Oprah Glorifies Prostitution and The Moonlite Bunny Ranch - April 29, 2009

The theme of April 29, 2009 Oprah Winfrey show is getting a glimpse into how different people live.



I am a huge Oprah Winfrey fan but why she would choose to highlight the Moonlite Bunny Ranch on her show is beyond me. I've seen the Bunny Ranch and it's prostitute workers highlighted on other news shows and didn't care but since Oprah Winfrey is supposed to be a woman's advocate I'm having trouble understanding why she's glorifying prostitution. (Just call me old fashioned.)

Here's a picture of the Moonlite Bunny Ranch (a legalized brothel) that was taken in 2006. It looks far from glamorous if you ask me.

I wonder what Oprah Winfrey would say about Alana Love, the 20-year-old woman who began working at the Bunny Ranch when she was 7 months pregnant to "better the life of her child."Oprah, seriously, what are you thinking?

The Greenest Guy In Hollywood

Also featured on today's Oprah Winfrey Show is the "Greenest Guy In Hollywood." Ed Begley Jr. from the Planet Green's Life With Ed is married to Rachelle Carson-Begley who calls herself a princess. The couple lives a simple and green life even though her husband is a star.

Small Community In Maine

Oprah Show viewers also got a rare look into Frenchboro Maine. A small community with an old fashioned one room schoolhouse where children from kindergarten to grade eight gather for school. With one teacher that also acts as a school coach it makes for a unique experience for students who will later travel to a much larger high school.

Comments

[Happy Endings?]

I don't think talking about a subject glorifies it. If you look at the statistics on prostitution arrests, you will see that only women are arrested. How is that equal? You can't clap with one hand. In 1982 5 women in RI Sued because they were arrested and the men were not. Now prostitution is legal in RI behind closed doors.
Check out Happy Endings? a documentary on Asian massage parlors in RI where prostitution is legal.
http://www.happyendingsdocumentary.com

[Administrator]

I feel that Oprah glorified prostitution by playing the video of the bunny ranch as if it were a fun resort. I don't believe that the girls there don't have any issues, even if it is a choice, it's hardly female empowerment.

[Kris]

Ever notice how, when watching a documentary or "Behind the Music" about a great band and the smashing album that they released, most of the story lies not in the Utopian image that was spoonfed to the masses; rather, the REAL story is the backstory, the stresses, the various vices, the many long weeks of essentially living out of a suitcase, the relationships, etc. ??

The Moonlite Bunny Ranch and other legal brothels illustrate this concept quite aptly. While the cameras are rolling, the action seen is jovial, upbeat, and derisive of those who are "close-minded" to the lifestyle. When the lights come down and the crews aren't taping, however, there is a very real story. A much more accurate one as well.

I once worked at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch. My tenure there lasted just over two years. For all that I tried to fool myself that legalization made the difference between a "skid-row" lifestyle and "life as an independent contractor," my subconscious wasn't letting me get away with such nonsense.

My major problem with today's show (aside from the fact that the nation's young women are going to view this as a good thing, rather than a detriment) is that the prostitute that was shown is being used for the fact that she has a brain. She is very good at spreading the rhetoric that brings both customers and new prostitutes (recruiting tools used by the military should be so effective) to the gates, ringing the little bell with a zest to get in and be an escapist for a few hours...or a few years. I wish that she would use her brain to encourage women to be more progressive. She would be a great speaker. That particular prostitute has had more sad days there than happy ones. More tears than giggles. More pain than joy. The same could be said for most, if not all, of the ladies currently in legalized prostitution in Nevada.

So, go ahead. Take a peek inside. Be mindful, however, that your voyeurism perpetuates what has been called a business of "renting a woman's organ." And also know: it isn't a picnic on the other side of that iron fence.

- An Insider

[Administrator]

Hi Kris,

Thank you for taking the time to leave a well thought out comment. It's interesting to hear from someone who has been inside the ranch and knows the real deal. I hope that today's Oprah show doesn't actually encourage anyone to go sign up, but they definitely made it seem like a positive business opportunity which is unfortunate.

