Poll: Prostitution, should it be legal or not?

[shortylickens]

Also, the most intelligent thing ever said on the subject was covered over 10 years ago and has not been improved since then.

www.perkel.com ->sex

 

[Darwin333]

It's a bet you'd lose, but I doubt there is anyway I can convince you of that. I've dated and had sex with a total of one woman, which is my wife (a fact of which I'm sure more than a few of you just snickered at). I choose a long time ago that I was going to wait until I had a meaningful relationship established before having sex.

Lets assume you are being completely honest, 95% of the other men in this nation have "paid" for sex in one way or another. Hell, most men will give their wives gifts JUST to get some or something extra. You do realize that most of this is hardwired in our brains right? Just because you have been sexually deprived doesn't mean everyone should, especially when it goes against our most basic of instincts.

You aren't really making your point very well. You are the extreme minority.

I don't really think pornography is a good thing, but I see it as operating on a different level than prostitution. It's also merely an attempt to divert attention and refute my position with something that is similar, but ultimately totally different. You aren't addressing my main point, but talking in circles around it.

The difference is one has a camera present while people are paid to have sex and the other doesn't. That just doesn't rank in the "totally different" category in my book. It is actually almost exactly the same in Darwin's book'o'rankings. The women "actors" financially benefit far more than the male "actors". All of that aside though, the really relevant part of Darwin's book'o'rankings is that they are paid to have sex .


Bottom line: People have been fucking since the beginning of people. People really like fucking. People will be paying to fuck long after you and I are gone. Forcing it underground makes it unsafer and worse for the participants, especially the women. So you are stopping nothing by advocating that it remain illegal and hindering any attempt to improve the situation.

 

[Darwin333]

I'm saying that there is no justification for the establishment of the apparatuses of taxation for this "profession".

Wonder if the Bunny Ranch files taxes? Something tells me they do.

 

[Darwin333]

They should both be criminized & policed equally to the maximum extent possible. This is also why polygamy remains illegal today.

Polygamy is illegal because, again due to genetics, women tend to look for "providers" or someone that can provide for her and their offspring. That means that the rich dudes get all the womens. It is also not a good thing in the long run, again due to genetics (much better to "spread them around").

 

[bfdd]

Polygamy is illegal because, again due to genetics, women tend to look for "providers" or someone that can provide for her and their offspring. That means that the rich dudes get all the womens. It is also not a good thing in the long run, again due to genetics (much better to "spread them around").

It always bewilders me when people start looking for complex answers because they believe we are such complex creatures when a lot of what drives us is the same that drives a dog to do what it does.

 

[Carmen813]

Lets assume you are being completely honest, 95% of the other men in this nation have "paid" for sex in one way or another. Hell, most men will give their wives gifts JUST to get some or something extra. You do realize that most of this is hardwired in our brains right? Just because you have been sexually deprived doesn't mean everyone should, especially when it goes against our most basic of instincts.

You aren't really making your point very well. You are the extreme minority.



The difference is one has a camera present while people are paid to have sex and the other doesn't. That just doesn't rank in the "totally different" category in my book. It is actually almost exactly the same in Darwin's book'o'rankings. The women "actors" financially benefit far more than the male "actors". All of that aside though, the really relevant part of Darwin's book'o'rankings is that they are paid to have sex .


Bottom line: People have been fucking since the beginning of people. People really like fucking. People will be paying to fuck long after you and I are gone. Forcing it underground makes it unsafer and worse for the participants, especially the women. So you are stopping nothing by advocating that it remain illegal and hindering any attempt to improve the situation.

Sexually deprived? My sex life is great I don't feel as if I've missed out on anything by not having had multiple partners, but then again, my partner is pretty awesome

I'm actually pretty open about sex and sexuality in general. I do not support abstinence only sex education, support planned parenthood, and support offering free condoms and birth control. I'm also pro-choice. I want parents to be more open about sex and sexuality with their children. I do not support banning pornography, though I do think it does harm peoples understanding of sexual norms. I don't think any of that constitutes me as trying to "force sex underground." We're all going to have places where we draw the line, and for me it's at prostitution. Hell, I've tried to deliberately avoid moral arguments against it, because I don't really believe in any of that.

My honest concern is how this could be damaging to society at large. If you must know, I particularly worry about how this could further undermine family environments in inner cities, specifically with people of low socioeconomic status (of all races). Show me some evidence that this isn't the case and I'll probably change positions, but right now people haven't presented me with anything that I find very convincing.

As for comparisons between prostitution and pornography, I see important differences that to me make them separate. You mentioned earlier that people own their bodies, which I agree with, but as a society we long ago decided that you cannot buy, rent, or sell people. I'm trying to think of a comparison that I see as closer to what prostitution is, and the closest I can come up with right is now is organ selling. I worry about how this might impact rape, homicide, and drug use (or really, drug abuse is my concern). I worry about how this could impact couples (of all sexualities).

