Legal Prostitution?

Why is prostitution illegal? Right now, being illegal, the government has trouble regulating it. STD's are spread, drugs are used by pimps to keep the women "in line". Pimps kill women who don't make enough money in a night or they think the women are stealing money. Women are raped and killed because they have to go to places where they won't get caught by anyone, making them vunerable.

Make it legal. Tax the women(or men), have them pay for a liscense. Then test them for drugs/STDs every month to make sure they are not abusing drugs or spreading things. This cuts out Pimps, this cuts out time wasted by cops to catch women/men for sex, and the government can make money. In the words of George Carlin. "Sex is legal, selling is legal, why is selling sex illegal?"

I was just about to start this thread myself...

Prostitution should probably be legal. Why? Why not.

Some arguments:

Prostitution is exploitation of women! Oh. It is? And pornography, ladies night, being a housewife, escort services, modeling, massage parlors, and stripping isn't exploitation? A lot of those women make good money.

Prostitution is dangerous! Yes, it can be. The risks of STDS and being beaten and killed are there, and are very real. If prostitution was legal, it wouldn't be a hidden world in a dirty hotel somewhere. It could be a legitimite business with safety standards, and your pimp/boss wouldn't be so quick to beat you down. The more visible, the safer.

Prostitution is using your body for profit, and its a gift from god! Yes, and don't laborers use their body? Don't politicians use their minds (or not) for profit? Inventors and scientists? Fisherman get a pretty good physical workout - whores? Surrogate mothers use their bodies to bear children for others - sluts? It ifs MY body, why cant I use it for profit in the most profitable way I'm able to?

Prostitution is the easy, lazy woman's way to avoid work! Show me a prostitute who thinks her job is easy, and I'll show you liar. It's physically and emotionally demanding, and I guarantee it's no fun to have your face in some greasy man's crotch and pretend to like it, too. It's no fun and not easy to pick who's car you'll get into and who'se you wont. It's not easy to wonder if you're a walking disease every time you wake up in the morning. You have a headache? Too bad.

Prostitution will corrupt our society! Heh. Yeah right. Honey, if your husband wants to sleep with someone else, he will. Corruption, if you consider that the acceptance of sex and debauchery to be corrupt, is everywhere already. Turn on the TV or log into the Internet. Look at your 16 year old daughter. Prostitution didn't do that. If someone has to go to the local downtown and park and go into an established house of prostitution, do you think that will increase the likelyhood that a neighbor will see and might actually discourage some people?

Prostitution will lure runaways and those who have no other option! So make it legal. Make it out in the open so it's not a hidden underground for people to hide in. Clean it up, and make it safer.

So, why not?

[edit on 7-9-2004 by RedBalloon]

Probably because they think that the prostitutes will evade taxation, in that case they make more setting up stings for Johns and fining the hell out of them, prostitution is big business for the government as it is.

Its the same argument as to why most drugs aren't legalized or at least decriminalized. There will always be people in society that feel they can stop drug use, prostitution, what have you. It will never happen.

Its like a lot of things in our country, we have a hard time admitting we were wrong, we just throw more weapons at the problem or shift the argument like we did in Iraq.

It will never change.

Uh, don't drugs actually cause harm to the body? Doesn't coc aine make you a dumbass? Bush is proof of that. Doesn't heroine kill quite easily? How many people have been killed by sex? I never heard of orgasm overdose. But heroin or crack or morphine? Easily done. Drugs are illegal for a reason, prostitution is not.

Red Balloon, great arguements. It isn't exploiting women for there are male prostitutes. Just like there is men in porn, and male strippers, it isn't just women who do it so not exploiting women.

Gift from god? Thats great if you believe in one, what about the billion or so who don't?

Easy, lazy way out for women? Again, men are prostitutes to, so not a easy way out for women.

Dangerous? Cars kill more people then sex, lets make cars illegal.

27jd, yes they make money off of fining johns, but damn, make a liscense cost say, 1,000 dollars, tax what they make like any income, and it would probably make up for the fines.

So, anyone who doesn't support it?

BTW: Voted 27jd for way above, you are a good poster, and not just that one, but many.(Think you know which ones)

[edit on 7-9-2004 by James the Lesser]

George Carlin, cleaned up of coarse, "Sellings legal. Sex is legal. Why isn't selling sex legal? Of all the things you could do to a person, what's the matter with giving them an orgasm?"

