Sep 04 2007

City As Predator

by Megan Edwards
City as Predator
“City as Predator”

An article about Las Vegas appeared in today’s New York Times. Online, the story is available only to those who subscribe to “Times Select,” but that didn’t prevent its immediate appearance in toto on a numbers of blogs (like this one). I received the story by email last night. My first thought after reading “City as Predator” was that it was another annoying rant against Las Vegas by a parachute journalist on an expense account. Now, in the harsh light of a hot Vegas day, I still think that, but I also feel inspired to tap out a comment or two.

“City as Predator” is the work of columnist Bob Herbert. To be fair, he did drop in on Las Vegas long enough to flip through a Yellow Pages, interview the mayor, talk to a judge, and notice that rolling billboard that says “Hot Babes — Direct to Your Room.” Which of these pieces of research led him to open his article with “There is probably no city in America where women are treated worse than in Las Vegas,” I don’t know. He also gives no evidence for this statement: “Vegas is a place where women and girls by the tens of thousands are chewed up by the vast and astonishingly open sex trade.” Both sentences are charmingly sensationalistic, but without something more than a New York Times byline to support them, they’re -– well, I guess the traditional term for such declarations is “yellow.”

Herbert’s underlying thesis is that all prostitution -– legal or not -– hurts all women, and prostitution includes not only the sale of sex acts, but also exotic dancing. Okay, it’s an op-ed piece, and that’s his “op.” It’s still an unusual definition, almost as odd as when he refers to patrons of gentlemen’s clubs as “johns.” It’s a designation I think would surprise the men and women who frequent them, and I certainly didn’t consider myself a “john” the time I went to the Olympic Garden.

Perhaps the most disheartening feature of Mr. Herbert’s piece is the troubling story provided by Judge William Voy of a 14-year-old girl who was seven months pregnant by her pimp. “These cases will tear your heart out,” Herbert quoted the judge as saying. Well, yes, and well they should. Which is why it isn’t helpful to lump them together with activities that don’t involve the abuse and exploitation of children.

I suppose by now it seems like I’m a big fan of the Nevada sex industry. Well, I’m not. I’ve toured a legal brothel or two, and I’ve gotten a feel for the challenges facing sex workers, and they’re as varied as they are in any other industry. Is there exploitation? Of course. Because it exists in a shadow world, caught between legal and illegal and naughty and proper, there’s ample opportunity for bad behavior.

Herbert writes, again in enchantingly provocative prose, “If you peel back the thin, supposedly sexy veneer of the commercial sex trade, you’ll quickly see the rotten inside, where females are bought, sold, raped, beaten, shamed and in many, many cases, physically and emotionally wrecked.” Is he right? I’m sure plenty of people reading his article will instantly agree, ignoring the obvious fact that Herbert didn’t do what he suggests. Looking at the Yellow Pages, observing a billboard, chatting with a judge, and interviewing our happily garrulous mayor does not constitute peeling back the veneer, especially since he obviously arrived with his mind made up. I can’t help seeing him in my mind’s eye, jumping out of a plane. A bright yellow parachute billows above him, and when he lands, I see his matching goggles.

Bob Herbert has a way with words. Maybe someday he’ll spend long enough in Las Vegas to shed the ‘tude, peel the veneer, and actually take a look at what’s here. Maybe then his observations would be worth pondering.

Leave a Reply