Maybe he means it should be legalized so that it can be taxed and regulated.

If that is what he means then I think I agree.

Only because it can never be eleminated by making it illegal.

It is still abusive and exploitive and all the vile things mentioned above, but like the drug trade, making it illegal only puts it all in the hands of criminals.

Tom W

Never quite grasped this Nation's schizophrenic attitude toward sex.

For decades or longer the media and has been bombarding us with erotic imagery,yet if someone,be they a public or private person wants a piece on the side they are roundly condemned,I just don't get it.

When I grew up prostitution was accepted with a knowing shrug as a necessary fact of life,in the same context as alcohol and drugs so why not legalise and regulate it,think of the revenue.Makes no difference if it's full service GFE or just a handjob a guy pays for,at least there will be mandatory medical testing of the "talent".....

Of course there will be abuses and mismanagement,one has only to view other Government agencies and the scandals surrounding them,but the problem,if it is such,will never go away.

I believe our national attitude appears schizophrenic but is actually transitional.

Up until the release of hormonal birth control, the sex act was practically inseparable from the act of procreation. I believe this is in part the reason homosexuality was so abhorrent at the time -- it appeared confused since no life could issue.

With safe and reliable birth control sexual intercourse is separated in the minds of younger people into recreationally motivated and reproductively motivated. My parents' generation looks on all of the sexual stuff outside of marriage as wicked. My generation looks at it as a failure of marriage. I have a feeling the youngsters just now coming of age will look at sexual relations even more casually.

The taboo is failing miserably but our culture has guidelines -- new taboos -- to guide it. So we open our midns to all manner of possibilities. Even NAMBLA was considered aberrational just a few years ago. However, it looks like there is an re-emerging taboo concerning sex with children, don't you think? In contrast, homosexuality, once considered a criminal act in every state, is now decriminalized in most and will probably gain most of the legal benefits of marriage in the not-to-distant future.

Little pill.

Enormous consequences that will probably impact human evolution, for the engine of evolution is reproduction. Having safe, dependable, absolute conscious control over reproduction is a totally new phenomenon in nature.

B

True.

tom W

Not probably, it is, IMO. Permit me a generalization here. You have the most successful people in our society not reproducing, or if they do, it is in small numbers. The doctors, lawyers, politicians, entrepreneurs - people with financial and political clout and success. They are having fewer children, if any at all. No time for it.

Then you have poor immigrant families, with little education, living in dire conditions, yet reproducing like rabbits.

It's probably the first time in history that a species is actively de-evolving itself. That is, in terms of the Darwinian model of species fitness and success, we are actively suppressing the most successful genes and thus promoting the 'lesser' genes - as defined by our model of success - money, power, influence. Especially so in countries like Canada, where a strong social network driven by the successful can support the lazy, the uneducated, the unemployed, etc. and in doing so, is contributing to the fitness of their offspring.

Our smartest, most driven, most capable are not passing on the genes that made them so. They are choosing not to. Yet they are also supporting the lesser genes that would perhaps normally not get an advantage in terms of reproductive success.

Little pill is right.

Then again, with the accelerating advances in medicine and technology, do humans even require evolution? ;)

Ok - you are a credit to your gender, and sadly, a minority.

Where I live, a rarity...

Thing is, its not just men who are "socially stunted," and its not just women who are "commodified."

There are plenty of women who buy into this kind of thinking as well. They marry for status, money and security. The worst thing that happens to them (in their estimation) is age.

There is no concept of partnership in their marriages.

But back to the brothel thing.

There are people who are not (how can I say this tastefully!?) sexually orientated the same way as their partners. Rather than end their relationship they seek gratification outside of the relationship. Sometimes with the partner's full knowledge, sometimes without.

I think that sex work should be protected by law for the protection of the worker as well as the client.

I also think that there needs to be an out for all the people of both genders who end up trading sexual favors for cash to feed themselves or an addiction. Sex work should not be the last resort.

Ann

To me, there's a huge difference between the issue of prostitution, and getting a piece on the side between two (or more :D ) consenting adults.

The latter is pretty typical human behavior, and whether one has moral objections to the specifics of the participants' relationship, is not really relevant to the issue of prostitution.