Originally posted by James the Lesser
Red Balloon, great arguements. It isn't exploiting women for there are male prostitutes. Just like there is men in porn, and male strippers, it isn't just women who do it so not exploiting women.

Gift from god? Thats great if you believe in one, what about the billion or so who don't?

Those are the arguments I hear on why it should be illegal, and what I had is just the start of the debunking of those statements. You're right in that men are prostitutes also, women just seem to be the usual target and the ones everyone is trying to "save."

I'm reeally trying to not bring religion into it, but the "gift from god" phrase I've heard way to many times. And if one was to believe in god, he wouldn't have made sex so good if we weren't supposed to have it

So far no one has posted not to legalize, but that may be a trend of the population of the board and the people who tend to click on links titled "Prostitution legal?" I'm surprised no one has chimed in for the other side of the coin, though.

Originally posted by RedBalloon
A lot of those women make good money.

The more visible, the safer.

I guarantee it's no fun to have your face in some greasy man's crotch and pretend to like it, too.

You have a headache? Too bad.

If someone has to go to the local downtown and park and go into an established house of prostitution, do you think that will increase the likelyhood that a neighbor will see and might actually discourage some people?

"You have voted RedBalloon for the Way Above Top Secret award. You have two more votes this month."

Good points, RedBalloon!

One thing to think about...if prostitution was legalized I would only see it as right to give the women health care for their profession for the high risk of sexual diseases. I remember discussing this in my Feminist Theory class in college, and that was one of the issues that came up. Essentially, Prostitution would become a profession, and for their service it would only be right to provide good medical support to them.

At the same time, why was prostitution made illegal in the first place?

Since medical issues can be covered these days with checkups and licensing, that's not an issue. It's an issue of morality, which it was when it was first outlawed.

Shouldn't we aspire as humans to something more than sex trade?

Originally posted by taibunsuu
Shouldn't we aspire as humans to something more than sex trade?

Why? What about being human puts us above mother nature and our planet earth, sex is natural, we make a trade of everything else, why not sex? Actually, we already do, isn't having sex on film with somebody you don't know for cash prostitution?

[edit on 7-9-2004 by 27jd]

Well we have to remember Prostitution is not illegal even in one part of the United States.Nevada. And then not everywhere in Nevada; Las Vegas, Reno, Carson City and Lake Tahoe still have it illegal. Supposedly those cities don't think that prostitution contributes to the family-oriented image that these gambling centers want

If we examine the facts of these areas and compare them too places where is is done illegaly It my shed some interesting light on the subject. Are the legal prositutes in Nevada more or less safe to those in the rest of the US?

[edit on 7-9-2004 by ShadowXIX]

Originally posted by 27jd

Originally posted by taibunsuu
Shouldn't we aspire as humans to something more than sex trade?

Why? What about being human puts us above mother nature and our planet earth, sex is natural, we make a trade of everything else, why not sex?

Civilization and its concordant laws is the attempt of mankind to establish order in the face of nature. So, yes, we aspire to be something greater than the chaos around us. Laws against theft, murder, etc., are really nothing without the culturally-inculcated morals that support those laws and teach people to be courteous, clean, and try to be helpful and kind.

Sex is natural, but it's natural for sexuality to be connected with strong emotions and social behavior of humans worldwide and through history indicates that sex is connected with the 'baggage' of relationships.

Walking up to a total stranger and having sex is a means of skipping the so-called strings of a relationship. Yet in a natural setting, without the incentive of earning money for providing sex, there would be no prostitution. So you can effectively say that prostitution is not 'natural' consensual sex, it's deviant behavior motivated by urge of 'easy sex' and means of making money.



[edit on 7-9-2004 by taibunsuu]

Originally posted by taibunsuu
Since medical issues can be covered these days with checkups and licensing, that's not an issue. It's an issue of morality, which it was when it was first outlawed.

Shouldn't we aspire as humans to something more than sex trade?

Checkups and all are great if you have a job with health insurance. Regulation could encourage safer sex with these women, and provide an environment without shame for real medical care.

