Letters to the Editor
-
tina schrier
That's what prostitution is, and that's my problem with it. It's a huge violation of a person's dignity, totally incomparable with any other kind of "work", and difficult to argue that anybody really chooses it freely.
LOL, I think being forced to piss in a cup in front of an observer to prove that you are not an apostate of the de facto state religion is a huge violation of a person's dignity.
But I'll bet you would do it to keep your obviously cushy job.
It's all a matter of perspective..
Spend August as a roofer doing hot tar roofs in South Georgia and get back to me about nasty jobs
-
Mei Tei
Did you ever consider prostituting yourself sexually to men instead of the dangerous work of construction? Why not, if it's so benign?
Could it be because I strongly resemble Homer Simpson and I'm not gay?
-
Gay? What does being gay have to do with it?
Could it be because I strongly resemble Homer Simpson and I'm not gay?
I'm chuckling here, because you're acting as if the prostitute is acting on her own desires to have sex. What does being gay or not have to do with you performing sexual services to men? Prostitution is not about the prostitute doing what s/he wants, it's about what the john wants, and what the prostitute is willing to accept to give it to them.
The prostitute isn't sleeping with the men because she enjoys doing so, she's doing it for the money. (Remember, the women in the study stated that they found the vast majority of johns unattractive.)
What does your level of enjoyment in having sex with men or your attraction to men have to do with you performing sexual services to men for money? Prostitutes don't always enjoy the sex or feel attracted to the johns.
As far as looks are concerned -- I don't think that one has to be exceptionally attractive to be a prostitute.
-
Source of information--part 2
Thailand has legal prostitution yet many Thai prostitutes were trafficked from Burma or Cambodia and live squalorous lives like animals--many contract aids, they are not permitted to say no to men who don't want to wear condoms--they suffer even under legalized prostitution.
OK, I asked someone who knows a lot about Thailand, a guy who has lived in Thailand for more than ten years and who has a friend who conducted a very detailed study of prostitution in Thailand, which is the main source of my contact's information.
First of all, he said that prostitution has actually been illegal since 1960, though admittedly the law was enacted due to international pressures and is not enforced.
Then he said with regard to the rest of your point that it is mostly not true.
While there are Burmese and Cambodia prostitutes along the Thai border, mostly in truck-stop brothels, catering to Thai men, few have been trafficked there in the strictest sense (i.e. abducted), but were probably brought in illegally.
The "squalorous" situation was prevalent 20 years ago in some areas along the border. But, even then it was not pervasive or widespread and has improved extensively in recent years. These type of places represented a very small percentage of prostitution in Thailand.
While the use of condoms is apparently rather slapdash in the Thai border brothels, he says that women are not forced to have unprotected sex, except by the pressures of economics (i.e. they get more money if they go bareback) and by their own ignorance.
Now, what is the source of your information, and is it current?
-
As far as looks are concerned -- I don't think that one has to be exceptionally attractive to be a prostitute.
You're right for females..
Male prostitutes on the other hand are almost uniformly young and attractive. Gay men are even more appearance obsessed than are straight men.
You have a point about desire, I have to admit.
When I was young enough, being a prostitute never even occurred to me, I knew female prostitutes existed but had no clue of male ones.
A lot of prostitution is in being an actor and I'm a very poor actor, wear my heart on my sleeve.
I wasn't trying to imply that prostitution is not an unpleasant and sometimes dangerous job, just trying to point out that there are plenty of unpleasant and dangerous jobs out there that no one even would consider making illegal because they are unpleasant and dangerous.
-
My penpal the prostitute
That's what prostitution is, and that's my problem with it. It's a huge violation of a person's dignity, totally incomparable with any other kind of "work", and difficult to argue that anybody really chooses it freely.
OK, I live in Florida. I have what used to be called a pen-pal in London, England. We have exchanged a few hundred e-mails over the last couple of years. She works as a self employed prostitute to supplement her earnings as an office manager in an insurance company.
She has a Web site and a blog, though I will not cite these to protect her confidentiality, as her Web site has her cell phone and e-mail posted.
She sees it as just another job, sometimes it is fun, sometimes it is a pain in the ass, but she needs it to help out her finances. Sometimes the sex is good, sometimes it is not. A lot depends on her mood on the day, not to mention the attractiveness of the client.
The biggest problem she had to do with violence occurred a couple of months ago and had absolutely nothing to do with her prostitution job, being more related to her other job.
She had developed a really strong crush on a man who did some consulting for her firm and was walking around in agonies of arousal because of this. She kept running into the man because his office was near her apartment and they would meet in the bank, the grocery etc.
I told her that sooner or later she was just going to have to deal with the possibility of rejection and tell this man how she felt. So she did, and he did reject her, telling her that if circumstances were different, then maybe, but that he was in an 18-year committed relationship and that was not going to change. My friend though, noting a rearrangement of the contours of the front of his pants, felt that he was conflicted and made a further approach on a subsequent occasi, she is a strong advocate of legal prostitution and has written articles to that effect on her blog. She has a group of friends in the profession and they sometimes get together for a girls night out to enjoy themselves and swap anecdotes. She has also been on vacation with friends from this field.
Recently she met two male cousins who she had not seen for many years and did not recognize them. It scared her to think that one of them might have called her for a booking. She said she felt sick at the thought.
So it is not all good and it is not all bad. She has certainly chosen it freely, although obviously the money is an incentive. Her current rates are $300 per hour. I have no idea how many clients she sees, because strangely enough we don't often discuss her job.
Maybe she is in a tiny minority, so small as to be statistically insignificant, but somehow I doubt it.
I think the real bugaboo is drug addiction. She and I were discussing yesterday the trial of Steve Wright, accused of murdering five prostitutes in Ipswich, England which is currently in progress, and the notable thing was that all five of them were drug addicts feeding a habit. Now they certainly had not freely chosen to do what they were doing.