Login to Change.org
Create an Account
Steve Gordon, Jr.
Recent Activity
-
Steve commented on the article |
We are a very condemning and pius lot in this country. We've built a system of judgment and rehabilitation based on societal rules yet we tend to forget about the actual rehabilitation part. How many times has a person done a crime, served their time and gone on to lead a good life, yet receive no true credit for the rehabilitation part of the equation?
I am not condoning what Brown did, by no means at all! I was raised by my mother and raised my two sisters. There's no chance that I find what he did acceptable. However, as someone intelligently mentioned, the "cycle" is a hard thing to break. I'll give an example that is more general: I grew up in a lower-class, low-income housing project for the majority of my youth. My entire formative life was spent in a setting where on the way to school the local drug dealer would pick me up and take me to McDonald's for breakfast, the local gang war spilled over into the park where I played constantly, and fighting was more than expected, it was the way of life. That is my "cycle", as real and as true as any. And also, as hard to break as any. I am a true product of my environment and money, status nor fame can change that. I am a fighter. When I go out to a bar, a sproting event or even into business meetings and someone comes at me wrong, you have no idea the internal pain involved in swallowing the urge to fight—to verbally, mentally and even physically defend myself and my position. I hate that it's there but it's who I am. It's not some sleeping monster inside of me. It IS me—a fully integrated part of who I am due to the shaping of my formative environement. A hair-triggered response to protect, defend and survive an adversarial situation. We especially see this many times when a person has been formed or altered by violent situations: ghettos, domestic violence, even military veterans. Even now writing this, I feel myself auto-response flaring as I get angry because the internet is full of people who sit in mock ivory towers, claiming that they "would never". You don't know that. I fear ever damn day, that I may snap and lose my hold on my more basal, primal, learned condition to fight causing me to do something that I claim I "would never". By the grace of God, I pray I always have the strength to keep it together.
But alas, Chris Brown could not fully break his "cycle". I have no idea what set him off and I can't claim to be able to assess that situation. He is NOT off the hook. He is NOT to be trusted. He is NOT ever going to have the respect he once did… but who are WE to say that he has no chance of rehabilitation? If we are so steadfast in our belief that "once = always" then why do we even offer the false hope of redemption and rehab? Lastly, drop your stones, hypocrits. None of us are perfect. He just had the spotlight of fame to highlight his darkness. What do you do in the cover of obscurity that would blow your life apart if seen by the world? Have the balls to answer that and get back to me. I will not judge, as I am not perfect nor without flaw. I leave that to God.
To Chris: it's actions, young brotha'… actions. Your words are empty. Some of us understand the "cycle" but it's still up to you to hold it together. May you get the chance and the time needed to show yourself worthy of the forgiveness you seek.
-
Steve commented on the article |
I agree fully Lisa… my grammatical shift was in support of your point because I feel you are correct and your further explaination cements that.
And you brought up a most perfect example with "Firefly"/"Serenity", a very future-casting, forward-thinking show. (a reason it was such a hit)
The "companion" was indeed the steadying force, the learned person, the most high of the social order. Men clamored to keep her company and be seen with her in the most public of arenas… and she was a known and admitted prostitute. Plain and in full view. A perfect example of how 'acceptance' would change the perception and perhaps even the actual profession and it's very requirements, self-assessments and operations.
(Plus… You absolutely ROCK for bringing up "Firefly"! Too Cool.) -
Steve commented on the article |
I agree, it's not the ONE power that women have. A simple grammatical change would probably make this a very effective and positive statement. Sexuality is an amazing power that women have in spades! It's not to say men don't have it but it's female sex and sexuality that is on the table here with regards to prostitution. That's just truth. Not THE amazing power, merely one of the amazing strengths. It's a blessing of being the female of our species. In some animal worlds, the males have all the plumage but in our animal kingdom, it's the women who have those tools. Trust me, as a somewhat decent-looking gent, raised by his mama and with a sense of style and social maneuvering… I still cannot pull off the effects of sexuality and sensuality the way that even the most slightly-aware woman can. It is a blessing, not a curse. The curse of it comes in when the uses of such an effect become trivialized and reduced to withcy-pooh cunning and mystical ills over the supposedly steadfast, upstanding men of the world. Please. I myself love women, the thought of women, and all the amazing things that women are capapble of. But I'm biased being raised as the sole male and the very young head of the household I grew up in.
