Letters to the Editor
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@DC Law1 and @Glenn
DC Law 1: "I have always found it very curious that one of the following, but not the other, is illegal: (a) Two people have sex, one of them gets paid for it; (b) Two (or more) people have sex, all of them get paid for it, and it is videotaped and sold to third parties as a commodity."
A few differences:
-- The 2 people having sex for money are on camera, with several other people in the room. Anything that transpires is documented. Anything that goes wrong can be immediately stopped.
-- The 1 person having sex for money is in private where nobody else knows what's happening. If the guy suddenly gets "rough" with her, she can't stop it. She can't report him to the police either because she'll get caught for prostitution, and it will be his word against hers.
That is one difference. I am sure people can think of others.
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Tina
men who are very successful with women may also solicit prostitutes, esp. if they have sociopathic tendencies. The two are not mutually exclusive.
I didn't mean to imply otherwise..
What I did mean was that just because a man is a sociopath doesn't mean that "normal" women will have nothing to do with him.
Many, many women find such men fascinating and alluring.
Ted Bundy was considered by almost everyone he knew to be a charming guy and had no problem convincing women to go with him.
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Thanks, WT!
A compliment from you is high praise, indeed.
At bottom, I always think a utilitarian argument involving people will ultimately fail... precisely for that same reason.
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On a lighter note, with a splash of schadenfreude (for me, anyway)...
Joe Scarborough admits that "media people are living in fear." All I can say is that it's about time. They've been mongering it long enough, without having to experience very much of it, due to their privileged status.
Of course, he also (almost) confirms a notion I commented on earlier about the advantages of a combined ticket, whether Clinton/Obama or Obama/Clinton.
You've gotta be very careful now. If you attack Hillary Clinton too much we're going to be called sexist. And if you attack Barack Obama too much, we're going to be called racist.
Just imagine Scarborough struggling to try and comment on the "Dream" ticket without being humiliated in the court of public opinion, which apparently carries at least as much weight with the media as the DOJ. Who knew?
Such a ticket would be more than a uniter for Democrats; it would make the RWNM absolutely miserable... walking around on all those eggshells.
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Aych...
I know that. I would suggest that the true socipath's lack of empathy might lead him to be more likely to go to prostitutes even if he is successful in getting voluntary partners. Also, he may exhibit one set of sexual behaviors with his consenting partners, whilst saving the real power trip shenanigans for the prostitutes because they are "just whores". He may feel he can treat them however he likes, or that they should service his disgusting kinks which he would not approach other women with. It's just a thought.
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WT
It's impossible for those arguing for regulating prostitution not to seem heartless and unfeeling to the other side as they (implicitly) make the case for a (potentially) exploited group's being expendable. Arguing principle over people will often yield that result. -- Anonymust
Compared to the rest of the statements in the thread, this seems so unassuming, and yet -- to me, anyway -- it's the only one which could rightly be called wise.
One group wishes to deny prostitutes the protection afforded to those who engage in a legal activity.
The other group wishes prostitutes to be afforded legal protections.
And you say the group wishing to deny legal protections is the more caring one?
I'll have what the gentleman on the floor is having -WC Fields?
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Aych, how would you deal...
with my arguments suggesting legalization does not help?
Because experience has proven it doesn't.
Europeans are trying a new approach as we speak.
Why are we so far behind, as usual?
Persecuting the women is not the answer, but legalization of the act of buying a woman's body is not the answer either.
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@tina schrier
tina schrier: "There is something inherently exploitative and underhanded about prostitution that legalization just cannot fix."
People should read your message (page 44). Greenwald and others want to paint this as a free-market issue, one of "consenting adults," and what people do "in the privacy of their own home." They want to paint people against it as being prudes, or ninnies, or people who want to impose their moralit on others, or who want to "throw women in prison." Greenwald is trying to say that most prostitution is a very safe, healthy, simple matter.
The truth is born of the argument, of course. It is entirely feasible that some prostitution occurs in a manner that ends with both parties happy in the transaction. The man gets to have kinky sex that he can't currently convince a girlfriend or wife to engage in, and the woman (or man!) gets to make some money that would take a week's worth of waiting tables to earn.
But what percentage of prostitution plays out that way? The majority of men who hire prostitutes aren't just slick, wealthy but socially awkward guys, like Tom Cruise in "Risky Business." They often have psychological issues, are spending money unwisely, are unhealthy in other ways, have hygiene issues, etc. What kind of women are prostitutes? Gals with hearts of gold who need to save up money to pay for their uncle's kidney transplant? Or undereducated, psychologically troubled women who can't get or hold a regular job, or who are pressured into this lifestyle due to a lack of other opportunities? How many of these 20-something prostitutes are going to end up going to college and getting decent jobs? How many are destined for a life of prostitution while selling crystal meth on the side? How many of them have HPV, herpes and other diseases? How many will spread it to men who then spread it to their wives?
These are fair questions. I don't think anything should be painted one way to the exclusion of other possibilities. I am sure the high-end prostitutes are more "clean" and healthy than other ones. It's still part of the same continuum though.