In yesterday’s blog I wrote: “Personally, the only thing that will get me to stop buying
an author’s book, or paying for a movie featuring a misbehaving actor, would be
if that person was doing something truly horrendous, like torturing puppies or
profiting from white slavery.”
After reading my blog post, one of
my author friends wrote “So
white slavery is bad, but if they aren't white, well, profit away? I'm
sure that's not what she meant, but that's what she wrote.”
No, that isn’t
what I wrote. If you look up the definition for white slavery you’ll find it means:
“enforced prostitution” - no mention of race.
Another writer friend disagreed with
me, and pointed out that the term is on the no-no
list --- not politically
correct. She suggested I use “human
trafficking.”
I
disagree. If I am talking about human trafficking specifically for the sex
trade, the term white slavery is more specific. Human trafficking can apply
not just to trafficking for the sex trade, but for forced labor.
This
writer friend insisted the term is offensive
because it seems to discount the suffering of black slaves. Again I disagree.
If you do
an online search for the origin of the term, you’ll find varying opinions. I’ve
read that the term originally referred to the exploitation of English women in factories.
I have
also read that the “white” in white slavery does not refer to race, but to
purity and virginity – which was stolen from women when forced into
prostitution. White slavery is a crime
committed against a woman of any color. According to Merriam-Webster’s current definition of white slavery, it is about enforced prostitution.
Sometime
the desire to be politically correct gives me a headache. I'm told not to
use white slavery because someone will get offended because they will
assume that because I say white slavery is bad, I must therefore think slavery
against a person of color is okay or not as severe. I really don’t get that logic, especially
when white slavery is a crime against women of all colors.
(So what’s
with the flapper? The first time I heard the term was when I was
a young girl and read the book Thoroughly Modern Millie.)
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