The one thing that I think denying such a power does is create a lie. A false facade. It makes women deny a part of themselves to further gain acceptance or prove worth in other areas, figuratively cutting out, or off, a part of themselves to be seen as 'more'. Now what sense does that make logically to subtract and then become 'more'? Is the beautiful businesswoman any less stunning because she's a head of industry? Is the artist or creatively-minded woman any less 'sexy' or 'sexual' because she is thinks on deeper levels or makes moves artistically? Think about it… The 'slut' (used only in example of social comparison here, please forgive) in college was the girl who was admittedly or at least overtly sexual, but the 'artist' was a respected young woman. I happen to know a few 'artists' who put the so-called 'sluts' to shame by way of sexual activity & frequency of practice.
I'm getting to a point here; There is a very defined line of US v. THEM when talking about good & bad or right & wrong. You're either a bad girl/boy or a good girl/boy. No middle ground. It boils back down to acceptability. What is deemed as socially acceptable is then given all the supposed rights and priviledges of being with the side labeled 'good'. There are numerous examples of just such things:
- I'm old enough to remember when "ass" was bleeped on TV. Now "bitch" is damn near Disney-status.
- Strippers were—and still are—almost always seen as low-esteemed deviants. yet, taking your clothes off for fine art reasons is seen as a high-minded and classy thing that a strong, gutsy woman would do.
- Gay lifestyle was seen as most certainly deviant and alternative. Now a gay male friend is a must-have social accessory, as seen in popular media such as Sex in the City.
If prostitution gains at least a modicum of acceptance even only for means of regulation and safety, then it may be able to shed some of that defining taboo that is truly only there because of an ingrained, learned behavior to be fully ashamed of our sexual nature going all the way back to Eve where, post-fruit snacking, the couple was said to be ashamed of their nakedness and covered themselves. We were all out of luck at that point huh, let alone actually acknowledging sex or sexuality as a good thing or even just a mere truth of our species.
Sex as a product is everywhere but admitting this is is seen as low-brow, off-limits or bad form. Thusly, the forbidden will remain supremely tantalizing. We all know this to be proven. -
Steve commented on the article |
Much like the kid who's told he can't have that cookie, it's always going to come down to what the punishment will be because he will plot for that cookie when your back is turned. We are not going to stop the trade nor stem the tide of those looking for some sort of love in all the wrong places. It always comes down to how to punish such acts. Stippers, for example, have to pay taxes on their strip club wadges and report tips. It may be frowned upon but it is all too legal to strip. Get a club full of people riled up sexually, legally mind you, and send them out into a street where a girl doing the same thing but closing the deal gets arrested and possibly worse in an unregulated, unprotected yet scarily similar profession. I'm not saying it's right or proper. I'm saying it happens and it's not fair if we're talking legality.
Look, I'm a realist. This country has long denied what goes on in plain view—and often times in our own homes—with a myopic vision of a holier-than-thou, Puritanical utopia and an eye on "what the neighbors might think". Picking battles with seemingly no adgenda for the rhetoric, except for projection and displacement of ills in our own lives onto other who seem to be doing something we wouldn't. I'm a 'preacher's kid' and even I know better. Please don't get me started that it was God-fearing, church-going folk who corralled Native Americans, advanced the slave trade and made for certain no Blacks could eat anywhere near your children. Good, Sunday-worshipping, bible-swinging church folk.
And let's be real; We're talking about 'sex' here people. Nothing really too deviant about it. Past the fact that a minute number of us actually waited until after marriage, get over it. As comedian Chris Rock might say about prostitution, I wouldn't do it, but I understand.
I say regulate it.
Impact
0 Actions
0 Recruits