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Why is prostitution immoral?

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Kadarin said:
Do you think we're fucking plants or something? Of course we're animals, with the same emotions and instincts that all higher animals have. We have a thin layer of abstract rationality that allows some people to think/believe/pretend we're these unique magical beings with "immortal souls" that were divinely created by a benevolent deity who both "created the universe" and "loves us".

IMO there's nothing immoral at all about prostitution, so long as it's between genuinely consenting adults.
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Im an atheist or more correctly a humanist. I think that thin layer that we evolved sets us apart from our animal brothers. I dont think its magical. i think its chemical.
 
Kadarin said:
Do you think we're fucking plants or something? Of course we're animals, with the same emotions and instincts that all higher animals have. We have a thin layer of abstract rationality that allows some people to think/believe/pretend we're these unique magical beings with "immortal souls" that were divinely created by a benevolent deity who both "created the universe" and "loves us".

IMO there's nothing immoral at all about prostitution, so long as it's between genuinely consenting adults.
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You, like too many others, have a primitive social understanding.

It's the same mentality as 'social darwinism' and other deficient ideologies.

What your immature view thinks is 'genuinely consenting', for example, is ignorant of the nearly universal condition of the tyranny of poverty or addiction involved in this choice.

It reminds me a little of the scum who did "bumfights", offering 'genuinely consenting' desperate people a few dollars for fighting each other to amuse the audience.
 
mammador said:
Most do it for the money.

I simply don't see why prostitution is unethical. Not all prostitutes are abused, not all are coerced into it. The only logical deduction I can see is religious morality.
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I have difficulty accepting that anybody would do that out of free will. That is why i think that it must be a mental issue, genetic or environmental(usually both). I can imagine that a woman would do it for money with a man she already finds attractive ( Movie with similar plot : Indecent proposal) .
But as soon as he leaves and someone enters in that she does not fancy. I doubt that person number 2 is going to have fun with her. Even if he likes to give it rough. I doubt that she will be able to perform.
Perhaps religion may not be that far of in this particular case. The metaphorical hell here is for the woman being able to live with herself. Imho it is more psychological than condemnation & damnation.
 
William Gaatjes said:
I have difficulty accepting that anybody would do that out of free will.
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Why don't we put that to the test? Make prostitution legal...and make it a government job. I wonder how many women would sign up. They won't be subjected to pimps or drugs; and I'd imagine just those that don't really care what they do as long as they get paid would be fine with it. I wonder if such a program would work.

Of course a nation who sues schoolteachers for wiping smudges of students' faces would be way too much of a collective pussy to try such a thing.

I never understood why anything readily available is actually illegal, because in reality, anything illegal is usually readily available. It boggles my mind. Marijuana is "illegal". Cocaine is illegal. Heroin is illegal. ...Does that really stop anyone from doing it?
 
reallyscrued said:
Why don't we put that to the test? Make prostitution legal...and make it a government job. I wonder how many women would sign up. They won't be subjected to pimps or drugs; and I'd imagine just those that don't really care what they do as long as they get paid would be fine with it. I wonder if such a program would work.

Of course a nation who sues schoolteachers for wiping smudges of students' faces would be way too much of a collective pussy to try such a thing.

I never understood why anything readily available is actually illegal, because in reality, anything illegal is usually readily available. It boggles my mind. Marijuana is "illegal". Cocaine is illegal. Heroin is illegal. ...Does that really stop anyone from doing it?
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It will not work, in the end diseases will rise and immoral behavior will go up. The social environment will become more immoral. And after a few generations, there will be no more society with prosperity. Only paranoid people who yell and curse when they take a piss. Increased cancer rates. Increased birth defects...

Better is a social policy to encourage people to have a partner and to encourage monogamy. And that should be the goal. Even a good friend from the opposite sex you can have sex with is better then a prostitute. Sex is a lot better when there is also a psychological connection between 2 persons having sex.

The problem with drugs is different form country to country.
The US has been supporting drug barons while at the same time having drug wars. The CIA sold and purchased heroine in the past while at the same time the US had a drug war against heroine. And the only way to get cocaine illegal was to blame black people for becoming aroused from using coke given to them by people who forced them to work ? 😵

When we take countries in Europe, cocaine was also legal once. But as it turned out it was not a good idea. People started to become addicted and started to behave erratic.
Heroine was also legal a century ago until people stared becoming addicted and behaving erratic.
Marijuana is not really an issue but strict rules must be present about usage and the amount you can have. Also a clear message must be presented that it can slow down or destroy learning abilities. That it can make you socially blunt. But on a medical basis, it can help people a lot.
 
mammador said:
Most do it for the money.