Thanks again and take care,

Christy

[Adam Strickler]

That show ruined my life! My girlfriend whom I met in college at the beginning of the year was watching that show and guess what? She broke off our engagement and now she is known as Maria Monroe. Her decision, but she had debt before she met me and instead of making the monthly payments on her credit cards she chose to totally abandon me. Not to mention she wanted to make sure I bonded well with her 14 year old son as well as her bonding with my 9 year old. I have not been able to pick up the pieces yet. This has been the most difficult experience ever. She just told me how she's been molested 13-14 times and then she does this? Oh and the whole going to church thing is just a cover up which I wondered why she invited me into her life in the first place if she had been contemplating this life change. I'm not crazy or bipolar but I am human and she hurt me and left me for dead.

[freethinker420]

sssooooooooooo, marijuana is illegal and prostitution is o.k.? oh yeah, that's right, pot is illegal because of the children, but, on MTV we have "16 And Pregnant" and that's fine with everyone? sooooooooo, where are the morals?

"Comments are moderated, and will not appear until the author has approved them."

this is a sociallist website, my comment will not be posted.
the First Amendment in the Constitution of the United States which, by the by, I swore to uphold and protect while I served in the military.
will be ignored by the "author",

all I wanted to know is if OprahharpO was a prostitute. "to make a better living for the CHILDREN..." it's always for the children. exploiting innocent, naive, human beings. what a sad planet. all for someones personal gain...

and the post made by Kris: thank you for having a brain and seeing it for what it actually is after the make-up is washed off and the cameras are turned off. nobody thinks about that. at all. nobody bothers to color outside the lines anymore. show me the rule book on how to color.

[Administrator]

Freethinker,

First of all I'm sure not fine with the show 16 and pregnant.

Second of all, what the hell are you talking about? Who said your comment will be ignored?

This happens to be a Canadian website by the way and I post all opinions that don't attack others or include links to pornography.

That's why comments must be moderated. I won't have people abuse other people on my website. You can say anything you want about the Oprah show, I don't care. You are entitled to your opinion.

[Scott Peterson]

Dear Administrator,

It's likely you will be the only one to read this post; irrelevant, as it's intended for you alone.

Although you phrase your criticism as if it's the act of prostitution that deserves condemning, it's impossible to ignore the ethical implications such a standpoint confers. In other words, you go a step further when objecting to prostitution in-itself, opposing the very idea of "sex as a business" as a legitimate endeavor--moralistically speaking.

Though, perhaps that interpretation is wrong. Perhaps your gripe rests not with the 'inherent nature'--good vs. evil--of prostitution, but rather with its practice in the most recognizable form: emotionally desolate and volatile, psychologically demeaning, physically injurous by way of abuse or infection and altogether reproachable as defined by most cultural edicts (particularly the west).

If the first: Should you regard sex is inherently a positive event, one propitious to physical and psychological health and enjoyable by way of the windfall of 'feel-good' chemicals spilling forth from its practice, how can one not go one step further and declare that providing such a valued resource to those willing to pay for it is not only sensible, but socially and economically viable as a source of major utility? Please do not hide behind the flimsy, mawkish rationale that sex is a sacred act only to be shared by those desperately in love, and then only for the purpose of procreation; is anything in the world really so simple it could be so rigidly defined? Sex: One of human kind's paramount expressions of interpersonal closeness and parity: check. Sex: One of human kind's greatest instinctive drives, its value observable in every animal's behavior from insect to mammal: check. Sex: That which inspires glorious euphoria of physiological and psychological origin, its strength unmatched except by the highest doses of a powerful opioid like diacetylmorphine: check. To deny any of these identities is ludicrous, and if all of them qualify (as they very well must) as beneficial and enriching to the human experience, how can one want to limit its expression? Furthermore, if its an event that cannot be easily replicated without diligent effort--interpersonal evaluation, bonding, establishment of trust and only *then* consummation--, why should it be denied the right to be supplied for cost? All other rarified goods that require effort to manufacture such as food, textiles, visual/audio entertainment and so many more each earn their place quite matter-of-factly in the world of free-market trade. Sex is at least as desirable to most as visual/audio entertainment, and at times as much as food; why deny it right to profitable transaction? At this point of understanding, any objection to its place in the economic market refers either to a distinctive subjective sensibility regarding the propriety of sexual acts--something you cannot logically impart onto all other worldviews--or to a reflexive anxiety about sex in-itself, one that certainly doesn't support the progressing of the act. If so, that, my dear, would be -your- problem.

