"There are many ways to prostitute yourself." Maya Angelou. Prostitution. Yes, I have been thinking a lot about prostitution the last couple of days since reflecting on the death of Maya Angelou. Prostitution not so much in the sense usually thought of, but more along the lines of creative prostitution of the soul and the proliferation of power. In this video clip, Angelou relates her response to an interviewer when confronted with her early involvement in prostitution. She quickly turns it around with the interviewer saying, "There are many ways to prostitute yourself." Everyone of us sells something. We make compromises and accept personal hypocrisies and paradoxes in our behaviors and ambitions. Society punishes sex workers and others who make socially unacceptable choices while celebrating those power mongers who sell religion, consumer products, and creativity. I see it in fine art and music continually. In the academic arena some administrators are almost exclusively focused on their own career enhancement making institutions that should be places where students and learning are put first into personal ladder climbing adventures. In the corporate world the most egregious like a Bernie Madhoff who destroyed and upset the lives of thousands are the obvious. The less obvious continue to enhance their wealth at the expense and suffering of others.
We all have to draw the line. A line that defines what we are willing to sell and at what price we can be bought. In the end, these are very personal decisions, although in a larger context those empowered (read ministers, educators, doctors, abundantly wealth etc.) in our culture have special responsibility. A responsibility to be accountable for how their self-serving activities impact those of lesser power. Those who whore there sexuality for survival are the least we should be concerned about. It is those who enjoy privilege and power disproportional to their ethics and values who are dangerous. Those are the whores society needs to take off the streets.