Why America Hates Paris Hilton

Posted by Guest Blogger at 12:58 PM on June 11, 2007.

This post, written by Jill Filipovic, originally appeared on Feministe

I hate Paris Hilton. I think she's one of the worst human beings in the world. She's an entitled spoiled brat, and watching the way she treated people on The Simple Life made me sick. I was happy she was sent to jail. I was happy when she was sent back.

But let's not pretend that this is any great victory for "justice." Yes, she should have to do her time just like anyone else. Yes, there's a question as to whether anyone else would have received a jail sentence for doing what she did (as far as I can tell, the answer is probably "no"). But this isn't about justice or injustice -- it's about seeing someone we dislike finally get theirs, through an incredibly flawed and thoroughly unfair system.

I've found a lot of the conversation around the Paris Hilton jailing to be very troubling -- people don't want to see her incarcerated because she broke the law, but because she's a "stupid bimbo," a "skanky little whore," a "stupid bitch," a "ho," a "piece of white trash," a "ignorant cum hole on a stick," a "fucking whorebag," a "whinning pussystretched crab infested skank," a "spoiled cunt," etc etc. And those are just from the first 150 comments on the post linked above. Other commenters hoped that she'd get a "full-cavity search," talked about their sexual gratification at the sight of her crying and the description of her being dragged off by a prison guard, expressed their desire for her to be raped, and even said that "the next story should be about the whore dying." Even artists are getting into the game, supposedly critiquing drunk driving by depicting Paris dead, naked and with her legs spread open (created, notably, by the same dude who did the pro-life Britney-birthing statue).

I think it's fascinating that of all the disgusting things Paris Hilton has done -- using racial, anti-Semitic and sexual slurs, mocking "lesser" rural people on The Simple Life, acting condescendingly and generally cruelly toward anyone who crosses her path, driving drunk -- what people are really upset about is the fact that she's a slut. Yes, she's technically being punished for driving without a license, but that isn't what makes everyone so gleeful about her stint in jail -- it's the pretty-little-rich-whore getting her comeupance.

I'll admit that I'm happy to see her finally be forced to take responsibility for something. I'm with Joan Walsh -- meritocracy is a myth, but perhaps if certain members of the rich, powerful and perpetually enabled class had been taken to task for their bad behavior earlier, we would all have been spared some of their far-reaching mistakes.

But I'm not happy about the conversation surrounding her jail sentence, nor with the criminal justice system in general. It reminds me a bit of the "pot princess" brouhaha that happened while I was still an undergrad at NYU, where NYU student Julia Diaco was arrested for selling thousands of dollars worth of illegal drugs (including marijuana, cocaine and LSD) to undercover cops. Diaco was from an incredibly wealthy family in New Jersey, and, despite the incredibly restrictive Rockefeller drug laws in NY and state prisons that are overcrowded with petty drug offenders, was sentenced to 10 months in rehab and 5 years probation. Her paltry sentence was frustrating to those of us who long opposed punitive drug laws, and who saw how lower-income people, and especially people of color, were treated far more harshly than Diaco was, for far lesser crimes.

But I'm with my friend Jason Rowe on this one:

I'm into forgiveness, not retribution. I don't enjoy seeing anyone's life ruined, regardless of who they are and what they have done. I am glad Diaco was granted leniency by the court. I only wish leniency was granted more often to other people facing similar charges.

What Diaco's deal illustrates is how race and economic class have led to a great discrepancy in the severity of the penalties handed down in criminal sentencing, especially drug crimes.

This double standard has a truly profound effect in a state like New York, where laws stipulate mandatory minimum sentences for a series of drug crimes. Known as the Rockefeller drug laws, after Nelson Rockefeller, the governor who instituted them in 1973, these laws established harsh minimum sentences, including a minimum of 15 years for possession of four grams of cocaine. Critics of the Rockefeller laws have long argued that people of color have disproportionately been subjected to these harsh minimum sentences.

Consider the case of Martha Weatherspoon, a 75-year-old grandmother of 35 who was released from prison about three weeks before Julia Diaco entered her plea. Like Diaco, Weatherspoon was arrested for selling drugs to an undercover cop in 1988. Unlike Diaco, Weatherspoon was poor and black.

Weatherspoon had eked out a living for herself and her daughters as a farm worker upstate. One day on the job she fell off a ladder, disabling herself permanently. No longer able to work, Weatherspoon entered the drug trade that ran rampant through the housing projects she and many other poor families were warehoused in. When she was arrested, Weatherspoon was not granted a lenient plea bargain. No, Weatherspoon was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. She served 15 of those, and was released early because of good behavior. She may now be subject to resentencing of up to 25 years in prison if she doesn't complete a drug rehabilitation program.

The criminal justice system is fundamentally flawed. It is unfair. Justice is rarely done. The prison industrial complex* is a major money-maker for private companies, and it is a racist institution that destroys lives, offers no help or recovery, has devastated entire communities, and serves little if any positive purpose.

Personally, I'm of the belief that punitive systems have been massive failures. Yes, we have to protect society from violent and dangerous criminals. Yes, people must be held accountable for their actions. But punitive drug laws illustrate just how thoroughly those ideas have been corrupted and abused.

While I'm highly critical of our criminal justice system, I still understand that we have to operate in it right now, because it's all we have -- which is why I secretly gloat when Paris gets sent to jail, because that's the form of punishment that our society levels at legal offenders. But let's not act like this is proof that our justice system is fair, or that the rich and the poor and the black and the white are treated the same (if you think that's the case, I'd suggest spending a few days on Death Row, particularly in Alabama). And, while we can still hate Paris Hilton for being an entitled, racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, classist, shit-for-brains, soulless asshole, she should be punished for breaking the law, not for being a slut.

*See Angela Davis

Tagged as: sex, media, sexism, hilton, criminal justice

Jill Filipovic is a New York-based freelance writer and a law student at NYU. More of her writing is available online at her blog, Feministe.