If the second: Why would the evidence suggest the Bunny Ranch is anything but the best (relative to other existing alternatives) representation of sex-for-profit? My feeling is that you know nothing of the facility beyond what immediate emotional reactions were conferred when viewing the video clips or telecasts. As someone who is intimately familiar with the Bunny Ranch (as well as other locations related to adult sexual leisure), I can unequivically proclaim the Bunny Ranch the best example of the idea I have yet experienced. The women make a living having sex, and they love (nearly) every minute of it! Do they sometimes begrudge a customer his uncleanliness, rude behavior or other characteristics? Sure. Do they sometimes find themselves feeling unaroused, expected to assume an amorous tone for the sake of their job description? Of course. Are they unhealthy, emotionally starved and drug-addled waifs forced to sell their body, along with their last trace of dignity, just to scrape by? Not even remotely close. These women have extremely high sex drives, and in an effort to combine both their love of sex with a means of financial stability have selected a career befitting both pursuits. Could every woman accept such a job, having sex with countless strangers while maintaining psychological stability and personal contentedness? No, but there exists no job in the world suited for everyone. Perhaps the predisposition necessary to enjoy such a job is as rare as the one necessary to choose mortician as one's career of choice. Nevertheless, your aversion or attraction to the idea of you yourself fulfilling the role does not parallel in any way its propriety in general. We need morticians to tend to the dead and ready them for funeral presentation; all the same, we need men and women to provide erotic acts to those who desire it, but wish to sidestep the tedious proceedings that must follow most sexual consummations. Both jobs can be carried out in safe, healthy environments by practitioners of equally solid mind. To claim that because individuals sometimes find themselves fulfilling a position in unsatisfactory conditions does not necessarily demean the position in-itself, but always demeans the specific circumstances prompting the condition. Brothels can be as wholesome as a doctor's office, grocery store or fitness center; unfortunately, it carries the distinction as the only one of the four that bears such heavy stigmatization. Inappropriately, if I need even add.

I believe there's roughly a 73% probability you will either dismiss or not fully comprehend what points I've made. I believe there's a 25% probability you won't be reading this final paragraph, having long ago closed the window containing the message out of either anger at being so fervently criticized or fear the message may challenge you to accept unsettling realities, further requiring a modification of ethics, morality, etc. Then, I believe there's a 2% probability you'll slam the keyboard tray closed and flee the computer area in a blustering tizzy, mumbling to yourself all sorts of things about hedonistic blatherings--er, disgusting people, rather. Seems more alike the patois you'd comprehend.

I believe there's a 100% probability you thought that last 2% noted above would be to indicate my prediction there was a 2% chance you'd accept what I said as true and modify your beliefs accordingly. Instead it read completely different, to your utter surprise. Silly woman: I've long ago dismissed the possibility those with an IQ under 120 could amend their philosophies in light of insurmountable evidence contrary to their precepts.

I enjoyed it, anyhow. Kisses.

[Administrator]

Scott,

I find your comment hilarious. Did you ever consider the probability that I write things that are likely to stir up emotion because I earn my living as a blogger? I have nothing against prostitutes or the single men who visit them. It's their lives and their choices.

I don't believe that the majority of prostitutes get nearly as much pleasure out of the business as the men seeking them out, and since prostitution goes hand in hand with drug use, rape, and abuse it's not something that should be promoted, especially by Oprah who is a major influence among women.

It's obvious that you visit prostitutes and are offended by my opinion, but you're reading too much into a simple blog post. My IQ is 127 and unfortunately you've failed to convince me that prostitution is a good idea, but thanks for your efforts.