Prostitution: A Plethora of Ps
By Margo St. James
Published as an Editorial in the San Francisco Examiner, November 16, 1995
There are many P words when it comes to Prostitution. Prohibition is a Prerequisite of course, for Popular Participation.
Please Peruse Players in this Popular Pastime. Besides the Principal Person, the Prostitute: Proffered in this Panorama are Police, Patrons, Pimps, Politicians, Prudes, Puritans and, not least, the Put-Upon-Public.
Pressed by Preachers, the Public Prods Pugnacious Police to Purge Painted Paramours from Prancing on Pavement, so the Pushy Posse Puts People in the Pokey, Penalizes them and Propels them outside again while the Public’s tax Payments are Put into Pursuing Pointless Protection instead of Prevention.
Peel off a Procession of P Words, Primarily “Pathetic” and “Pitiful.” Those Powerful P-words are Propelled at the Poignant “Puta” or “Putain,” the Prostitute – a Person Prosecuted, Persecuted and Pursued by Perverts, Psychologists, Petty Politicians and the Pistol-Packing Police, all to Protect a Posturing, Posing, Puritanical Public.
The Putrid Paranoids Portray the Prostitute as a Pariah and a Pestilence Pushed Past the Pale because of her Preference for a Party.
Pragmatism and Practicality Put People in Prison.
Por que? Police Posturing as Patrons Promise Pay for Pleasure but Promptly Pull Prostitutes into the Paddy wagon. Prosecutors Prohibit Probation, Pointing to Priors in her Past.
She’s Propositioned into the Pen, a Patsy for the Patriarchy. It Prompts me to Puke.
Pompous, Pedantic, Profiteering, Pederasts, Promoting Personal Passions for Power, Pander People’s Poverty for Political Payoffs.
Packwood Pulled, Patted, Pinched and Poked Prissy Personnel in the Past and was sent Properly Packing. Poor Packy.
Polemicist Andrea Dworkin Polarizes Progressives toward Parity with her Perturbing Porn-Pasting Position, Provoking Persons Proud to be Paid. Persistent Parables about Priests Palsy the Pope’s Peace, while the President’s Philandering Past Penetrates the Political Process.
Prurience is Purely Pervasive. Promiscuousness is Par for the course; but Pssst, only the Prostitute Pays.