Prostitution!

[The13thMan]

[COLOR=DarkOrange][FONT=Century Gothic]Ok, so i noticed there wasn't a single interesting thread in the OBLounge. So i figured it was time i make one, or at least attempt... I'll probably fail! =D

So, what do you guys think about prostitution? Like it, dislike it? Should it be legalized? (Somebody please say you want to legalize it at least for the sake of discussion, i know most are probably against it.)

So yeah, i'll leave it at that! I'll add my opinion once some others have posted theirs.

I'm outtie. (When was the last time you heard that one, eh?)


[/FONT][/COLOR]

[DeadSeraphim]

[size=1][color=indigo][font=arial]It's certainly paying me better than normal work ever did, I can tell you.[/font][/color][/size]

[Kenshin DX]

[quote name='DeadSeraphim][size=1][color=indigo][font=arial]It's certainly paying me better than normal work ever did, I can tell you.[/font][/color'][/size][/quote]

How do you always get away with one sentence answers lol?

And lets put it this way without prostitution Id still be a virgin so i'm not really against it :animeswea .

[desertphoenix]

[QUOTE=Kenshin DX]How do you always get away with one sentence answers lol?
[/QUOTE]

i guess he gets away with it with being blunt and having good grammar, idk.lol

I wonder will this thread bring a debate about whether it should be legal or whether will people post their experiences with prostitution. Idk, i think it would be kind of interesting and creepy to hear people's personal experiences. This thread could have potential...or just be flat out creepy, who knows.

[Nerdsy]

[color=deeppink]Dead's working the streets? My prayers have been answered! I'd better save up.

I'm for it. Keep it nice and regulated, of course, but yeah. By all means.[/color]

[r2vq]

[color=#007520]I don't see the point of criminalizing (or not uncriminalizing, rather) prostitution. So contrary to what The13thMan would have you believe, there is at least one person on this board who wishes to legalize prostitution.

Sex trade can be considered indecent and immoral, but so can eating pigs. It's all a matter of perspective, and I thought Democracy was supposed to be about being tolerant of others with different opinions in order to prevent one class or belief or person from gaining too much power. Yes, democracy fails in this aspect, prostitution being a perfect example of this, but that was the original intent, no?

Prostitution is selling ones services in the same way being a maid or garbage man would be. The only difference is that prostitution involves sexual stimulation, something that's taboo amongst many of the religious in the States. Although it is true that diseases and sicknesses can be caught from prostitution practised without safety in mind, the same can be said for the food industry. The alternative? [b]A legalized, systemized, and monitored industry that can be regulated in the same way that food is.[/b]

Prostitution can be dangerous, but if it is done professionally and were legalized, it would be no more dangerous than any other job out there.

Keep in mind that I'm not saying I am personally for or against prostitution itself. I am for the [b]legalization[/b] of prostitution. :) There be a difference matey. But if people want to have sex, they should be free to. And if people want to give people money, they should be free to. And if people want to have sex and give each other money, they should be free to. Call me a libertarian if you will.

-r2[/color]

[DeadSeraphim]

[quote name='Nerdsy][color=deeppink']Dead's working the streets? My prayers have been answered! I'd better save up.[/color][/quote]
[size=1][color=indigo][font=arial]No need, Nerdsy. For you, it's on the house. ;)[/font][/color][/size]

[2010DigitalBoy]

[COLOR=DarkOrange]\/\/007!!!! Oh wait, this is a topic. Damn. I ws hoping it'd be more of an 'outlet'...

As for my opinions on prostitution... I like it? The very concept appeas to me. I could whole myself out to fat chicks! Surely I'd make at least some money. Maybe enough to buy the next volume of Haibane Renmei.[/COLOR]

[Raiyuu]

[quote name='r2vq']Sex trade can be considered indecent and immoral, but so can eating pigs ... Prostitution is selling ones services in the same way being a maid or garbage man would be. The only difference is that prostitution involves sexual stimulation, something that's taboo amongst many of the religious in the States.[/quote]Maids and bin men aren't forced to wash dishes or take out the rubbish because they can't pay their debts. As far as I know there's no black market trade in maids or bin men, where penniless refugee women are shipped in airtight containers and sold to maid services or waste disposal businesses. Maids and bin men aren't forcibly addicted to class A drugs by their bosses as a way of keeping them tethered. The clientele of maids and bin men aren't likely to smack them around or force them to perform unpleasant dishwashing or bin-emptying favours.

