Should prostitution be legalized?

[tsg]

I think it does. Turn it around. Don't you think that people who rigorously follow the speed limit at all times (as rare as they may be) are less likely to drive drunk?

No. First, the logic is flawed: "if p then q" does not imply "if !p then !q". Secondly, exceeding the speed limit by a small amount is considerably less dangerous than driving a car while intoxicated and most people are well aware of that.

The point is that one person's threshold for engaging in a certain illegal activity being higher than another's does not mean his threshold for all illegal activity is higher than the other's. It is not merely the "immorality" of breaking the law that is at issue. It is the person's judgment of how harmful the activity is and whether or not he considers it justified that it is illegal as well as whether he is willing to take the risk of getting caught.

The assertion that a person who is willing to engage in the illegal activity of having sex with another consenting adult for pay is also willing to have sex with a minor is not supported.

Lastly, I take exception to the assertion that willingness to break the law indicates a lack of morality without also considering whether or not the law is fair.

 

[SDC]

This is strictly an anecdote. Recently spoke with a friend who told me an older female relative of hers was the ex-lover/ partner of a founder of COYOTE -- the attempt at a sex workers' union here in the US. (Or maybe just out west, I'm not sure). The story was that it was an extraordinarily difficult group to organize, because the "boys" and the "girls" in the business didn't want anything to do with each other; and besides the gender bias, there was a strong class bias -- for example, call girls (yoo-hoo! Client #9!) sneered at street walkers and refused to associate with them.

I will vote for the planet X option. But I have to say that while prostitution is deeply ingrained almost (?) everywhere, it changes over time. It needs more study -- which is a serious comment, not a wisecrack.

 

[Pardalis]

The simple fact that there are so many prostitutes despite it being illegal means the service does have value.

Tell me, who are you to tell anyone who is and who isn't "useful to society."

So what is prostitution's usefulness, or value? That concept completely evades me.

IMO, the woman only ends up being depreciated and the client only temporarily solves his libido problem, just like a bigmac solves your hunger momentarily, but at least the burger is not a person (and please don't get all PETA on me ).

 

[Richard Masters]

Let's make McDonald's hamburgers illegal, while we are at it.

And let's make the military illegal as well. I don't feel comfortable with young men prostituting their body for money and a worthless cause such as killing other people.

Yes, soldiers = prostitutes.

 

[BenBurch]

SDC, I know really well Priscilla Alexander who was the first paid employee of COYOTE. (She was never a sexworker herself.)

And I have been a prostitute's rights activist myself for decades now.

And you are right; If the class and gender biases were not in the way, we would have organized to decriminalize or legalize by now.

 

[Cleon]

So what is prostitution's usefulness, or value? That concept completely evades me.

What difference does that make? Since when does "usefulness" or "value" have anything to do with whether an activity should be legal or not?

 

[Undesired Walrus]

Girls with sexually liberated attitudes that haven't been infected by the anti-sex priggishness of "Judeo-Christian morality."

My friend, I have many atheist feminist friends who would take great opposition to this statement.

 

[Pardalis]

Yes, soldiers = prostitutes.

My late grandfathers tell you to go yourself.

 

[BenBurch]

So what is prostitution's usefulness, or value? That concept completely evades me.

I know of a sexworker who has been seeing the same clients for almost 20 years. They have grown old together. Many of them she regards as friends, and most of them regard her as a friend.

Even the ones who no longer see her for sex call her and make sure she is OK.

She's even been invited to weddings.

If you ask her, she will tell you that she has retired. And except for seeing her old friends, she has.

Now, not all sexworker/client relationships are like this, clearly, but this is what it can be, and would be a lot more often except for the laws that try to tell people what they can do with their bodies.

As the bumper sticker used to say; "Get your filthy laws off my body!"

 

[Pardalis]

What difference does that make? Since when does "usefulness" or "value" have anything to do with whether an activity should be legal or not?

You're right. The idea just doesn't sit well with me.

 

[Richard Masters]

My late grandfathers tell you to go yourself.

So they were prostitutes?

Where did human trafficking send them? How much money did they get paid to lose their limbs and hurt other people?

 

[Pardalis]

How much money did they get paid to lose their limbs and hurt other people?

The people they hurt were Nazis you moron.

 

[Cleon]

My friend, I have many atheist feminist friends who would take great opposition to this statement.

And there are many atheist feminists who'd agree. The feminist "movement" (such as it is) is not nearly as united on the question of sex work as it is on (for example) the question of abortion rights.

 

[Richard Masters]

The people they hurt were Nazis you moron.

So they were human-trafficked to Nazi Germany?

 

[Pardalis]

I'm starting to think idiocy should be made illegal.

 

[Cleon]

You're right. The idea just doesn't sit well with me.

And that's fine. It doesn't have to.

 

[Undesired Walrus]

And there are many atheist feminists who'd agree. The feminist "movement" (such as it is) is not nearly as united on the question of sex work as it is on (for example) the question of abortion rights.

I know. Just balancing out what I thought was a strong declaration. This surely is not an neutral issue with feminists.

 

[tsg]

So what is prostitution's usefulness, or value? That concept completely evades me.

What is the usefulness of a diamond necklace? Because I don't see any value there. Therefore, diamond necklaces should be illegal.

IMO, the woman only ends up being depreciated

This is an unsupported assumption based on your preconception that the act should be shameful.

and the client only temporarily solves his libido problem,

This is the value.

just like a bigmac solves your hunger momentarily, but at least the burger is not a person (and please don't get all PETA on me ).

Yeah, but someone has to make the burger. I could argue that job is demeaning as well.

 

[Cleon]

What is the usefulness of a diamond necklace? Because I don't see any value there. Therefore, diamond necklaces should be illegal.

Yes, but a pearl necklace on the other hand...

(Sorry, couldn't resist. )

 

[Rufo]

My belief is that prostitution should be illegal, but neither of the choices was anywhere close to my reasoning. So, I voted Planet X.

Agreed. It actually bothers me quite a lot that there are two options for illegal which both add why, while the one for legal add how. There are several nuances of how prostitution should be illegalized, and they are at least as important as how it should be handled if legal.

On a quick google, I found references to research that showed that (this is from memory as I closed the window by mistake, I'll find it again if anyone is interested)between 50 and 90% of prostitutes had previously been abused as a child, and that the average age of entry into prostitution is something like 13.

Actually, I'd really like to see the source of those numbers. Not because I doubt them, but because they will be more relevant when the source is known. Also, statistics on prostitution are relatively hard to come by.