Essay Questions

Why do Kristof and WuDunn critique contemporary journalism?

Kristof and WuDunn concede, “When a prominent dissent was arrested in China, we would write a front-page article; when 100,000 girls were routinely kidnapped and trafficked into brothels, we didn’t even consider it news. Partly that is because we journalists tend to be good at covering events that happen on a particular day, but we slip at covering events that happen every day- such as the quotidian cruelties inflicted on women and girls. We journalists weren’t the only ones who dropped the ball on this subject: A tiny portion of U.S foreign aid is specifically target to women and girls.” Journalists have failed to be objective and persistent in highlighting the plight of females. They have literally ‘buried their heads in the sand’ when they are expected to report objectively about the pains which girls and women endure. The journalists’ tendencies to ignore the routine sex trade involving young girls is contributory to the standardization of the inhumane objectification. The journalists’ failure in championing for the girls in detrimental in the quest to secure funding and the advocate for the liberation of girls who are subjected to sex slavery.

What is the paradox of romance conservatism in countries “such as India, Pakistan and Iran”? What is the implication of the paradox?

Kristof and WuDunn expound, “Paradoxically, it is the countries with the most straitlaced and sexually conservative societies, such as India, Pakistan, and Iran, that have disproportionately large numbers of forced prostitutes. Since young men in those societies rarely sleep with their girlfriends, it has become acceptable for them to relieve their sexual frustrations with prostitutes. The implicit social contract is that upper-class girls will keep their virtue, while young men will find satisfaction in brothels. And the brothels will be staffed with slave girls trafficked from Nepal or Bangladesh or poor India villages.” First, the conservative societies are hypocritical because they permit the running of the brothels. If the societies were outright conservative, they would not permit such brothels for they are a violation of their virtues. The paradox confirms that the low class and trafficked girls are not likely to uphold their purity because they are exposed to sex predators who commercialize their bodies in the brothels.