Just a couple more differences to add to your 'only' one. And I suppose it's fair to assume that a lot of those unpleasant side-effects of prostitution could be ironed out with close monitoring. But then, if it were a legal trade, with government watchdogs, health and safety posters, etc., it would probably fold for lack of 'raw materials'. Prostitutes are often forced into that line of 'work' through debt, or because they're forced to by pimps. Make it a recognised trade sector and how many women do you think are going to actively [i]volunteer[/i] to sell themselves?

I think there are actually a couple of major cities in England now that have a recognised Red Light District, where the police intentionally turn a blind eye to the sex trade.

[Ol' Fighter]

I'm with r2vq...

People should have the right to do whatever they want and if that whatever they want happens to be sell themselves well so be it. There not really hurting anyone except theirselves anyway and STD-wise their partner.

[Boo]

[size=1][color=#EDEDED][Dutch][/color]
Dude, what are you talking about? It [i]is[/i] legal.
[color=#EDEDED][/Dutch][/color][/size]

[DeadSeraphim]

[size=1][color=indigo][font=arial]AMSTERDAM DOESN'T COUNT, BOO.

[i]Everything[/i] is legal in the Netherlands. Yes, even that.[/font][/color][/size]

[James]

[font=arial]As far as I know it's legal in many places. It's certainly legal here, although it's semi-regulated I think. So the idea of it being illegal is alien to me, lol.

I don't agree or disagree with it, personally. If people want to do it/use the service...it really has nothing to do with me. lol[/font]

[Nerdsy]

[quote name='Raiyuu']Maids and bin men aren't forced to wash dishes or take out the rubbish because they can't pay their debts.[/quote]

[color=deeppink]Um, of course they are. Perhaps not all of them, but you can't just write off a whole profession as free of something like that. Money mismanagement (and being forced to take menial jobs) isn't that uncommon, I believe.[/color]

[quote]As far as I know there's no black market trade in maids or bin men, where penniless refugee women are shipped in airtight containers and sold to maid services or waste disposal businesses. Maids and bin men aren't forcibly addicted to class A drugs by their bosses as a way of keeping them tethered. The clientele of maids and bin men aren't likely to smack them around or force them to perform unpleasant dishwashing or bin-emptying favours.[/quote]

[color=deeppink]I wonder how much of that is true only because maids and bin men aren't illegal.[/color]

[quote]Just a couple more differences to add to your 'only' one. And I suppose it's fair to assume that a lot of those unpleasant side-effects of prostitution could be ironed out with close monitoring. But then, if it were a legal trade, with government watchdogs, health and safety posters, etc., it would probably fold for lack of 'raw materials'. Prostitutes are often forced into that line of 'work' through debt, or because they're forced to by pimps. Make it a recognised trade sector and how many women do you think are going to actively [i]volunteer[/i] to sell themselves?[/quote]

[color=deeppink]Doesn't seem to have folded in Nevada. I think you're underestimating what people are willing to do for money.[/color]

[Panda]

People have been using the "oldest profession" for ages. I think it should be legal as it is in Nevada (except Clark county that is)- Highly regulated, monitored and taxed. People are going to seek this service out anyway, legal or not. I think it should be taxed the heck out of and then that money can be used to help the community.

[Swordsaint]

[SIZE=1]I'm going to have to say I'm for it being legalized/tolerated ect. For a lot of the same reasons as r2vq, along with a few more added thoughts.
I live in Montana and, at least to my knowledge, it isn't tolerated at all up here. But it still happens every day. So obviously it's a service in demand, but it is not normally provided for through legal avenues even in the larger cities.

When there is a service desired, but not provided, the opportunistic will move in and try to create the service for the customers and in this case of it being illegal, the type of people that will create the service are not likely to be the kinds of people who will be concerened for the wellfare of their employees and would likely treat said employees in ways that are in and of themselves illeagal.
This is why many prostitutes end up addicted to drugs or dead here in america and why slave trade flourishes with this business.

Having it universally legalized acrossed the nation (again to my knowledge it's legal in some places but not everywhere here in the states) and have it become a legal job can have a significant positive impact on all the crimes associated with prostitution: Since it would become a legal job, basic workers rights would have to be enforced/protected. Given the nature of the work and the risk of STD's it would not be entirely unthinkable for healthcare/constant check-ups to be provided for the workers and they would be recieving a fair wage for their work and wouldn't have to worry about some pimp getting them hooked into drugs or beating them at random just to prove a point.

