Published in the Martinsburg Journal, July 28, 2018

Some of us from the “sex, drugs and rock-and-roll” generation were

honestly only into the music, but the tidal wave of adolescent revolt

demanding permission to give and get “free love” splashed up onto

everyone, regardless. We’ve gone from a society where our mothers

whispered “don’t get pregnant” without telling us how that happens (or how

to make sure that it doesn’t happen) to one where we have relentless

prime-time TV commercials for Erectile Dysfunction medications but no ads

for birth control of any kind.

Which brings me to the subject of Stormy Daniels and the reaction to her

recent performance in Martinsburg, getting top billing on the marquee of

“Lust” as well as on the front page of this Sunday newspaper. Because of

her alleged affair with the future President and his pay-off to her, she has

become both victim and perpetrator in this sordid episode of the 45th

administration of the Oval Office.

As personally likeable and credible as she seems, Stormy Daniels is a

professional pornographer, which is a rank above merely acting in “adult

films.” If we disapprove of how she profits from her Constitutionallyprotected

business, then we also should similarly judge her clientele.

Instead of seeing her riding piggyback in her little fluffy red skirt, I would

rather have seen a photo of the nightclub's parking lot, overflowing with the

truckloads who came to see her.

The so-called “sexual revolution” was meant to equalize male and female to

have the same power in any relationship, be it a one-night-stand, a pole

dance, or a marriage; the idea was that women should have the knowledge,

the power and the responsibility to make their own decisions. Back then,

we thought we were being invited to a buffet of equal participation, but

somehow we ended up being the waitresses, cooks and dishwashers,

rather than taking a seat at the table. Half a century later we still see more

of the same pattern; women are being blamed for the bad-boy behaviors

that have never changed. And in the mean-time, encouraged by

magazines like Playboy and Cosmo, women now seem to be eager to give

themselves away for free, even though the demand and value of our

“services” have not abated. That’s not how economics should work, even in

this age of de-regulation.

For many of us, discussing sex-related issues doesn’t necessarily mirror

our own personal attitudes. But that’s the only message some people hear,

and justifiably why some don’t want to discuss it at all, like my own mother.

I’ve had comments from readers of my abortion-related columns calling for

me to be “neutered” (I already am, many thanks to nature!) and to control

my “proclivities” (I had to look that up in the dictionary). But worse yet are

comments from pro-choice responders who assume that since I speak for

the right to abortion, I also share their support for legalized prostitution,

pornography, womb-renting, orgies, polygamy and strip clubs.

Evidently, the past 50 years has taught us nothing if the message of the

Sexual Revolution has been diluted into “if men can be bad, so can

women.” For many, the Women’s Movement suffered its final fatal blow

after Madonna (the pop singer) was described as a “feminist” because she

cut out the middleman of the worlds’ oldest profession by becoming her

own Madam. Like Stormy, she took financial control of her own

objectification, and became a twisted icon for “women’s liberation.”

It’s examples like these that can make a girl realize that if the woman still

gets the blame and the shame, she might as well get the money, too. Men

have been raking it in by the truck-loads, without having to bear the same

level of guilt and public scrutiny, since day one.

Judging from the comments printed in this newspaper, the Old-School

Rules that slander only women for sexual misbehavior but give male

participants a “pass” are still very much in effect. Women, anatomically,

risk disproportionate consequences from sexual activity that are not

shared by men. But if there is to be public shaming, it should be pointed

equally towards both.