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Prostitution, how do you feel about it?

Should prostitution be legalized in your state? It's legal in some of the country's I've been to. Would it be a quick fix for those lonely people out there that can't seem to find a date or lover? Would it be such a problem in your mind to see others benefit from this service? Is it one of those unspeakable things that should be secretive? Do you think you would appreciate a date with a male or female stripper? Why not be happy one night a month? Just asking because there's no god to punish you. Is it ugly to you?

BucketlistBob 8 Apr 4
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62 comments

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17

Prostitution should be legal. Legalizing it would allow for safer working conditions for the people who offer this service and I see no reason why consenting adults shouldn't be able to engage in sex with the exchange of money if they so desire.

Mea Level 7 Apr 4, 2018
13

Also, porn is legal. We pay people to have sex in front of a camera, I don't see why the exchange of money behind closed doors is anyone's business besides those involved.

Mea Level 7 Apr 4, 2018

Government don't like it because they can't tax it, I think that's the problem

Yep, it should be legal. Simple as that.

@IamNobody, why can't they tax it? As far as I know, it is taxed in Nevada, certainly in Europe. What is the difference between this and any other contractor? If you go to a chiropractor, a massage therapist, even a physical therapist, they are all people whose work involves touching your body, getting paid, and paying taxes. The only thing that makes prostitution different is the part of the body they touch and what the touch it with. The rest is religious sin shaming and government overreach.

9

All I know is, I probably couldn't make a living...

But seriously folks... like almost everything, legalizing and regulating is the key to safety. Licensing the profession would bring it out of the shadows and make it so much easier to crack down on the human trafficking element, which is a disgrace in this nation and in this century.

9

Legalize and regulate it. People want to work.

9

You asked a lot of questions...should it be legal, yes. It'll be safer for the people engaging in it. Would I use a stripper (not always the same as a prostitute)? No I don't need or have any desire to make use of one. Have I paid my bills and kept a roof over my kids heads? Yes. Do people need to be careful? Just as much as any one night stand. Is it ugly to me? No it's a viable profession for those who can handle it.

9

I have stated before here that we pay big bucks for different therapists for different reasons (medical, physical, legal, spiritual, etc). What is wrong with paying for physical "therapy" from a sex worker? It is a profession that provides a service for a fee just like the rest.

8

For me, I think the issue is people taking ownership of their own bodies. If everyone involved is a consenting adult why should it be anybody else's business.

Amen, sister!!! (So to speak...)

8

I prefer the term sex work and those participating as Sex Workers. I think men and women should be able to provide this service for money and it should be legal to provide such services. Countries that protect sex workers do much better on most social and economic indicators then those countries that don’t. Canada has a reasonable approach to this.

A voice of reason. Sex Workers. Men AND Women. That I'd be okay with.

what is Canada's approach?

@btroje I not aware of all the regional differences in Canada but generally, sex workers are protected by law enforcement. That is, they can report related incidents without worry. Sex work is a legitimate type of work. There isn’t a social stigma attached to it. I know several individuals that pursue this work as a second job and or a form of entertainment. Money can be exchanged but advertising or public soliciting is not allowed. Most posting for this work go under the heading of Escort. Individuals can work independently out of their homes or can be associated with a public house.

Sex workers is the acceptable term. They are not all women.

8

You sell your body and your mind every time you roll in to work. The only differences (in principle) between working in an office and working as a prostitute are that you're providing a specifically sexual service, and you typically get a much better hourly rate.

The big issues with prostitution all revolve around its illegality. Where there's crime, there's profit, and in a business where you can't go to the police if you're in trouble, pimps and traffickers are ready to cash in and offer the kind of 'protection' where you absolutely will come to harm if you decline their services.

So yes, absolutely it should be legal to exchange sexual consent for cash. What should be under much closer scrutiny is making money from someone else doing the same (brothels and escorting agencies need to be licensed.) And what should absolutely be outlawed is forcing or coercing someone to engage in prostitution against their will.

8

I adhere to the George Carlin philosophy on this matter. Selling is legal. Fucking is legal. Why not "selling fucking" legal?

8

My brain is immediately screaming HELL NO! But, I also realize legalizing it would make for safer working conditions for the prostitutes. And possibly enable them to say no to someone soliciting them if they did not want to service them.

It's not something I could do and I certainly do not want that for my children. If you're familiar with the dating app OkCupid, there are a bunch of questions you can answer. If someone answers the same questions, you can see how they responded. One of the questions is "would you pay for good sex." That's a hard limit for me. If someone has paid a prostitute to have sex with them, I won't see them.

I think I'd have a problem with that too.

@Freespirit64 I was afraid I'd get lambasted for my view so thanks for the support.

@Marcie1974 I try to be open minded and I am...about most things. But apparently not this...