That said, I don't necessarily think prostitution is right from a christian perspective, however I think it's better that people have the option of wether or not they be in this line of work instead of being forced and that they are accorded every opportunity to be able to live safely like anyone else. It is a persons right to be able to chose and who am I to say they're condemn them?[/SIZE]

[Rachmaninoff]

[quote name='The13thMan][COLOR=DarkOrange][FONT=Century Gothic]So, what do you guys think about prostitution? Like it, dislike it? Should it be legalized? (Somebody please say you want to legalize it at least for the sake of discussion, i know most are probably against it.) [/FONT'][/COLOR][/quote][B]What do I think about it? [/B]To be honest I think the whole profession is disgusting and sick and degrading.

[B]Should it be legalized? [/B]Make no mistake here, I may not agree with it, but we are talking about consenting adults here and when it gets into that aspect then there is no reason why it shouldn't be legal. If only to make things safer for those women and men who do it illegally anyway and in the end, who you have sex with is your business regardless if money is involved or not.

[Retribution]

[size=1]I'm against the legalization of prostitution.

Raiyuu summed up the biggest objection I had, which is that it can usually be tantamount to sex-slavery or trafficking. But aside from that, prostitutes often drag an area down in terms of land value, and with them drugs and petty crime are almost sure to follow.[/size]

[Doublehex]

[QUOTE=Retribution][size=1]I'm against the legalization of prostitution.

Raiyuu summed up the biggest objection I had, which is that it can usually be tantamount to sex-slavery or trafficking. But aside from that, prostitutes often drag an area down in terms of land value, and with them drugs and petty crime are almost sure to follow.[/size][/QUOTE]

Yes, but there is the fact that they will still do it, whether it is legal or not. So the property value will still go down regardless.

So, I guess I'm for it. What you do with your body and money is your business.

[Aaryanna_Mom]

[QUOTE=Retribution][size=1]I'm against the legalization of prostitution.

Raiyuu summed up the biggest objection I had, which is that it can usually be tantamount to sex-slavery or trafficking. But aside from that, prostitutes often drag an area down in terms of land value, and with them drugs and petty crime are almost sure to follow.[/size][/QUOTE]I do not agree with it either. Though I'm more worried about the sex-slavery, drugs and petty crime than anything else. And then there are moral and religious issues, though I'm not going to go into those as everyone has different ideas as to what is considered moral.

I do understand that there are men and women who do willingly prostitute themselves, but I have to wonder how many of them would if they had better jobs out there that were available instead. I would imagine plenty of them would do something else, or least I would hope so.

[Doublehex]

[QUOTE=Aaryanna_Mom]I do not agree with it either. Though I'm more worried about the sex-slavery, drugs and petty crime than anything else. And then there are moral and religious issues, though I'm not going to go into those as everyone has different ideas as to what is considered moral.

I do understand that there are men and women who do willingly prostitute themselves, but I have to wonder how many of them would if they had better jobs out there that were available instead. I would imagine plenty of them would do something else, or least I would [b]hope[/b] so.[/QUOTE]

That's the keyword there. Hope. We can't hope for man to do better than they should, unfortunately. There are those who would actually love to do this for a living - there's reason we have the term sexaholics, after all. There are people who just love to get screwed over by people they don't even know.

People will continue to have prostitution. Its been here for thousands of years, dating back to the Bible. Now law is going to remove it completely, no matter how much we would like to hope.

[SunfallE]

[COLOR=RoyalBlue][quote name='Matt']People will continue to have prostitution. Its been here for thousands of years, dating back to the Bible. Now law is going to remove it completely, no matter how much we would like to hope.[/quote]People will continue to steal, rape, murder, do drugs... It's been here for thousands of years, dating back to the Bible....etc.

That's not really a compelling reason to legalize prostitution. Not that I'm against it mind you since on some level I think the only objection people have to it is some notion that others should live by the same moral values as they do. Only that the argument that because it's always happened, doesn't necessarily mean it's a good thing. Or that we shouldn't do our best to get rid of a problem. ^_~

Personally I have no interest in it or any real objection to legalizing it. Since the reason to make it legal makes sense, it would have to be carefully monitored though. Like how in some European cities, where prostitution is allowed in certain designated areas. or even done like some places do where it's only available in a certain part of the city. Thus making it easier to regulate and keep the illegal drugs, sex-slavery and crime out of the picture.

