by Furry Girl
05.20.09
To prepare for a British friend coming to visit Seattle, I picked up "Weird and Wacky Washington Places" from the library to see if there's anything neat I hadn't heard of. What's weird and wacky? A banana museum, the Space Needle, Slug Fest, the Jimi Hendrix statue, and the Green River Killer, Gary Ridgeway.
As surprised as I was that Gary Ridgeway is listed in a guidebook of zany and funny things for tourists, I was also struck by the authors' omission of the fact that his victims were (mostly) sex workers. Is that a good thing- does it reduce the horror of his crimes in the eyes of normal people if he was "just" killing prostitutes? Or is it a bad thing- glossing over an important case in terms of getting international attention focused on the violence against sex workers?
I'm still not sure which part of this perturbs me the most.
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Furry Girl: a good time not yet had by all.
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I wouldn't call a Jimi Hendrix statue "wacky" either, so I'm guessing they were just super pressed for material.
Comment by lovesickrobot — June 9, 2010 @ 4:57 am
I used to live somewhat near the place Ridgeway worked at in Renton. I always meant to go to Hendrix's grave there, but never did.
I dig that statue in capital hill though. I would add the Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe to the list of weird seattle stuff, considering they have a mummy! or more so, a putrefied dude.
Comment by Royce Icon — July 12, 2010 @ 1:28 am