@Marcie1974 and @Freespirit64: Would one of you be so kind as to explain your feelings? I'm really curious; I've never run into this attitude before except in a religious context.

@marga it just seems wrong to me. Like if you’re relatively attractive and a decent person, why would you need to pay? And know I’ve slept with more people than I probably should but that was my decision. Not because I was getting paid for it or paying for it. It just seems disrespectful to both yourself and the person you’re paying.

@Marcie1974 Oh, okay. Gotcha.

I look at it a little differently, however. I would see it as a simple commercial transaction, same as buying something from the grocery store. Not disrespectful to either the cashier or me.

Also, what about all the people who cannot find a sexual partner? Maybe they're not relatively attractive. Maybe it's an older person, with wrinkles and a less-than-perfect body, who cannot find a compatible partner. Or maybe it's someone who has to fulfill physical needs but doesn't want any emotional involvement at all. There are all sorts of people who could find relief with legalized prostitution, and have no problem with paying for a service. For both male and female clients. 🙂

Just a thought: Could it be that it seems disrespectful to you because of the current stigma attached to it? If that's the case, just remember that the stigma would be gone. Without any stigma or morality attached, perhaps you would feel differently. Or not, who knows? Just thinking out loud.

@marga logically I get what you’re saying. I don’t think the stigma would go away if it was legal though. Look at strippers. Would you want your mother/sister/daughter stripping for a living? When I’ve gone to a strip club I never know who to feel more sorry for, the strippers or the men who spend every night there.

I live in a city of about 50,000 so the strippers aren’t exactly classy and I doubt they make very much money. I know in some areas they can rake in good money. Not here. And I get going to the club if you’re in college or for a bachelor party, but from what I’ve seen it’s usually the stereotypical dirty old man who is there.

For men sex may just be sex and that’s it. I can’t speak for all women but I would venture to say for the majority of us, it’s difficult to see it as just a transaction. I would worry about the mental health of the female prostitutes.

@Marcie1974 Well, I guess we just have different viewpoints. And that's okay. 🙂

I myself think it would be a good thing, from the standpoint of physical, mental, and emotional health, and I do not think the stigma would last. It's only my opinion, but I would venture that the only reason it seems so tawdry to you right now is because you cannot see it without the stigma of the "stereotypical dirty old man". But to me it would be just the same as working anywhere else...I do not attach stigma to a waitress, cashier, office worker, etc., and I would not attach stigma to prostitution.

Under these circumstances, where it is accepted legally and morally, I wouldn't care who did it for a living.

@marga yes, it is ok to have different opinions and thank you for having a rational discussion rather than getting upset or offended.

Do you think there’s a stigma with stripping for a living? I’m just curious.

@Marcie1974 There is currently a stigma associated with it because of the current attitudes toward it. I do not agree with that, but it is the way it is right now. I believe it would change, however, if the laws were changed.

@Marcie1974 And yes, it is quite refreshing to have a rational discussion without devolving into insults. Thank you for that. 🙂

@marga There aren't laws against stripping, at least not in MN.

@Marcie1974 But it is associated with prostitution, so it has the stigma.

Another thing that might help remove the blemish is if more men were in the business, servicing women. Right now, with the overwhelming majority of the sex business aimed toward men, about half of their potential market is excluded. Keeping it a gender-based business (for the most part) full of sexism does nothing to help women change their minds about the stigma.

8

If an individual chooses to accept money in exchange for sex as a service, it is none of my nor anyone else's business except for that individual and the individual clients whose identity, presumably, would be confidential (since it's nobody else's business.) In this case, being voluntary on the part of both parties, no-one's rights are being violated so, in my view, it should not be a crime.

If an individual is a victim of trafficking, it is a completely different matter. In this case, someone's rights are being violated and this, therefore, should constitute a crime.

It all comes back to consent.

8

I lived in Antwerp, Belgium for years. It is legal and porn was free at the time ( don't know today). Their philosophy was "don't like it? Change the channel". The red light district was quite an experience, cozy and well maintained (it was not a slum with gangs and drogs for instance, far from it). So what did they get on their daily life as cirizens? No repression of any kind, so I got to see many times the hottest blonde dressed to kill walking the street and NO ONE woud bother them with whatever inappropriate slurs or nasty comments. So I ask, should prostitution be allowed ( legalized and properly taxed)... YES

7

Anybody who works for a living is selling their body or the use of their brain, or both, for some purpose. Many of us have spent a lifetime doing menial jobs that we hate, physical work that taxed our bodied beyond their limits, or attempting to sell a product we knew was crap. If, when I was young and built like a Barbie Doll, I had had any inkling of how much money could be made twirling around a pole on a little stage while mostly naked, I would have done it in a heartbeat.

Deb57 Level 8 Apr 5, 2018

Deb57 we were all young and built like Barbie Dolls. It doesn't naturally follow that we'd all be happy to twirl a pole.
I've had enough sex with various partners to know that there's no way to compare selling your body and using your brain or brawn to make a living.

