Legalizing Prostitution
Dean Esmay of Dean's World has written an essay about prostitution based on this Robert Heinlein quote:
Dean makes the point that prostitution is, in essence, a meeting of two predators. Prostitutes play on the insecurities and loneliness of their clients for monetary gain. Johns go to hookers to rid themselves of that loneliness, or perhaps to exercise a type of sexual deviance that is not permissible in their regular relationships.
But James from Outside the Beltway disagrees, in part:
Prostitution has been called the oldest profession. Most scholars would agree that it is older than any of the other professions Heinlein lists. Sexual desire has been inherent in humans since, well, the beginning. How long would our species have lasted had man not felt a sexual craving that he sought to satisfy?
But times have changed. Sex is no longer a simple means to ensure the continuance of our species but is rather a means for us to entertain ourselves, most of the time. Judging by dropping U.S. birthrates and the amount of sex being discussed in our culture, I think its a safe bet to say that there aren't a lot of people doing it for the sake of procreation any more.
So suffice it to say, the hooker-john relationship is one that has existed for centuries. Many would tells us that in our enlightened age prostitution should be brought out from under the rug and made respectable, and there are a lot of good things to be said about doing that.
For instance, regulation would greatly reduce the number of minors involved in the trade and could also help cut down on the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Prostitutes would be more likely to report crimes committed against them if they didn't have to fear arrest once reporting it. The trade could also be taxed, putting money back in the pockets of taxpayers. Law enforcement could also focus resources formerly reserved for vice operations on other areas.
So why haven't we legalized it already? Well, for one thing its hard for most Americans to wrap their minds around legal prostitution. Most of us would simply shrug our shoulders if informed that a certain woman was a prostitute. As long as its not somebody close to us, we don't really care. But those would change, for the majority of us, if that prostitute were our daughter, or our niece. Or our son.
So what do we do about prostitution? Do we legalize it, regulate it and tax it and hope that our children don't grow up to do it, or do we continue to fight it watching our officers arrest the same people, time and time again, for the same crime.
To tell you the truth, I don't have a good answer for this one. I just know that I'd hate for my daughter to ever have to earn a living through sex, so it'd be hard, nay, impossible for me to vote for a law that would allow the daughters of other fathers do it.
A whore should be judged by the same criteria as other professionals offering services for pay -- such as dentists, lawyers, hairdressers, physicians, plumbers, etc. Is she professionally competent? Does she give good measure? Is she honest with her clients?
It is possible that the percentage of honest and competent whores is higher than that of plumbers and much higher than that of lawyers. And enormously higher than that of professors.
Dean makes the point that prostitution is, in essence, a meeting of two predators. Prostitutes play on the insecurities and loneliness of their clients for monetary gain. Johns go to hookers to rid themselves of that loneliness, or perhaps to exercise a type of sexual deviance that is not permissible in their regular relationships.
But James from Outside the Beltway disagrees, in part:
Heinlein appears to mean "professional" in the sense of "making a living at it" given the list: "dentists, lawyers, hairdressers, physicians, plumbers, etc." Most of us wouldn't consider hairdressers to be "professionals" and plumbers are skilled craftsmen instead.
As to the exploitation issue, Dean is correct in principle. Still, don't lawyers, physicians, and plumbers exploit the misery of others to make a living? Their clients are being sued or facing prison; miserable and/or dying; or just had their pipes burst or their toilets overflow. They probably haven't budgeted for these emergencies but have little choice. In a larger sense, isn't the entire economy predicated on exploitation? I like my job, but there are days I'd rather go to the movies or something. But The Man won't pay me for doing that, so I am forced to go into the office. I have an innate human need for food, but the folks at Safeway won't give me any without my turning over some money. And so it is with most of my economic existence. Oh, the humanity!
Now, it is certainly true that prostitution is more degrading than the other lines of work Heinlein lists. Would you rather your daughter or sister grow up to be a prostitute or a lawyer? [What's the difference? -ed. Stop that.] I think almost anyone would agree that there's not much of a contest there.
Prostitution has been called the oldest profession. Most scholars would agree that it is older than any of the other professions Heinlein lists. Sexual desire has been inherent in humans since, well, the beginning. How long would our species have lasted had man not felt a sexual craving that he sought to satisfy?
But times have changed. Sex is no longer a simple means to ensure the continuance of our species but is rather a means for us to entertain ourselves, most of the time. Judging by dropping U.S. birthrates and the amount of sex being discussed in our culture, I think its a safe bet to say that there aren't a lot of people doing it for the sake of procreation any more.
So suffice it to say, the hooker-john relationship is one that has existed for centuries. Many would tells us that in our enlightened age prostitution should be brought out from under the rug and made respectable, and there are a lot of good things to be said about doing that.
For instance, regulation would greatly reduce the number of minors involved in the trade and could also help cut down on the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Prostitutes would be more likely to report crimes committed against them if they didn't have to fear arrest once reporting it. The trade could also be taxed, putting money back in the pockets of taxpayers. Law enforcement could also focus resources formerly reserved for vice operations on other areas.
So why haven't we legalized it already? Well, for one thing its hard for most Americans to wrap their minds around legal prostitution. Most of us would simply shrug our shoulders if informed that a certain woman was a prostitute. As long as its not somebody close to us, we don't really care. But those would change, for the majority of us, if that prostitute were our daughter, or our niece. Or our son.
So what do we do about prostitution? Do we legalize it, regulate it and tax it and hope that our children don't grow up to do it, or do we continue to fight it watching our officers arrest the same people, time and time again, for the same crime.
To tell you the truth, I don't have a good answer for this one. I just know that I'd hate for my daughter to ever have to earn a living through sex, so it'd be hard, nay, impossible for me to vote for a law that would allow the daughters of other fathers do it.
Kevin
pparets
HG
docdave
Carrick
likwidshoe
realitybasedbob
Bat One
