When prostitution is your 'purpose'

Former New York governor Eliot Spitzer earned well-deserved disgust this week for his betrayal of his wife, Silda, after being caught in a sex scandal.

But while the prostitute involved with Spitzer is hardly a sympathetic figure in this tawdry drama, she is a human being nevertheless. The degrading manner in which Spitzer regarded her -- and in which she seemed to regard herself -- makes this story even sadder.

The hollowness of the so-called Kristen's words as she guardedly discusses Spitzer's requests is painful to read. "I mean it's just kind of like. . . whatever. . . I'm here for a purpose. I know what my purpose is. I'm not a moron, you know what I mean," she tells the woman arranging the tryst.

The other woman questioned the safety of Spitzer's requests, which apparently included unprotected sex -- this with a woman whose name and face he couldn't remember.

Some commentators have archly wondered just what $5,500 paid to a prostitute could buy. The answer is human dignity.

"Kristen" wasn't really a person to Eliot Spitzer, which allowed him to treat both her identity and her health as cavalierly as he liked.

When their "purpose" is pleasing or appeasing men like Spitzer, women like Kristen are left to look at their lives as "whatever."