Miss Kitty Syndrome
I call it Miss Kitty Syndrome. Miss Kitty is a character on Gunsmoke. On the radio show version it was strongly implied that she was a prostitute. For most of the TV series, they attempted to obscure that fact. Instead, she served drinks in scantily clad outfits and earned a lot of money from male patrons both those passing through town as well as locals. She had lots of possessions: designer clothes, carriages. Eventually, she seemed to run the place — whatever that place was. I remember her complaining that the local women didn’t like her and judged her. I mean, can she really blame them? Their husbands were spending most of their paychecks on Miss Kitty and her wares — whatever those were. Meanwhile, while they were dressed in tatters living hand to mouth, Miss Kitty was dressed to the nines floating around in her carriage. But Miss Kitty didn’t want to be judged, and if she had her way everyone would like her, and she would still have her opulent lifestyle. But is that really realistic?
If what she did wasn’t frowned upon or probably illegal, wouldn’t she have a lot more competition? The fact is most people have an external locus of control, meaning they are more driven by punishment/reward than by conscience. So, if you remove the consequences from Miss Kitty’s occupation so she can feel better about herself, then more women are liable to think that parting men from their hard-earned money is a great way to make a buck for themselves. Then suddenly, Miss Kitty’s niche is flooded with competition, and what she can earn goes drastically down. No more fancy dresses and carriages for her.
It’s the same dilemma that people are finding in this world now. They are attempting to get rid of the social sanctions and laws surrounding so-called vice crimes such as prostitution, drugs, and theft. People who purvey in such things can theoretically be seen with less of a critical eye, or at least the criticism won’t be as openly expressed. And they are less likely to see any jail time. But once again, legalizing crime tends to increase the number of people engaging in it. And in reality, in a practical sense, there are only so many johns with money to spend nowadays and people with possessions left worth stealing. And since those are the two major ways drug addicts can finance their drug habits, then the drug dealers will eventually not be getting paid either. So, while it may make the Miss Kittys of the world feel good about themselves not to be judged by the people they’ve trespassed against, the reality is society can only handle a certain proportion of the population being Miss Kitty. It simply can’t handle it if the majority turns to vice for fast money rather than earning slower money in a more constructive way.
jenniferalicechandler 