Stephann
Posts: 4214
Joined: 12/27/2006
From: Portland, OR
Status: offline
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Greetings Chains,
I checked out the links you posted. Lucky for me, they're basically using the exact same arguments as anything else people want leagalized (though other arguments I do support often contain more) so I was able to skim them. Just because a crime is still commited isn't a reason to leagalize it. Murder and drunk driving still exist, does that mean they should be sanctioned with a neat little taxation system and unions?
Your second link claimed that one millon people which they falsely, generously equated to 0.5% of American's engaged in prostitution. Given the fact we're talking about the 'worlds oldest profession' and something virtually anybody could do, I'd hazard that this is actually a pretty good job on law enforcement's part. Maybe they could go further and offer convicted prostitutes a way to make a lawful living upon time served. Or actively seek to bust the pimps, whore houses, and craigs list ads as well as the street walkers, sure, but just because law enforcement has always been racist and classist doesn't mean young poor girls arn't being exploited by pimps and johns.
I'm in no way advocating an act should be repealed, simply because it's commonly broken. I'm advocating this law be repealed, because the law itself does more damage than good. I feel the same way about drug laws as well. Somehow we muddled through the first several thousand years of existance without oulawing substances; but "The Great Experiment" that was Prohibition was the grand daddy of organized crime as we know it, though. Prohibiting alchohol did far more damage than good, methinks. Yet, the debate on legality is not a new one; it's on par with abortion I think. Most people will choose a side based on feelings, and find facts to validate those feelings. I don't have a vested interest, per se, in either the legality of abortion (I'm personally against it, but do not think it should be a crime), criminalizing substances (I drink but use no other drugs), or sex workers (I've never visited a prostitute, nor do I suspect I ever will.)
The big argument that it's both men and women but poor women of color are mostly the only one's caught is an issue inherent in most issues of law enforcement-I agree that selectively targeting only the group of people who can least afford lawyers or other forms of income is a problem which should be addressed for most crimes.
The racial intricicies of crime is never as 'black and white' as people would like to believe. This question deserves it's own thread, but I don't think it bears any special relevence on this topic.
-and yet you acknowledge how bad it was working at Denny's or how bad it would be to be a coal miner. Obviously, Capitalism in the absence of regulation does not provide for good working conditions-meerly an exploitative race to the bottom which would replicate the lousy conditions prostitutes already face.
The alternitive would be to leagalize prostitution but to regulate it heavily. This regulation would mean it would cost more money. Prostitution is more an act of nature than coal mining's act of industrialized supply and demand. Like people manufacturing moonshine, poaching, or employing others to work their fields, If the price of the leagle transaction were too high people would still resort to illeagle, cheaper methods.
Thats my biggest qualm. You're leagalized prostitution would only protect the wealthy ho's/johns who are rarely busted or victimized already while doing nothing to protect the truly exploited.
Poor working conditions simply boil down to what value a particular skill has to the economy as a whole. Almost anyone of any age can push a mop or a broom or carry food to a table. Prostitutes possess a unique skill; not simply the act, but the willingness to perform the act, regularly, on demand, with 80% of clients who are interested. Most women will say "Any woman can be a whore, but I would never!" The same is true of straight men, of gay pornography. Prostitution is one of the highest grossing personal services a woman can provide with, literally, no education, experience, or training. Simply put, men are willing to pay a premium for this service; one may joke about a blowjob, but how many men here can earn 80 dollars an hour without finishing high school? If the profits from this service go directly to the woman (minus taxes) she could certainly choose to improve her working conditions; a sleek modern parlour vice a back bar alley. Regulation (which I'll come to) ensures that she'll have access to adequate medical care, registration, retirement, legal protection, and drug/STD testing to ensure her and her client's safety. On the flip side, their clients are also assured that if they frequent a registered brothel or sex worker, he is assured that she has been recently tested and less likely to be working collaterally with a partner who might rob him on the way out the door. Certainly, there will always be fringe elements who will operate an unlicensed practice; the same is true of the medical profession. Having said that, when was the last time you paid 80 dollars an hour to a doctor, who did not go to medical school? Who wasn't board certified? Simply put, the business will more than pay for it's own regulation. In fact, we already have such regulation in place in Nevada.
Just because high-income tourist area's can provide "safe" prostitution leagally for a high price doesnt mean average to low income areas could finance the endeavor to the same exacting standards.
Do you believe that average/low income prostitutes only charge 5 dollars? Seriously, even the least expensive prostitute still charges 20 dollars, minimum, for a 15 minute service. I'd say that's plenty of profit that could quickly be reinvested in the business.
I guess, than, you're lucky you arn't from a poor urban or rural area and never socialized with very many college girls or strippers. Search out femme dom's on this site, as an example, and see for yourself how many of them already have jobs or are in school and simply want more , more, more. Hypothetically think about how once a very young but leagle girl goes into the sex trade, she's altering her life in ways she may not fully understand the implications of untill later in life.
I grew up in a town of 7000. I worked as a DJ in a strip club during college. Rest assured, my opinions are based on personal experiences with the business. I'm not an expert, and was interested to read OwnedShylah's experiences to learn more about the topic; but frankly, making the sex trade legal isn't going to encourage 15 year olds to start making money on their backs.
On that topic, I think the real issue is that we see sex workers as working inferior jobs. Is it not possible that middle and upper class escorts genuinely enjoy their work? If not for a lifetime, and not every day, but why do we feel the need to be their knight in shining armor? I fully believe that adults must be responsible for their choices; if that means they choose to engage in sex for money transactions, it is a choice on their head. I like to drink. Some people like to drive race cars. Some people jump out of perfectly good airplanes. This is what liberty means to me; the opportunity to live life as I see fit, so long as my choices don't harm others. A prostitute and her client harm nobody, except possibly themselves. Why must we feel compelled to save them, from themselves?
Stephan
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Nosce Te Ipsum
"The blade itself incites to violence" - Homer
Men: Find a Woman here
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RE: Sex workers in the BDSM and D/s lifestyles - 
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