Prostitution is not simply about sex, be it legal or otherwise. For whatever reason, it is more often the end result of somebody's life being screwed early on. Additionally, the acceptance of the industry as some sort of noble avenue for these unfortunate women, shows a lack of empathy and concern for the majority of the women participating.

I understand why it's illegal, but don't really care whether it stays that way or not. The deeper and more important problems will exist regardless.

It do NOT understand why it is illegal. There is absolutely no rational reason for it being so.

The issue of "why" someone gets into prostitution is a separate discussion entirely... and even if the "abused background" argument always holds true (which is quite debatable)... what makes anyone think that throwing them in JAIL for it helps in any way?!?!....

If you're worried about women's motives for becoming prostitutes, or any underlying personal problems or history of abuse, then address THAT issue, through proper therapy, etc... Arresting them is just as ridiculous and useless as trying to cure drug addiction with our asinine "war on drugs" campaign! It has been proven again and again and again that such an approach DOES NOT WORK. Period. It is indisputable.

Look....

Prostitution, in and of itself, involves two consensual actions: Consensual sex between adults, and the exchange of money. Both are perfectly legal behaviors, are they not???...

It is legal for one consenting adult to have sexual relations with another consenting adult, right?....

It is legal for one adult to give another adult money, right?....

Why is it suddenly illegal when these two actions take place at the same time?...

And what is the time limit here?...

If I have sex with a woman today, and give her money tomorrow, is it still illegal? What if I wait a week? Or what if I give her money a month in advance?... How far apart do the two actions have to be for it to be considered "legal"?... It's ridiculous.

What if I don't give her money, but buy her food or clothing or other gifts instead?.... Oh, wait!... People call that "dating"!!!! :rolleyes:

What if I have sex with my girlfriend of wife, and then immediately afterwards I give her $500?... Why is that not the same?.... Just because I call her my "girlfriend" means it's not prostitution?...

The whole thing is a non-issue. It should be no one's business, other than the persons involved.

There is no victim. There should be no crime.

The entire concept of outlawing private, consensual acts between two or more adults of legal age is absurd, arbitrary, and wrong.

It is nothing more than one self-righteous group forcing their sense of superior morality upon another group, through legislation and force. And it is wrong.

Mike

..........you get to have sex again.........that afternoon..........and tomorrow and the next day........as well............:D

I dont think the exchange of money is the crime it's negotiating it.
I agree that it should be legal or at least decriminalized. I have known 2 prostitutes in my life and both seemed normal happy people. Neither one would tell me where they advertized. I would love to read those ads knowing the girls like I do.

"The number of children you have is inversely proportionate to your intelligence"

Is that true? Is having large families cultural, (Macho, or ensuring care in one's old age, or a religiuos dictum, or, as some people insist, merely a based on ignorance of family planning methods
as, say, in remote corners of the world)

Some ask whether certaiin people ought to feel obliged to reproduce -- that matter has arisen at Mensa meetings, where a high proportion of the members have few, or no, children.....

Dunno Jim, just throwing out a general observation. I think part of it may be cultural, part may be due to a cultural shift towards what defines success.

Thanks for the flowers, Ann.

What you say above is probably pretty accurate and is one good reason to keep the government out of the sex thingie -- it's just too complex for laws to deal with effectively. In those kinds of circumstances it is incumbent upon all of us to try to do the right thing with each other. Mostly we'll fail. But the role of society is to continually correct for it's own excesses. When we see it happen we don't necessarily recognize it.

The priestly child molester is an example. I doubt anybody thinks that is a wholly new phenomenon. What has ahppeend is taht culturally, we have decided that $hit wont fly anymore. Same with NAMBLA. Does that mean pedophilia is gone? No. But it does mean that pedophiliacs no longer get a pass or swept under the rug. As a society, we will no longer tolerate Uncle Bobby fooling around with the little kids. In reaction to that, the Catholic Church is no longer trying to rehab pedophiles through prayer and brotherly love.

Yes, there were already laws in place. But no law is effective without the consent of the people. When we no longer consent, Uncle Bobby goes to the slammer.

B

Well, there ya go, Omega. THERE'S your investment idea!

Good luck.

Well, my paternal grandfather sired 10 children, and despite modest resources, managed to keep them all alive and well until they were old enough to leave the nest. Sounds as if he may have had a brain cell or two.