Letters to the Editor
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for the love of pete
For Pete's sake, this whole issue has veered way off on a tangent. Elliott Spitzer had to resign because He Broke the Law - he moved money around in a way that may have been laundering, and that is what the feds are focusing on. Sure, there is a sex scandal involved, but if it were only that, I don't think he would have to resign (see Gavin Newsom). To my mind, his crimes don't rank too high on the naughtiness scale, but high enough that he was right to step down from his role as a public official.
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cont'd
The market dynamic I refer to involves the unwillingness or inability of legal prostitution outfits to pay the full cost of their regulation. This puts the burden on taxpayers, who probably don't want to fund it.
At high taxation rates, there will be greater incentive for employers to take their operations underground. At low taxation rates, regulation will not accomplish its public health and safety goals in any meaningful way. That's because the incentive to dodge regulations doesn't relate solely to the rate of taxation. It also relates to competition and opportunity. Anyone who has the opportunity to make $5 instead of $4, with minimal risk (low-taxation and fees creates insufficientfunding for oversight) will take it.
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That's productive
@DIMBULB65
Ol' Foggie said it much better than I.
Did you have a VALID response? Didn't think so.
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Re: ric
You claim that I'm unaware of the consequences of sexual abuse, based on my argument that "Kristen" should get a degree and a grown-up job. Despite my flippant tone, I'm quite aware of the complexities surrounding sexual abuse, especially child sexual abuse.
In part, my ethical argument against prostitution is that it traps victims of abuse in self-destructive (or at least self-limiting) lifestyles because they are predisposed to choose these lifestyles. I find fault with the naivete of a lot of libertarian thought regarding the freedom of our choices.
One of the key needs of victims of abuse is a healthy environment, especially one that instills a sense of self-worth not attached to sexual attractiveness. Unfortunately, our culture is particularly exploitative when it comes to sex. Legalized prostitution is another step down this road.
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Don't point your fingers...
Not all feminists hate and blame prostitutes. Prostitution is a choice, just like exotic dancing and drug dealing. I disagree with it because it's an easy way out, not because it victimizes women. I'm poor and I choose to work hard for the money I earn...your income does not limit your workability. It's no excuse to be lazy. So don't catagorize feminists as people who down prostitution for feminists reasons...I'm feminist...and I disapprove because it's morally wrong and an easy alternative to REAL WORK!!!
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Chlamydia anyone?
Don't either sides of the "transaction" have any worries about contracting something? I'm sure the women are tested, as they are in legal brothels, but even then, they are not tested after every sexual encounter, just once a week, or once a month for HIV. Condoms are not foolproof either, and I've heard of them charging more for unprotected sex.
In theory, wouldn't legalized prostitution lead to higher STD rates? It would be interesting to see what Amsterdam's rates are.
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It Takes Two To Tango
re: "the ways that women are driven into sex work because of economic hardship"
Unless a woman is kdnapped and literally forced into prostitution with a gun to her head, it's a choice. No one who is in their right mind and has even the most modest economic opportunities can be otherwise "forced" into prostitution -- or anything else.
Women will take one giant leap forward in their quest for equality when they stop playing the victim role and start taking full responsibility for their own actions.
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"No ladies and gentlemen. It is the Protestant whore"
I am a straight man, but in college I found reading queer theory a good way to cope with the sexual guilt I got from an unfortunate mixture of religion, rejection, and second hand second wave feminism. I especially liked stuff by John Preston, who spent a period of time in the 60s both turning tricks and occasionally hiring them. Obviously , when the two parties to the trick share gender and psychology it's less likely to devolve into he said/she said--and I'm sure it helped that while Preston was as insecure as most teenagers when they become sexually active, he came from a family which, while not supportive of his sexual behavior, included two parents who had supported him in other ways (unlike "Kristin's").
I've read a lot of blog posts in the last few days pointing out that there is blowback from all the legal approaches to prostitution: prohibition, legalization, even the Swedish model (prosecute the Johns). Most of these analyses are written by people with no firsthand insight into the motivations of either the pro or the john (or the procurers, who may be the most important part of the equation). Having been on both sides of the law, it strikes me that some one as intelligent as Spitzer might be perfectly positioned to give some perspective on how to craft a better set of rules of engagement, which might be less corrosive to those doing the work. (Though I suspect he had the same amount of empathy for the professional's feelings when he spent his money as he did for his opponents when he was being a professional in the courtroom earning it) But the established path of least resistance is the partial truth that what he feels for the mother of his children is love, and the impulses which drove him to these redezvous are something completely irreconcilable to be disowned in public discourse--participating a very similar social schizophrenia to Ted Haggard. People who do these things are "those" type of people and I have no obligation to even attempt to reconcile it into something coherent.
Most of the women who end up as pros have been hurt, but the johns aren't always the ones who hurt them the most--just the easiest to collectively demonize. I don't think looking for a flesh and blood villain, or a collective villain like some posters blaming "feminists," or "women" or "patriarchy" makes the world a better place. Taking the steps to be honest about the complex dynamics between men and women that lead to this problem--and not just lobbing the same three or four age-old arguments across the trenches of gender--is important, and I thank you, Ms Lloyd.
Yeah I've been to a prostitute. Weirdly enough she seemed to be more empathetic than "nice" girls to busy evaluating if I was good enough for them to notice me. Other women had made it clear that they preferred the set of emotional dangers that come with an overly secure alpha male to the bigger set of emotional dangers posed by an overly insecure and inexperienced partner--and I now have enough perspective to understand why. Everybody faces a finite array of choices, even Eliot Spitzer--but I do think he's in a unique position to ensure that in the future there are more choices for other people--possibly even "Kristen" and girls whose finite array of choices include the one she took.