I simply don't see why prostitution is unethical. Not all prostitutes are abused, not all are coerced into it. The only logical deduction I can see is religious morality.
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Would you be okay with your mother, sister or daughter being a prostitute? Would you think she needed help or would you pat her on the back and say "good job?" Posters have already given you non-religious reasons why it's not ethical. Ethics is not the same thing as "religious morality."

It seems like there are two categories of sex workers. The first world drug addicts or women with serious psychological issues and the second and third world women who are doing it because they have no other way to make money. In either case there is undue pressure and they should be helped as opposed to taken advantage of.

Now, if someone had evidence that with otherwise job prospects and no signs of psychological issues, that certain women would still choose to be prostitutes, I would be willing to change my mind.
 
Screw prostitution. Do handsome men and pretty women need yet another way to make more money effortlessly than the rest of us ugly people?
 
mammador said:
But is prostitution "immoral" due to religious reasons? It may be empty sex, but so what? Friends with benefits is just empty sex, so are one night stands. I don't believe in moral dictates really, but is there a reason why it's immoral?
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Well the people that think prostitution is immoral also think one night stands and casual sex is also immoral.

One problem with prostitution is that while its illegal in the US, its unregulated, its unsafe, and its practically slavery for many women. I think it would be more moral to make prostitution legit.
 
SagaLore said:
Well the people that think prostitution is immoral also think one night stands and casual sex is also immoral.
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didn't think anyone could be dumber than our resident brit.. but... that has to be the dumbest thing i've ever read..

i find prostitution to be immoral because many are forced into that life due to circumstances, in effect becoming a slave to the pimp... without a say in their life or decisions being made for them.

casual sex and one night stands are both consentual and both parties made the choice to be there. i dont see anything immoral about that.
 
Since morality is whatever we decide it to be, and it doesn't need a basis in any fact,

Prostitution is no more immoral than becoming rich on the backs of others, as long as it's within the law one can buy, oops I mean lobby for.😛
 
mammador said:
I don't live nor was born in the US, but it seems amongst most Western countries it is one of the most anti-prostitution (and conservative also, but in some regions more than others).

But is prostitution "immoral" due to religious reasons? It may be empty sex, but so what? Friends with benefits is just empty sex, so are one night stands. I don't believe in moral dictates really, but is there a reason why it's immoral?
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Prostitution is immoral for the same reason sex outside of marriage is immoral, from my point of view. The difference in prosecution is that the government can control the business of prostitution.
 
cybrsage said:
Prostitution is immoral for the same reason sex outside of marriage is immoral, from my point of view. The difference in prosecution is that the government can control the business of prostitution.
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And what would that reason be? Surely you're not going to claim the bible says sex outside of marriage is immoral. Think twice about that claim, as the bible clearly demonstrates that God thinks slavery is moral and that impregnating slave girls is just fine if you wife is barren.

Or are you going to argue that that was the old testament, and God - the omniscient, all-powerful, all-seeing being - has changed his mind on what is or isn't immoral?
 
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Infohawk said:
Would you be okay with your mother, sister or daughter being a prostitute? Would you think she needed help or would you pat her on the back and say "good job?" Posters have already given you non-religious reasons why it's not ethical. Ethics is not the same thing as "religious morality."

It seems like there are two categories of sex workers. The first world drug addicts or women with serious psychological issues and the second and third world women who are doing it because they have no other way to make money. In either case there is undue pressure and they should be helped as opposed to taken advantage of.

Now, if someone had evidence that with otherwise job prospects and no signs of psychological issues, that certain women would still choose to be prostitutes, I would be willing to change my mind.
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Yes, since everybody is free.
 
guyver01 said:
didn't think anyone could be dumber than our resident brit.. but... that has to be the dumbest thing i've ever read..

i find prostitution to be immoral because many are forced into that life due to circumstances, in effect becoming a slave to the pimp... without a say in their life or decisions being made for them.

casual sex and one night stands are both consentual and both parties made the choice to be there. i dont see anything immoral about that.
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I was talking about prostitution in its general definition, not the state of prostitutes in the US. Hence my second paragraph.
 
mammador said:
I don't live nor was born in the US, but it seems amongst most Western countries it is one of the most anti-prostitution (and conservative also, but in some regions more than others).

But is prostitution "immoral" due to religious reasons? It may be empty sex, but so what? Friends with benefits is just empty sex, so are one night stands. I don't believe in moral dictates really, but is there a reason why it's immoral?
Click to expand...

The US has a sexually oppressive society. Sexual intercourse and anything remotely considered sexual is tightly controlled.

Examples of this are:

1. Consider the hoopla made about Janet Jackson showing her breast on TV,

2. The incredible craziness people have about sexually explicit entertainiment

3. In Connecticut it is still against the law for unmarried men and women to be alone in a bedroom.

4. Homophobe bigotry

In the US sexual intercourse is only acceptable between a man and a woman who are married.
 
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