Of course, I have no cite and I’m sure someone will be along shortly to call me an ass, but I remember reading recently, Milo that the union representation for prostitutes in Berlin won a decision to allow the prostitutes to sue their customers if they tried to skip out on payment. I can only imagine that a customer could sue them right back for 'unsatisfactory services"
jarbaby
Or they will tell themselves that they are going to stick with until one day they can be the madam of their very own brothel.
I think that BECAUSE prostitution is illegal it is seen as a last resort to make money, but if it were legal there might actually be people who choose it as a career.
Here’s a recent article by Leah Platt in the American Prospect about international experiences with legal regulation of prostitution, particularly in the Netherlands. She concludes:
What I think is kind of interesting in this thread is the split between the two chief arguments for legalization of sex work: one that focuses on the work, and one that focuses on the sex. Some people seem to be primarily concerned with protecting the safety and economic survival of the workers, as in any other heavily-exploited occupation; others seem to be more enamored of the idea that legalization would make sex much more available and much more fun, with frustrated husbands joyfully deserting their “fattened-up” wives for sleek blonde eager sex kittens. The latter attitude seems to me kind of a romanticized view of prostitution. After all, guys, if nobody enjoys having sex with you enough to do it for free, why do you think they’d enjoy it if they were doing it for money? Sure, we can pretend to enjoy it, but that’s why they call it “sex work”.
I do have to say, though, that I think the poster (can’t remember who) who suggested that johns could be considered “borderline rapists” may be kind of overstating the case. After all, am I a “borderline thief” because I’m willing to persuade a store clerk to give me a package of Canada mints for money when he wouldn’t do it for free?
Of course, the ironic thing is that there are many cases where a man gets less sex after marriage than he did before…
…Hmmm, y’suppose legalized prostitution might work as an incentive for wives to suddenly develop fewer “headaches”? 
Why does every man or woman seeking a prostitute have to be a destitute, slobbering loser that no one wants to have sex with? Perhaps they just want to screw someone and then go out to for Kung Pao afterwards without all the meddlesome cuddling or calling later or talking about the relationship.
I’m a woman with strange proclivities and turn ons and have NEVER been able to find a man (my husband included) who was into them. Why shouldn’t I be able to go to a MaleDom who will treat me like his bitch for an hour, and gladly pay him for the mindblowing orgasm I receive? It doesn’t mean I’m a gross, untouchable woman, just that I had a specific interest that my SO couldn’t serve.
jarbaby
jarbaby–Would you tell your SO that you were going to get what he couldn’t give you? I could see legalized prostitution leading to some broken marriages, but then again you can always go out and cheat on your SO even if prostitution is not legal. If cheating on your SO with someone who is not a prostitute does not bother them, then I doubt visiting a prostitute would either…Hell, maybe you can both go at the same time. 
I think you may be reading too much into what I said, jbj: I certainly didn’t mean that everybody who is willing to pay for sex is an unfuckable loser. I just think that there is a strong tendency to romanticize sex work as something that the sex worker enjoys. What customers seem to be paying for is not so much the mechanical friction that produces an orgasm (as other posters have pointed out, there are much cheaper ways to get that), but rather the fantasy that they themselves are actually desired. Okay by me, but I don’t want that to blur our recognition of sex work as being work, not just a spontaneous wild good time with someone you’re personally attracted to.
well put. what hurts the case for the legalization of prostitution is the overall stigma attached to those who seek it and those who sell it. it’s the oldest profession in the world. the sex trade, whether it takes the form of prostitution, porn, toys, or whatever, is nothing to be ashamed of. it’s an industry that caters to an array of very human, very classic needs. a situation in which legalization brought about a safer and perhaps less stigmatized venue for prostitutes and clients alike would be much more preferrable to the current one, i think.
regarding what impact it would have on the economy, i agree that people do indeed spend a lot to gain the attention of those they want to shack up with. but i do not think legalized prostitution would have a catastrophic impact on consumer industries or society.
I’ll answer that, as I have also done before: they certainly do! Plenty of them. Plenty who choose it freely, are happy to be doing it, and whose only problem with it is the fact that it is illegal.
The anti-legalization crowd dismisses these as a mere handful of the prostitute population, because to consider that there might be more than that starts to screw up most of their arguments against legalizing it.
But lots of folks in this thread are doing an outstanding job of toppling those arguments anyway, I thought I’d just toss this in for good measure.
Stoid
related to and well acquainted with a good number of Happy Hookers.
(who said this? I’m forgetting names today…) yet we must contend with a puritanical stigma against satsifying this natural human need as we would any other - commercially.
