Something I thought about while reading this section of Ghettoside was prostitution, and specifically the experience of Midkiff, growing up. Of course, Skaggs is interrogating her about a recent murder. But as time progresses we see that Skaggs gets a more in-depth understanding of her character, and her background, which proves revealing. ==============
For instance, we learn that not only did she turn to a life of prostitution at a very young age, but she claims she had had a number of boyfriends—who were actually her pimps—if these male figures in her life were genunine companions and caretakers. She likewise seemed to think of her work as a kind of career, not as any sort of forced servitude. In fact, the way in which she generally
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I get the sense of someone who is so accustomed to this oppressive state of affairs as normal that they do not question it, do not analyze its harmful effects, nor think to find a viable means out. And in some cases, of course, those means are not easy to come by.
==============Granted, perhaps Midkiff is in a state of denial about her position in society and knows perfectly well not only that she is—but why she is—disenfranchised by it. But a question of standards certainly arose for me in reading about her character. ==============
Could someone become so used to a certain state of affairs in society—particularly if they happened to be born in it, that they would come to accept it as simply ‘the way things are’ (no matter how detrimental this would be to themselves)? If so, how often is it the case that we or some other group of people could become acclimated to certain standards of treatment in society, regardless of their inherent injustice? And—if so—how often are our most genuine efforts towards ensuring social justice thwarted, not necessarily by our own lack of resources or inability to make change, but by those we try to help assuming no other options for them exist in life? As if their current state of oppression which they accept as normal supplied their whole self concept and all the justifications for why they lead the kind of lives that they do? How does a mythical cop like Skaggs address injustice, when its victims think of it as normal, or even rationalize their participation in