I've been doing some more research on this topic and found an interesting website:
http://prostitution.procon.org/
It brings up some interesting points about legalization vs. decriminalization. Most people here seem to be advocating for legalization. I commented earlier that I would support stricter penalties, but I wasn't advocating for penalties that result in jail time.

 

[ericlp]

"I don't support legalization, but it should be handled on a state by state basis, just like abortion should be."

- wolf

Damn that's harsh... comparing pot to abortions. I guess taking away rights is what you people stand for. Boooo....

 

[nonlnear]

"I don't support legalization, but it should be handled on a state by state basis, just like abortion should be."

- wolf

Damn that's harsh... comparing pot to abortions. I guess taking away rights is what you people stand for. Boooo....

Damn that's dishonest... stripping the context to make it seem like that was a statement of wolf's own opinion instead of a quote of a position he was postulating a hypothetical politician might toss to the press.

Bad form. Boooo indeed...

 

[Yetti]

My isssue with the illegality of prostitution is that the prostitutes aren't selling sex. They're reselling condoms at an insane markup and offering a free product demonstration.



This is also, of course, assuming they aren't rawdoggin' it.


:awe:

 

[Craig234]

Polygamy is illegal because, again due to genetics, women tend to look for "providers" or someone that can provide for her and their offspring. That means that the rich dudes get all the womens. It is also not a good thing in the long run, again due to genetics (much better to "spread them around").

First, de facto polygamy is not illegal. Multiple partners can 'consider themselves' married, go through a ceremony without legal recognition, and live together like married people.

What's not legal is the legal arragement of mulptiple partner marriage, and this is because of political reasons - the public not approving it, and it therefore not being made legal.

The public doesn't necessarily have opinions the way you suggest about 'genetic issues' - it can be simple closed-mindedness, for example. That needs some research to say.

 

[zsdersw]

Wonder if the Bunny Ranch files taxes? Something tells me they do.

Perhaps they do, but I don't really care. That doesn't mean taxation must be extended to prostitution.

 

[piasabird]

Well if you have legalized prostitution who is going to protect the public from the spread of STD's. That could be aids, VD, Herpes, etc. Prostitution could increase aids proliferation. Not to mention that women could be treated like a commodity and be abused and mistreated. Do you think that your sister or daughter would make a nice prostitute?

It could be possible to have legal prostitution. But would it imporve society or be bad for society. I was looking at some info on South Korea. At one point Prostitution represented 1.5% of their gross domestic product. So would women have contracts that bar owners would buy and sell?

 

[bfdd]

Well if you have legalized prostitution who is going to protect the public from the spread of STD's. That could be aids, VD, Herpes, etc. Prostitution could increase aids proliferation. Not to mention that women could be treated like a commodity and be abused and mistreated. Do you think that your sister or daughter would make a nice prostitute?

It could be possible to have legal prostitution. But would it imporve society or be bad for society. I was looking at some info on South Korea. At one point Prostitution represented 1.5% of their gross domestic product. So would women have contracts that bar owners would buy and sell?

People should already be careful about STDs anyways. They should already be protecting themselves. There is so much information on this shit that it's just straight stupidity to not be protected. If my little sister, who is 9, decided she wanted to be a prostitute when she was older I'd be perfectly fine with it as long as she wasn't being stupid about it(abusing drugs, unprotected sex, etc). I've worked more dangerous jobs than being a prostitute.

 

[nonlnear]

Well if you have legalized prostitution who is going to protect the public from the spread of STD's. That could be aids, VD, Herpes, etc. Prostitution could increase aids proliferation. Not to mention that women could be treated like a commodity and be abused and mistreated. Do you think that your sister or daughter would make a nice prostitute?

Criminalizing prostitution doesn't have all that significant an effect on how much high risk sex occurs in society. All it does is make one segment of it much more dangerous.

 

[coloumb]

Yes. "Paying for Sex" isn't viewed as a crime in most countries:

http://www.sexwork.com/montreal/law.html

"Everyone should have access to reasonable priced sexual relief of that normal sexual tension or sexual variety that is natural, from professional, caring, honest providers."

 

[classy]

Just so everyone knows, I am not down with legal Hoes.............

 

[hal2kilo]

Well if you have legalized prostitution who is going to protect the public from the spread of STD's. That could be aids, VD, Herpes, etc. Prostitution could increase aids proliferation. Not to mention that women could be treated like a commodity and be abused and mistreated. Do you think that your sister or daughter would make a nice prostitute?

It could be possible to have legal prostitution. But would it imporve society or be bad for society. I was looking at some info on South Korea. At one point Prostitution represented 1.5% of their gross domestic product. So would women have contracts that bar owners would buy and sell?

Professionals in the state(s) with legalized prostitution get checked on a regular basis and practice safe sex. Sorry for you guys who think using a condom is like kissing through a screen.