.  Prostitutes in the guise of masseuses and masseures, escorts, fetishists, and dates, have been promoting their services in a huge variety of sites.  Pimps have been offering their employees' services in the same way.  The difference here is that Craigslist is acting as an intermediary giving tacit approval for these activities through neglect and silence on the matter.  They are not placing the ads, but they are providing the unfettered bulletin board.  The greatest concern is that young girls and boys, under the age of consent, are advertised as commodities for adults' pleasure in these ads.

Prostitution is unseemly, illegal in most places in the country, and for some, a sin.  With that being said, this particular branch of the service industry is flourishing.  Men, who make up what is a lion's share of the customer/john population (why else would they be called, "johns?"), have been using these types of services since time immemorial.  As I was doing online genealogical research for information on San Francisco during the 1870s, I found multiple census postings for "brothel owner" and "prostitute" in the space designated for type of employment.  There is a reason it is called the world's oldest profession.

The real question is, how responsible should Craigslist be for these ads?  The issue is not whether prostitution ads can be found on Craigslist, it is how we, as a society, stop the selling of young girls and boys into illicit service?

Newmark has previously indicated to the press that Craigslist is very responsible when it comes to ads on their service.  They review each ad for appropriateness and remove those that are suspect.  It has been alleged that this has not been done, even to a minimal extent (CNN.com, 2010).   

It is interesting that thus far, the administration at Craigslist has not invoked their First Amendment right of free speech for their clients.  It is likely that this is because they would be defending an illegal activity that is promoted on their site and abhorrant to the general public.  If they had reviewed their ads more effectively to ensure young people are not involved, they might have had a leg to stand on; however, as it is, they simply decided to close that section of the ads.  The adult services section, previously known as erotic services, now has a placard reading "censored."  The censorship, however, is only in the United States since the section is still available in other countries.

Anyone who has ever been on Craigslist knows that they have personal ads, some of which are very graphic.  There is little doubt that these sections will soon be filled with the ads for paid sex, using increasingly subtle language to get their message across. "Generous man sought for enjoyable evening of pleasure with young lovely," may be the language du jour.  Without a large staff dedicated to review each and every ad, this free service will never see a time without prostitution showing up in amongst their ads.  To avoid being closed down all together, they may want to take this issue much more seriously because beyond their business concerns, our children are being sold to profit adults who have no regard for the health and safety of our children.  Does Craigslist really want to be painted with this same brush, too?
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References: 

CNN Wire Staff (2010) "Critic praises Craigslist move to censor ads, calls for more info." CNN.com Justice. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/09/05/craigslist.censored/index.html

Scaryforkids.com (2010) [Frightened teen girl] http://www.scaryforkids.com/. Photograph. Retrieved from http://www.scaryforkids.com/pics/babysitter.jpg

SFGate.com (2010) [Censored Adult Services] sfgate.com. Digital Photograph.  Retrieved from http://imgs.sfgate.com/blogs/images/sfgate/techchron/2010/09/03/CraigslistCensored.jpg

SFGate.com (2009) [Craig Newmark and Jim Buckmaster in front of Craigslist.org] SFGate.com. Photograph. Retrieved from http://www.sfgate.com/blogs/images/sfgate/techchron/2009/03/20/Craigslist_EBay-

Dr. Laura's Broader Message

Dr. Laura Schlessinger has a large following of listeners for her radio program.  Her devoted fans believe she offers advice that is full of tough love and expressions of vivid opinion.  To others, she is also an excellent example of the entitlement and arrogance some Americans have, no matter what their personal histories may include.  I have a special interest in Dr. Laura because our paths crossed indirectly many years ago. 

Dr. Laura's on-air use of the n-word recently brought to light once again her blind disregard for someone else's feelings as she spoke with an African-American woman who was seeking guidance from this 1974 Columbia University PhD in physiology, not psychology or psychiatry.  Considering her doctoral thesis was about insulin, I might trust her more with my blood sugar levels than with my life crises.  Her history on the radio has been reflected on the political right as dynamic and outspoken.  From the left, she is often described as cruel, racist, and backward. 

Her current right-wing values are apparently set in stone to counteract the effects from, as she has described, an unloving, dysfunctional, mixed Jewish-Roman Catholic childhood in Brooklyn, New York.  It seems that she has idealized what she perceives as a perfect life, and anything that doesn't reflect that dreamworld is horrible and wrong, including mixed marriages ("If you can't handle it, you shouldn't have married outside your race.") to gays and lesbians (homosexuality is a "biological error."), to uncomfortable personal histories ("A hypocrit is someone who says, 'Do as I say, not as I do.'  A teacher is someone who says, "Do as I say, not as I did.'").

With her history of being a participant in an extramarital affair, nude photographs, vitriolic rants, and examples of personal human frailties and dichotomies, one would assume that she would be sensitive to others' challenging life experiences.  Rather, it seems she has taken her difficult personal history, criticized herself into a pulp about it, and decided to punish everyone else for their similar shortcomings in the process.  She does all this with a marriage and family counseling certificate from California that expires in February 2011.  She has avoided lawsuits by calling her radio show a, "moral health program," and not a psychological help program. 

That isn't to say Dr. Laura hasn't done wonderful things.  She has participated in charity work, been active in important public discussions, and offered support to those who think like she does.  Does her message, though, offset all those good works?

 In 2001, Dr. Laura received a call from a parent whose child was in my class.  She was upset over a choice I had made that removed lyrics from a piece of music that referred to God. 

We were doing a holiday concert in December, and one of the songs I had selected was, "Let There Be Peace," words and music by Sy Miller and Jill Jackson.  In the arrangement I used, there were words that read, "... with God as our father, brothers all are we."  There were also alternate lyrics offered that were not christian-based.  As a teacher in a public school, I chose to use the more secular version of the song.  The parent called Dr. Laura to express her upset and find out what she should do.  The discussion garnered calls from various people demanding that I return to the original lyrics. 

I was called into my administrator's office, explained my reasoning, and told him that I would not change it back.  He was completely supportive of my arguments of inclusion and non-sectarian lyrics.  We used the alternate lyrics in the concert.  For one brief and shining moment, I was a topic on Dr. Laura.  All I could think at the time, "Is this really all these people have to worry about?"  It was, after all, only three months after the attack on the Twin Towers in New York City on  9/11. 

There is a division between church and state.  All men [people] are created equal.  People have free will.  People have the freedom of choice in speech, religion, and politics in the United States of America.  I wonder if someone will tell Dr. Laura soon.  It seems she hasn't heard these pieces of news. 

When she was interviewed on Larry King Live on CNN.com, she expressed her apology for using the n-word 11 times to a Black woman on air.  She then went on to say people should have a sense of humor and not be so hypersensitive to others' comments.  She simply doesn't understand that she lives in a country full of "others."  Perhaps, now that she is leaving her radio show to pursue regaining her First Amendment rights, she'll have time to figure it out; but, I doubt it.

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References:

(2010) "Laura Schlessinger." Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Schlessinger

Miller, S.; Johnson, J. (2010) "Let There Be Peace." Choral work. Carl Fischer Publishing. SAB Version. Retrieved from  http://g.sheetmusicplus.com/Look-Inside/covers/4386196.jpg

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (2010) Getty Images.  Retrieved from http://en.terra.com/addon/img/c79d9a-dr-laura-schlessinger-wordp.jpg