Sunday, December 13, 2015

Shame On You, Miami Herald

The Miami Herald publishes a women's prison exposé detailing allegations of abuse. So far, so good. But then they have the temerity to title it "Bartered sex, corruption and cover-ups behind bars in nation’s largest women’s prison."

"Bartered" sex, as if the farmer's wife is swapping two chickens for a skein of yarn.

No, Miami Herald, that is not "barter." That is rape. The guard-prisoner relationship is and must always be coercive. "Coerced sex" is fancy-talk for rape.

ATSRTWT

NB, I do not fault the author for the rubbish headline. Composing headlines typically falls to editors.

Good pick for the lead anecdote though. I appreciate it when anyone highlights the cruelty and absurdity of the nation's barbaric drug prohibition statutes.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Do you have suggestions on where we could find more examples of this phenomenon?