It's an old story, attributed to several different people. I've heard it supposedly happened to Winston Churchill, Groucho Marx and George Bernard Shaw.
The gentleman is seated next to an attractive and proper young lady and engages her in conversation. Suddenly he says, "Would you sleep with me for a million dollars?" Or, of course, pounds, if one attributes it to Churchill or Shaw. The lady blushes, but seeing the humor in the request, agrees. "Well, would you sleep with me for five dollars?"
"Certainly not!" she says, now offended. "Just what kind of woman do you think I am?"
"Madam, we've already established what you are. Now we're just haggling over the price."
This sorry story from Italy put me in mind of the joke, which I usually laugh at except when someone makes it real. According to her mother, the young, um, lady prays to Padre Pio every night, referring to St. Pio of Pietrelcina, a patron saint of Roman Catholic adolescents. Apparently such prayers are one-sided, as we might surmise the man given the name Pio when he became a Capuchin monk might suggest another course of action than the one she has publicly declared.
I thought about looking up the exchange rate to see what a million euros would be in dollars, but what's it matter? Someone with money will give it to Ms. Fico and claim he bought her virginity. Ms. Fico will then find herself with a lot of money, but it seems to me that she doesn't have much self-worth.
Why should it "wrong" morally for someone to sell their virginity for any given price?
ReplyDeleteBecause.
ReplyDeleteWell, "because" is a really cogent argument. Not.
ReplyDeleteIs it immoral to sell your hair? (I think of the classical "moral" children's story of the couple who sell their most prized possessions to get each other Xmas presents - he sells his violin to get combs for her hair ; she sells her hair (to a wig-maker) to get strings for his violin. Or something like that.) Most people would say "no".
So, is it immoral to sell your toenail clippings? (Your answer?)
Is it immoral to sell some of your skin to be grown into skin grafts? (This can be done safely for the donor these days?)
Is it immoral to sell one of your two kidneys? (Or to give one away - I have a friend who gave one of his kidneys to his brother.)
Is it immoral to sell your gametes (sperm / eggs)?
Is it immoral to sell your labout in the pole-dancing club?
Is it immoral to sell your labour in the salt mines?
Is it immoral to sell your labour at the keyboard?
There are lots of grey areas in almost all assertions about the morality of almost any action. "Because" doesn't cut it as an answer. Unless you deliberately want to give the impression that you really don't care if people think that you don't think before you type.
(BTW, thanks for posting the story - I was looking for a link and this'll do the job.)
Nope, I was thinking just fine. I was thinking, "I'm going to be a smart-aleck."
ReplyDelete