Morality is an issue, but morality takes a back seat to reality in many cases, unfortunately. In a perfect world, there would be no need for prostitutes or the people that solict them. It's also moral to care for and help some of the people who are in the trade not out of desire but out of need and desperation. Sex isn't necessarily un-moral. At one point sex outside of marraige was ghastly and in some parts of the world it still is. We've come a long way. Prostitution isn't fun to think about - the women who prostitute themselves aren't fun to think about either, and may seem dirty and immoral, but they exist. Prostitution exists and always will. There is a reason it's called the "world's oldest profession."

Originally posted by Hellmutt
"You have voted RedBalloon for the Way Above Top Secret award. You have two more votes this month."

Good points, RedBalloon!

Why thank you, Hellmutt. Thats a great compliment.

Originally posted by taibunsuu
Originally posted by 27jd
Civilization and its concordant laws is the attempt of mankind to establish order in the face of nature. So, yes, we aspire to be something greater than the chaos around us. Laws against theft, murder, etc., are really nothing without the culturally-inculcated morals that support those laws and teach people to be courteous, clean, and try to be helpful and kind.

Sex is natural, but it's natural for sexuality to be connected with strong emotions and social behavior of humans worldwide and through history indicates that sex is connected with the 'baggage' of relationships.

Walking up to a total stranger and having sex is a means of skipping the so-called strings of a relationship. Yet in a natural setting, without the incentive of earning money for providing sex, there would be no prostitution. So you can effectively say that prostitution is not 'natural' consensual sex, it's deviant behavior motivated by urge of 'easy sex' and means of making money.

But there are many forms of prostitution that are legal, and are still accepted by society, i.e the porn industry, or young women who engage in relations, even marry (call it contract prostitution), old men just because they have lots of money, or secretaries who sleep with their bosses as a way to further their careers, are they not prostitutes?






[edit on 7-9-2004 by 27jd]

Period.

BTW more posts on the subject can be found here: Dealing with Prostitution

I made a huge post and it didnt post so heres the jist... it was a good one too

The only reason drugs and prostitution are a big problem in society is that they are iilegal. if governments legalised these things then the people who are affected wouldnt be afraid of getting help in fear of prosecution. if they were legalised the criminals who make money from these would go broke and the goverment could use the taxes from these service/goods (and of course there would be taxes) for rehab and awareness programs. The problem is, the victims get prosecuted nowadays, not the actual criminals behind the scenes.

I suggest reading High Society by Ben Elton. It addresses these issues and shows how its the law thats the problem, because the law makes the victims the criminals and stops these victims from getting help.

My origianl post was 10 times better but i lost it all... sorry guys

But there are many forms of prostitution that are legal, and are still accepted by society, i.e the porn industry, or young women who engage in relations, even marry (call it contract prostitution), old men just because they have lots of money, or secretaries who sleep with their bosses as a way to further their careers, are they not prostitutes?

[edit on 7-9-2004 by 27jd]

prostitution

n : offering sexual intercourse for pay

If someone marries someone for their money, if a boss uses his position of authority to sleep with a subordinate, or the subordinate sleeps with the boss to further their position, those people are having their own issues. However they are not prostitutes, making a living out of selling their bodies.

It's nearly impossible to do anything against porn because of 1st Amendment issues get infringed almost immediately.

Prostitution and strip clubs are not like on "Pretty Woman" and "Striptease."

The reason brothels arent like in 'pretty woman' is they are forced into a life of crime by the government who would most likely refuse them any help or rehab because they are judged as criminals. Why would a prostitute go for help if she is abused or has drug issues if she is likely to be thrown in jail instead of getting the support they need to escape from the life. and once they are out of jail, do you think they will give up the life? unlikely, they are more likely to go bakc ot the life they know because they were betrayed by their own country and people hen they went for help instead of being helped out of the life

Originally posted by specialasianX
The reason brothels arent like in 'pretty woman' is they are forced into a life of crime by the government who would most likely refuse them any help or rehab because they are judged as criminals. Why would a prostitute go for help if she is abused or has drug issues if she is likely to be thrown in jail instead of getting the support they need to escape from the life. and once they are out of jail, do you think they will give up the life? unlikely, they are more likely to go bakc ot the life they know because they were betrayed by their own country and people hen they went for help instead of being helped out of the life

And I suppose in Amsterdam the legal prostitutes live a glorious, fun-filled, exotic lifestyle where they are paid lots of money to have sex with rich, handsome guys who look like Richard Gere. Uh-huh.