Thousands of redditors think prostitution is humane. Government and Women's Groups bat-shit insane at the notion.

misfitx · 2011-06-16T19:30:25+00:00

Actually, it's a very mainstream feminist view that prostitution should be legal, regulated, taxed, etc. Feminists were the first people I ever heard of who claimed that it should be legalized. It dramatically increases the safety of everyone involved, particularly the prostitute for obvious reasons. Legalizing it would be a huge advantage for the prostitute, so it makes sense that many women support the idea.

2011-06-16T20:11:20+00:00

The idea of not treating prostitutes like they are dirty and/or criminals would be welcomed by a large number of feminists... my recent ex just graduated with a BA in Gender Studies, so probably qualifies as a feminist ;), and is a sex worker. In fact, I know a bunch of prostitutes locally that are lesbians and radical feminists. There is a large, and growing, number of sex-positive feminists out there.

It would probably pay not to make sexist generalisations about 'womens groups' if we're hoping they don't do the same about us.

2011-06-16T12:16:09+00:00

Legalize, regulate and tax, and it'll become just another industry, in the exact same way that alcohol did after the prohibition ended.

It is true, that there are still some people who think alcohol should be illegal, and a few places where it still is, even in the US. But, that will be true of anything.

ManThoughts · 2011-06-16T12:23:32+00:00

That's because women's groups don't want to lose their Pussy Cartel, and the government wants to keep men marrying women and growing the population.

If sex were legal, reasonably priced, and reasonably safe, women would no longer be able to entice men into pregnancy & marriage with sex. Nor would they be able to manipulate men with sex. And let's face it: they don't have much else to offer these days.

To be fair, though, there are a few feminists who do support legalizing prostitution.

kowalski71 · 2011-06-16T13:17:19+00:00

I quickly scrolled through, scanned the comments. Without expanding, almost every single one I saw was for legalization. Women and men. I'm sure there are some more vehement responses lower down but obviously not well supported.

Prostitution is one of those issues that is fucked by the US' election process. Sort of like decriminalizing and removing mandatory minimums, you can't not be against crime. Your opponent will slam you if you're not as hard on 'crime' as they are. No candidate will support legalizing prostitution, voters who support the issue are voting for them anyway and they would lose too many votes.

filo3000 · 2011-06-16T14:31:48+00:00

as a womanly feminist thingy I absolutely think prostitution should be legal, it's the ultimate legal ownage of ones body and it would save countless lives from assaults/rapes/murder

royboh · 2011-06-17T00:39:28+00:00

It's the knee-jerk reaction of the cliche image of a pimp in a purple fur suit beating a street walker over the head with a cane. People don't consider how a regulated system would work. Las Vegas brothels are an excellent example... In house doctors, body guards, accommodations, basically everything you need to run a stable business. Regulators and health officials check in periodically, it's all very reasonable.

Bobsutan · 2011-06-16T16:14:26+00:00

And regarding the notion that human trafficking is a problem...that's incorrect.

It was announced a while back that the bulk of the efforts to combat human trafficking in the US ended up being a huge waste of time & money because of how infrequent they found it to be. The notion it was some sort of epidemic of 10s of thousands of people were being sold into slavery a year wound up being way wrong. When they actually got cracking (spending 100s of millions of dollars) the feds discovered it was only about 1400 people in the 7 years leading up to the report.

http://www.economist.com/node/11561082/comments

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/22/AR2007092201401.html

The administration has identified 1,362 victims of human trafficking brought into the United States since 2000, nowhere near the 50,000 a year the government had estimated.

ss_camaro · 2011-06-16T12:26:18+00:00

I should have added 'white-knights' to the 'bat-shit insane' contingent. you get the picture.

megazen · 2011-06-16T15:18:56+00:00

Prostitution has always been a part of human society. Sex workers earn the same rights and protection as any other profession. Any abuse or misuse can be reduced when sex workers receive proper support.

A big investigation has also shown that (look up the Guardian.co.uk article) that prostitution is mostly done voluntarily, by choice.

2011-06-16T22:40:53+00:00

Most modern women claim to believe that women's bodies are their own (hear hear) and nobody should tell them what they can do with their bodies.

Why then are so many women in favour of telling women that they can't offer sex as a service? They try to hide their hypocrisy by claiming that prostitution victimises women. However a regulated sex industry would raise supply to satisfy the demand that is currently being met by organised crime bosses smuggling ignorant girls from poor countries and drug dealers cum pimps forcing their buyers to turn a trick for their next hit.

Patriarchy my arse, women have historically oppressed themselves and continue to do so.

ExpendableOne · 2011-06-16T15:08:15+00:00

I really think legalizing, "mainstreaming" or even subsidizing prostitution would be better for everyone(though, the actual act of prostitution is already legal in Canada but there are a lot of rules in place that make it difficult, or illegal, to get involved with anything relating to prostitution). It would be helping men and women who would otherwise be deprived of a basic human need in fulfilling those needs(something which would offer many health, mental or physical, benefits to those individuals as well as improve society in general through a cascading effect); it creates a safer(both in giving them a stable/open place to work in and a recourse against fraud/malpractice), cleaner(especially if mandatory STD/birth control safety measures are introduced) and more comfortable work environments for both sex workers and their clientele; it would cut many other unnecessary costs for both sex workers and their clientele(no longer any intensives to rely on pimps, centralized location, possible subsidizing, etc); it provides a new alternative source of self-sustaining income for governments; it would free up police/juditional/enforcement resources away from a harmless/victimless act and towards more dangerous crimes/serious issues; it would make it a lot harder for illegal/harmful forms of prostitution, or sex trafficking, to stay in business(as they would no longer hold a monopoly on sex trade); it provides a new venue for people who don't know much about sex or who just want to learn how to get better a it(or even people who need help getting over intimacy issues) learn about sex in a completely intimate, direct and practical/hands-on way; and it would be a major step forward towards a sex positive society(For both genders but especially so for men, I think).

And what are the "negatives", really? Society would lose a fraction of their control over male sexuality? How is it even acceptable when so much of anti-prostitution advocacy seems to stem directly from this hatred/contempt for heterosexual male sexuality or, more precisely, this notion that if you are a man, you want to have sex with women and you are willing to pay for it then you are both a pervert/sexual menace and using/abusing women because male sexuality is inherently opportunistic, hurtful and demeaning towards women. It seems like a no-brainer, really, as there is so much more to be gained from this than there are legitimate reasons to restrict it.

misfitx · 2011-06-16T22:12:20+00:00

It's humane if the prostitute has control over his or her body. Too often, however, it's the pimp who controls the situation and that's just sick. Hell, that's rape.

Not to mention the problem with human trafficking, minors getting pimped out, and that too many are just desperate and willing to do it for almost nothing.

windynights · 2011-06-16T13:07:18+00:00

Although I recognize the merits of legalizing prostitution I still can't come to terms with paying some rent-a-crack bitch for her time.

Title	Thousands of redditors think prostitution is humane. Government and Women's Groups bat-shit insane at the notion.
Author	ss_camaro
Upvotes	37
Comments	65
Date	June 16, 2011 10:22 AM UTC (15 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/i143c/thousands_of_redditors_think_prostitution_is/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/thousands-of-redditors-think-prostitution-is.1038570 https://theredarchive.com/post/1038570

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