What I meant by that:
Prostitution should be legalized.
Prostitution in itself is not something I would want my children or my wife to choose as a profession, because they would face a lot of hostility/disapproval, unless there were major changes in the way society views sexual relations.
Quand les talons claquent, l’esprit se vide.
Maréchal Lyautey
Society thinks that the naked body is, in and of itself, illegal and shameful, it seems to me. That’s got to be the damndest thing I’ve ever heard. I mean, everyone has one, don’t they? The entire human race should be penalized for posession of illegal goods.
We’re probably the only species that is embarrassed by its own appearance.
>< DARWIN >
__L___L
I think that manatees are pretty down on their own looks, and who can blame them?
Bucky
Wow, and here I thought that I had single-handedly killed the thread. Thanks, guys. 
Cecil’s new column is about this very subject, so it seemed natural to return it to the top of the list.
>< DARWIN >
__L___L
I agree with most everyone else here that laws against prostitution should be stricken off the books.
My reason for this is not for tax collecting, etc., but simply that what two consenting adults agree upon is their business.
It would be a hugh mistake, however, to involve OSHA in the matter. Neither do I think that the state should require licensing, as if to grant permission to do something that is legal in the first place.
A private business such as a “Consumer Report” can provide the * rating for such businesses.
You can stand tall without standing on someone. You can be a victor without having victims. -Harriet Woods-
Arnold’s arguments against prostitution don’t hold with me. Yeah, it might be an embarrassing job for some people, but others actually enjoy it. I worked at McDonald’s for three months, and that was degrading and embarrassing and cut into my self esteem…should it be illegal? I don’t see any legitimate reason why it should be illegal, and to me it really looks like church messing around with state some more.
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Teeming Millions: http://fathom.org/teemingmillions
“Meat flaps, yellow!” - DrainBead, naked co-ed Twister chat
O p a l C a t
www.opalcat.com
Does anybody know if prostitution was legal in England in Victorian times? If it was legal when did it become illegal?
Oh, I’m gonna keep using these #%@&* codes 'til I get 'em right.
I didn’t say it should be illegal. But I am convinced that the vast majority of people in this country would be embarassed to say “My wife is a prostitute” or “My husband is a prostitute” or “My mother/father is a prostitute.” My informal opinion poll amongst co-workers/friends seemed to indicate this.
Also look at psycat’s reaction above when she thought I was saying she was a prostitute.
Well in a thread about legalizing prostitution, you said those were your “arguments against prostitution” so I think it could easily be inferred that you think it should be illegal.
That said, whether most people find it embarrassing or not has no relevance to this thread or to whether or not it should be legal.
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Teeming Millions: http://fathom.org/teemingmillions
“Meat flaps, yellow!” - DrainBead, naked co-ed Twister chat
O p a l C a t
www.opalcat.com
OK, let me give you another example.
I think alcohol should be legal. But I have “arguments” against alcohol: people can become addicted, drunk drivers can kill people, etc…
In the same way, I have reasons not to like prostitution, but that doesn’t mean it should be illegal.
psycat ISN’T a prostitute? Then why did I have to pay her a grand just to hear her breathe heavy on the phone? (Wait a minute, that wasn’t psycat, it was a labrador retriever breathing heavy. Kind of sexy, too–I mean, GROSS ICKY!)
One arg for “sex surrogates” is if people have kins they can’t/won’t indulge elsewhere. For example, I can’t think of what’s exiting about wearing a diaper, but if I were into it, I would be very hesitant about telling a girlfriend, squeeze, spouse about it. Imight have to hire someone to be my “mommy” or “daddy.” I would hope that mom/dad would enjoy it, too; maybe it’s their kin and they’ve found a way to make a living at it.
Bucky
Oh, well. We can always make more killbots.
Arnold, as I stated earlier in the thread, I was not offened that you thought I was a prostitute because I think it degrading*, I wanted it to be clear that I was not, simply to express that I was not biased towards legalization. *As I said, the way the business is run NOW leads to the stigma of a lower social status.
I agree with Opal’s point, I would find scrubbing the toilets in McDonald’s much more degrading than having men want to have sex with me so badly they would pay for it.
And I agree that it has no relevance. The issue at hand is the legality. How can a service rendered for money be called a crime? (And please don’t bring up hitmen or anything related to violent crime. Obviously nobody likes murder or suffering, but I don’t know many people that don’t like sex.)
If your head is wax, don’t walk in the sun.
-Benjamin Franklin
I apologize psycat90 if I seemed to be picking on you. I’ll stop now.
I will repeat that I think prostitution should be legal. My point of view is perhaps biased against prostitution because I have worked with several human rights groups that deal with forced prostitution (as I might have mentioned in previous posts.)
I personally would prefer to work scrubbing toilets at McDonald’s than being a prostitute, but that’s just me.
Arnold, my toilet needs a good scrubbing. Need a few bucks?
It seems like a simple enough concept that one might be shocked to find that another believes them to be a prostitute based soley on that person’s gender/looks. This does not necceserily imply that the person thinks prostitution is bad.
Let’s face it, being a prostitute today is a big stigma. This is mostly because this country, as a whole, needs to lighten the f*&@ up about sex in general. This doesn’t mean we should shy away from it though. In the “Do Looks Matter” thread, we discussed how it takes someone, acting outside of social mores, to change the status quo. Change is goooood 
I also disagree with the staement that men who frequent prostitutes as “immoral and contemptible”. I have never “partaken of the fruit on the corner of Lincoln and 5th”, but I might have, if it were legal. I don’t ever recall thinking that a prostitute’s values or morals were ever any more or less valid than mine(unless he/she was trying to work my corner. Then I would have to pull out a can of whoop-ass on 'em).
Ultimately, I agree with legalization. It would increase the safety factor for all parties involved, take the money out of the pimp’s hands and put it into the workers(sorry, that’s the prole in me), plus, think of all those new taxes that we’d have for the schools! (yeah right, just like the lotterey huh?)
“It is now proved beyond doubt that smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics.”