That has as much to do with the stigma attached to sex work as it does with the work itself. I have done some pretty demeaning work for minimum wage in my life, because I had no choice. If stigma-free sex work had been an option for me, my kids would have had a better childhood.

7

I'm all for prostitution being legalized. You got supply. You got demand. Why not?

7

Question 1. Yes, I think it should be legal throughout the world. Notwithstanding outright trafficking in a power differential for whatever reason, I believe adults engaging in adult behavior is a personal matter between those two -- or six -- people.

Queston 2. Would it be a quick fix for lonely people? It could be any number of things for any person -- maybe the person is not lonely, but is in a sexless relationship because of paralysis. Maybe the person just likes variety of partners. Maybe the person has different itches scratched by different people. Whatever the person's reasons, I don't think it's anybody's business.

Question 3. Would I mind if others benefit from it? No. Not at all.

Question 4. Should it be secretive? I don't think it should be shouted from the rooftops anymore than any other sexual behavior / relationship arrangement. But, should humans be shamed for directly paying for, or providing, sex for money any more than the man who keeps a trophy wife, or any more than the wife who stays in a miserable marriage for money ("financial stability" / "standard of living" )? No. Absolutely not.

Question 5. No, I don't think I would "appreciate" a date with a male or female stripper (or prostitute). I could see myself being friends with a sex worker, but not attempting to even pretend to myself that he or she liked me for me.

Question 6. Why not, indeed. Everybody deserves happiness. Even if only one or two nights a month -- or whatever they can afford.

Question 7. Is it ugly to you? Honestly, I find it a thousand times more distasteful that people I know (including extended family) who stay in relationships where they are miserable or can't stand their partner because without them, "I'd have to live in a cracker box." That IS ugly.

7

Should be legal; they would be safe and healthy, and taxed.

6

That should be legal, if that's the only way you can work have at it.

6

Prostitution should be legalized and regulated as any other business. Everyone sells their body, if not their soul, when they go to work, especially in physical jobs. Is a coal miner, a sweatshop factory worker, or even a professional athlete not selling their youth, their bodies to the highest bidder? If they are doing it willingly, with full knowledge of what the risks are, what is the difference? Except religion decided long ago that if it could control people doing the things they enjoyed the most (sins), they could easily control other thoughts and actions of their believers. So they threaten hell and damnation to those who don’t subscribe to the churches whim, and when that doesn’t work, use their influence to create laws to met out earthly physical punishment. Anything that provides physical pleasure needs to be a sin, because if you’re having too good a time in life, the afterlife reward starts to look a little less enticing and you might not feel the need to go spend your money at church to buy your way into heaven next Sunday. And religion is a business for sure.

6

My brother owned several "message parlors" in SoCal at one time. They are infinately safer than a randon date you go on. The girls were clean, used condoms and were talented. No judgement, no emotion other than kindness and pride in talent. No, not every place was like his.

6

I think it should be legal.
Using licensed brothels could be a source of tax revenue, keep a lot of the sex trade of off the streets, and help to make STD's down to a minimum.

6

It's just sex. People should mind their own business.

6

Yes, if it serves a purpose such as venting the frustration is a man inclined to rape. All of us get loney at times and if prostitution was available I do think a lot of people, both genders, would use it. Some not a chance but hell it does not hurt anyone and that should be the bar

EMC2 Level 8 Apr 4, 2018

A man's "desire" to rape has nothing to do with availability. He's a sick deviant who needs professional mental health help.

@ashortbeauty I agree with you fully, Definitely needs help. All I am saying is that prostitution is not something I would ever utilize but as long as it does not hurt anyone , go for it

5

No Whyever not I havent a morality about it at all and do seem to remember knowing a friend who preferred to go to a prostitute because they were pretty kindly people.

wow. open minded, uncomplicated answer, jacpod. 🙂 I admire that, too

5

It should be legal for both brothels and escorts, with sex workers being licensed, just like car drivers, having passed a test showing they are aware of the occupational health and safety requirements and undergoing 3 monthly health screenings. It is legal to a greater or lesser extent throughout Australia with WA having the weirdest approach.
What I find interesting is "Do you think you would appreciate a date with a male or female stripper?" because I'd prefer someone who could hold a conversation or had superior skills. Known people in this trade and it isn't just about the look, especially not at the top end, it is about someone who can make the client feel good.

Kimba Level 7 Apr 5, 2018

I understand that finding a person that you can relate to and have that special interest is a hard accomplishment. So... a date with a hot desired stripper could be fun and support you untill you find that special person. Or you can settle for what's hitting on you. Hmmm... life's hard for people and a wild fling can help. That's a big help to kids on spring break. Just don't get addicted to sex. Why not enjoy your life and it can be no strings attached if you choose that.

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