And because in the end...Selling is legal, and sex is legal, so why isn't selling sex legal? Especially when it's between two consenting adults?[/COLOR]

[r2vq]

[color=#007520][quote name='Raiyuu']Just a couple more differences to add to your 'only' one. And I suppose it's fair to assume that a lot of those unpleasant side-effects of prostitution could be ironed out with close monitoring.[/quote]That's my point. :) If the sex trade were regulated, you wouldn't have to worry about those problems that are currently haunting the industry.

Okay, so legalizing it isn't enough. It needs to be regulated. It needs to be watched over as closely (hopefully more closely) than our water systems or spinnach farmers. :P

[quote name='Raiyuu]But then, if it were a legal trade, with government watchdogs, health and safety posters, etc., it would probably fold for lack of 'raw materials'. Prostitutes are often forced into that line of 'work' through debt, or because they're forced to by pimps. Make it a recognised trade sector and how many women do you think are going to actively [i]volunteer[/i'] to sell themselves?[/quote]There are legal brothels in Nevada. The women there have safety regulations they have to follow, are regularly checked up for STDs by doctors, and are not 'owned' by pimps or the like. They clock in and out like a regular job... because it [i]is[/i] a regular job, their regular job.

You also have to keep in mind strippers/exotic dancers and porn stars. As far as I know, these are both legalized jobs with regulations. Actors and actresses in the porn industry have their health checked by a doctor very regularly unless they wish to leave the industry.

Not [i]everyone[/i]'s first choice is the sex industry, but that doesn't mean [i]nobody[/i] has that as their first choice. Even if it's immoral in some religious and social views (as is pornography, alcohal, and Harry Potter) they should still have the right to do as they will, and keeping it monitored and regulated will make it safer for those who do consent.

-r2[/color]

[Horendithas]

[COLOR=DarkRed][quote name='The13thMan][COLOR=DarkOrange][FONT=Century Gothic]So, what do you guys think about prostitution? Like it, dislike it? Should it be legalized? (Somebody please say you want to legalize it at least for the sake of discussion, i know most are probably against it.) [/FONT'][/COLOR][/quote]Interesting that you would say what do you [B]guys[/B] think about it...Though I'm sure that's not what you meant.

As for the topic, I've never even considered it. To sell myself in that manner or to seek services from one who would. I don't know that it should be legalized, but it certainly wouldn't hurt as some people might think.

It's already legal in Nevada and I understand that for the most part things do run fairly smoothly. Usually such brothels are outside the city in the first place and thus avoid the notion that property value would decrease. If anything it's the illegal prostitution going on in neighborhoods that cause that type of problem. As well as the crime, drugs and sex-slavery and such that occurs.

In the end I really have no objection so long as there's a high amount of supervision and that residential area's remain off limits for setting up a brothel. But if they want to build a place outside of town and regulate it to reduce crime, STD's, illegal drug abuse and the other negative aspects, then by all means go for it.

Since as others have already pointed out, between two consenting adults, if it's legal for them to have sex anyway, why should it be illegal for money to be involved?[/COLOR]

[Pumpkin]

[QUOTE=r2vq][color=#007520]That's my point. :) If the sex trade were regulated, you wouldn't have to worry about those problems that are currently haunting the industry.

Okay, so legalizing it isn't enough. It needs to be regulated. It needs to be watched over as closely (hopefully more closely) than our water systems or spinnach farmers. :P

There are legal brothels in Nevada. The women there have safety regulations they have to follow, are regularly checked up for STDs by doctors, and are not 'owned' by pimps or the like. They clock in and out like a regular job... because it [i]is[/i] a regular job, their regular job.

You also have to keep in mind strippers/exotic dancers and porn stars. As far as I know, these are both legalized jobs with regulations. Actors and actresses in the porn industry have their health checked by a doctor very regularly unless they wish to leave the industry.-r2[/color][/QUOTE][size=1]R2vq, just read my thoughts on this one. Okay, so porn star isn't technically a prostitute yet your being payed to have sex on camera? Hmmm...whats the difference behind closed doors? There ARE sex brothels in Nevada, as long as their safe (and believe me I've seen the shows they do NOT get payed very high because you have to pay for your "Supplies" which is like half your pay) it's a crappy way to live but its out there.

I think selling yourself on the street however, should be illegal. If we legalized that, there would be half naked chicks running everywhere in clear stilleto heels, (stop drooling now men) and honestly I think thats a little TOO much for me. I understand other countries have it, and obviously this has been around for a century or so. So it's definately not going anywhere. Basically what was said before, about pimps and the slave trade going on is NOT cool, however I find brothel places to be fine. You just won't see me anywhere near them. I don't understand why there would be such a heated argument about it. [/size]