Whoa there, let’s not get carried away. There are indeed arguments to be made for legalizing prostitution, but claiming that we should be able to “satisfy all human needs commercially” is probably not a very good one. Many people feel a natural human need to be a parent, for example, but the government doesn’t let you buy or sell a baby.
yeah, but a baby is another life form for whom a parent is responsible. one’s sex life is one’s own business, and whether you’re kinky as hell or want the lights dimmed every time you disrobe, no one gets hurt or satisfied but you. if it’s your own body, your own life, and your own money, why should you be frowned upon if you want to buy or sell something from/to other consenting adults that everyone wants in the first place?
at least in the case of the aforementioned brothels, you are more safely, more efficiently, and more respectfully carrying out a high-in-demand service that would have been provided through more dubious means otherwise.
Stoid if you’d noticed, I had acknowledged that it was likely there were some individuals who had opted for this career. I still see no evidence (nor have you ever provided any) that they are anywhere near the norm. So, no, acknowledgement of this does nothing to detract from my stance.
I have seen (and posted in those threads) lots of evidence of those who’ve gotten into the trade through drug addiction, trickery, abduction, despair etc.
as for the likely numbers relative etc. Again, an economic picture may help.
Consider the average disposable income of people in general. After housing/food/clothes/education/medical etc. there’s a finite amount of disposable income for each person. Is it so difficult to believe that the experience of the $1000 a night hooker is atypical when you consider how relatively few folks would have that kind of disposable income? isn’t it much more likely that the median sex worker earns quite a bit less than that per incident? For example, for every one Mel Gibson (and we do only need one, but he’s mine, I tell you) there are thousands of those who struggle near the bottom.
And for those who are certain that droves of folks are waiting for prositution to be legalized in order to select that as a profession - I ask then why is there still such a problem with trafficing in the areas where it’s legal? (and, it would greatly enhance your argument to provide evidence that lot’s o folk are just waiting for it to be legalized so they can hang out their shingle)
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by kabbes *
Yes, there will still be illegal streetwalkers if brothel prostitution is legalized. We apparently disagree strongly on whether the laws of economics will factor towards a decrease in illegal supply if a legal supply is available. But what’s your point? Because there will still be illegal streetwalkers, we shouldn’t legalize and regulate brothels? How does that follow?
Now I’m starting to see - you fear that legalization of prostitution will impede the elimination of prostitution. Well, sorry, the elimination of prostitution isn’t going to happen.
You won’t get that recognition from me, but again, so what? Ignoring the RLM issue, if prostitution exists, and legalization in any form protects some of those prostitutes, why should the fact that it does not protect some or even most prostitutes be a bar to legalization?
C’mon, both you and wring have posited your opposition to legalization on the premise that there will still be horrors in the sex trade. That is not an argument against legalization. That is an argument for elimination of prostitution.
I’m looking for recognition from you that prostitution isn’t going to go away. If you acknowledge that, then your arguments don’t make much sense. It’s a choice between protecting those we can, and protecting no one.
Sua
if it’s recognition you’re looking for, you’ve got it from me. i agree with your point, though i must add, i do feel it would be something special to finally have the sex trade legally acknowledged for the enduring hallmark industry that it is. legalization, as has been pointed out numerous times, would only make this die-hard industry safer for soliciters and clients alike.
Sua, thank you. Thank you so much. You are this week’s hero.
stoid
I’m not sure where I fall on this issue, but it also strikes me that legalization would end a lot of the unfortunate horror stories currently associated with prostitution.
Women abused and controlled by their pimps - The role of the pimp would be virtually eliminated, making this scenario as likely as a beautician working for an abusive salon owner. Why would a prostitute remain reluctant to come forward and report such abuse, or move out from under such control?
Addicts selling their bodies for drug money - Their market would dry up. With all the competition from nationwide legal prostitution, why would I go to some strung-out-looking crack addict, or an IV drug-user? I also imagine that prices would be driven down considerably, which would mitigate if the addicts were offering more affordable sex.
I agree that there is a self-respect, control-of-one’s-own-body issue that would make it unfortunate if someone felt compelled to enter this profession that didn’t otherwise want to.
It’s a little different than when I felt compelled to work in a factory summers to earn money for college, but didn’t want to.
Snicker…heheheheheee…that cracked me up. Think about what a wonderful sig that would make…
There are hundreds of people in Washington DC selling themselves to the highest bidder everyday (we call them politicians), yet when someone chooses to do this outside that profession we say it’s not legal. Poppycock!
Oh yeah, many of those ‘professional’ athletes are nothing but whores either, but we glorify them.
Prostitution - Legalize, tax, regulate.
Same for drugs.
Then feel free to think what you will of those who engage in the activity, but stay the hell out of their way.
If you car anything at all about those who go into prostitution (including those who go into it not-so-happily but more out of pure need), if they do this when it’s a legal profession chances are they will be safer and healthier, if not any happier.
So why do we have adoption agencies?