I used to have a friend named Ricky back when I attended G.H. Whitcomb Elementary School. Ricky liked to curse a lot even when we were in the 3rd grade. The only reason Ricky liked to curse was to draw attention to Ricky. But once he had your attention Ricky never had anything intelligent to say. Ricky is a lot like the feminists I work with at UNC-Wilmington. 
If you walk over to Randall Library at UNC-Wilmington this month you can see a large display that is sponsored by the Women’s Resource Center (WRC). The display is meant to raise awareness of Women’s issues during Women’s History Month, which was previously known as “March.” It certainly reminds me that a number of our campus feminists really do have serious issues.
In large print on the display are the words “Whores are People, too.” Below that one can see pictures of prostitutes surrounded by derogatory names for prostitutes and for women in general. The c-word is one of the many words meant to draw attention to the WRC display. For those who don’t yet know it the c-word means “C.U. Next Tuesday.” You may finish the acronym yourself. Or just listen to any live interview with Jane Fonda.
One major point of the provocative WRC display is to get people to read some statistics on the plight of prostitutes in America. The feminists who run our Women’s Resource Center use the display to decry the fact that most of those arrested for prostitution in America are women. The feminists consider this a form of oppression. Since most prostitutes are female and most “Johns” are male, their remedy is simple: Arrest prostitutes and “Johns” in equal numbers in order to eliminate gender discrimination.
Their suggestion seems reasonable until you stop to give it some thought. Since the feminists rarely stop to give anything serious thought I wrote this explanation for them. As a public sociologist, it’s the least I can do.
Liberals have long had a moral problem with expanding the war on drugs. In fact, most liberals say that it makes sense to contract the war on drugs by focusing on the arrests of large scale drug dealers as opposed to small-time users. The general idea is, of course, a correct one. No one could legitimately argue that the occasional user of an illegal drug is as morally culpable as the regular supplier.
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