First Post: Sold

The difference between our lives in the United States and Lakshmi's life is so different it is astonishing. Her life is so much more simple than ours, but it is so much harder as well. She doesn't seem to mind all the work she does to earn her family money and will do whatever it takes to make sure her family has what they need. Her and her mother are the ones that provide for the family; her stepfather seems to only care about himself and his needs. He spends his nights gambling away their money, and on the rare occasion that he does win, he spends that money on a new coat or cigarettes. It's crazy that all the women have to obey whatever the man says without question and never contradict anything they do. When Ama tells Lakshmi, "'Your stepfather has said you must go to the city and earn your keep as a maid'"(pg. 48), she doesn't even think for a minute to disobey or try to negotiate. What he's really saying is is that he wants to send Lakshmi to India to be a sex slave so he will get more money to buy new coats, cigarettes and candy for himself. According to an article in the New York Times, many poor families are desperate enough that they need to sell their young girls into sex slavery. However, sometimes the parents are under the impression that their daughter is going to a city to be a maid for a wealthy family and have money sent home to their family. Most of the slaves come from extremely bad family situations or poor towns. Authorities are aware that this trade is still happening all over the world, but it is just too easy to pay off the authorities to keep quiet. This is one of the most relevant issues in society today.