Can I start a politics thread? What do you think about prostitution being illegal? I figure it's a relevant question given OPL's halfassed virgin-breaker moment.
You see, I don't know what to think of this myself. There are certain things I don't like about prostitution, these things don't differ too much from other legal types of sex work, and I can't help but wonder if legalizing it and taxing it would alleviate some of the ills associated with prostitution.
I've heard the argument that it affects disadvantaged women, but from my experience in the gay community, I find it affects anyone who is disadvantaged regardless of gender. So, the social ills of prostitution are by far not an exclusive women's issue, but rather an issue affecting economically poor individuals. This leads me to believe; are laws against prostitution just another tool the "haves" use to keep the "have nots" out of their pristine White neighborhoods? You often hear police refer to prostitution as a "quality-of-life crime", a phrase reserved for any event which is indicitave of declining living conditions. To these people, sex work is so deplorable that they believe it reflects a declining standard of living.
With this in mind, is prostitution simply just a crappy income option not available to poor straight men? And how does it differ from other types of sex work? I've seen plenty of gay men eschew prostitution for a far more destructive option; enrolling themselves in porn movies that will get passed around until the last part of the Internet stops working. Yet, none of us argue that pornography should be illegal, despite the fact that safe practice prostitution will not follow anyone beyond a single night.
This leads me to believe the only reason prostitution is illegal is to oppress the poor. Nothing else really makes sense. It's a matter of not wanting "those" people in "your" neighborhood. What do "those" people do? Fuck like bunnies with strangers, of course. What comes to mind when you think of someone who's done a porn movie, or submitted to prostitution?
Anything embroiled in the underground breeds crime; simply look at prohibition as a reference point. There are women who don't get paid for any of the work they do, get used like paper towels, and thrown away. But is this because of the nature of the practice, or because organized crime is in charge of it all? How big of a dent can we put into this problem if we taxed and regulated it, keeping (more of) it out of the hands of crime syndicates? Would that do any good? I think I'd love to see studies on that before anything else.
I think prostitution laws come from an old world mentality where government was viewed as the moral shaper of the people, and that the ideal exercise of law enforcement was the most effective solution to any problem. But ninety to a hundred years of experience tells us that government has little, if any effect on our morals, and that certain social ills were far better addressed through regulation. A prime example of the latter would be our country's ineffective War on Drugs vs. other countries' treating it like a health problem in need of rehabilitation, drastically reducing recidivism compared to our "punish 'em" mentality.
What do you think? Should Chris be allowed to buy all the sex he needs?
You see, I don't know what to think of this myself. There are certain things I don't like about prostitution, these things don't differ too much from other legal types of sex work, and I can't help but wonder if legalizing it and taxing it would alleviate some of the ills associated with prostitution.
I've heard the argument that it affects disadvantaged women, but from my experience in the gay community, I find it affects anyone who is disadvantaged regardless of gender. So, the social ills of prostitution are by far not an exclusive women's issue, but rather an issue affecting economically poor individuals. This leads me to believe; are laws against prostitution just another tool the "haves" use to keep the "have nots" out of their pristine White neighborhoods? You often hear police refer to prostitution as a "quality-of-life crime", a phrase reserved for any event which is indicitave of declining living conditions. To these people, sex work is so deplorable that they believe it reflects a declining standard of living.
With this in mind, is prostitution simply just a crappy income option not available to poor straight men? And how does it differ from other types of sex work? I've seen plenty of gay men eschew prostitution for a far more destructive option; enrolling themselves in porn movies that will get passed around until the last part of the Internet stops working. Yet, none of us argue that pornography should be illegal, despite the fact that safe practice prostitution will not follow anyone beyond a single night.
This leads me to believe the only reason prostitution is illegal is to oppress the poor. Nothing else really makes sense. It's a matter of not wanting "those" people in "your" neighborhood. What do "those" people do? Fuck like bunnies with strangers, of course. What comes to mind when you think of someone who's done a porn movie, or submitted to prostitution?
Anything embroiled in the underground breeds crime; simply look at prohibition as a reference point. There are women who don't get paid for any of the work they do, get used like paper towels, and thrown away. But is this because of the nature of the practice, or because organized crime is in charge of it all? How big of a dent can we put into this problem if we taxed and regulated it, keeping (more of) it out of the hands of crime syndicates? Would that do any good? I think I'd love to see studies on that before anything else.
I think prostitution laws come from an old world mentality where government was viewed as the moral shaper of the people, and that the ideal exercise of law enforcement was the most effective solution to any problem. But ninety to a hundred years of experience tells us that government has little, if any effect on our morals, and that certain social ills were far better addressed through regulation. A prime example of the latter would be our country's ineffective War on Drugs vs. other countries' treating it like a health problem in need of rehabilitation, drastically reducing recidivism compared to our "punish 'em" mentality.
What do you think? Should Chris be allowed to buy all the sex he needs?
