Should prostitution be legal?

Loki

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If it prostitution were legalized, it would ensure women's rights, provide disease control, allow taxation and government reulation.

Should the world's oldest occupation be given legal status?
 

RandomPhantom700

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I think so; prostitution is one of those crimes where you can't make any rational explanation for its criminality other than puritanical social norms.
 

Flatlander

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RandomPhantom700 said:
I think so; prostitution is one of those crimes where you can't make any rational explanation for its criminality other than puritanical social norms.
Good point! I hadn't really considered the question, as here, prostitution is not illegal. Here, they've done something really bizarre and made communicating for the purpose of exchanging money for sex illegal, or something like that.
 

Ceicei

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Loki said:
If it prostitution were legalized, it would ensure women's rights, provide disease control, allow taxation and government reulation.

Should the world's oldest occupation be given legal status?

Isn't it already legal in some parts of Nevada?

- Ceicei
 

RandomPhantom700

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Yeah, I think there's one county in Nevada where it's legal. No, Vegas isn't in that county.

I remember a news story about it a long time ago; basically there was a house of (ill?)-repute, customers went there. The girls would go through regular checkups, they could report patrons for not following the rules. The thing to ask is, if it works that well in that one county, why should we maintain current laws about it through the rest of the nation?
 

ed-swckf

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I think it should be legal and essentially governed but i know a lot of people use prostitution due to drug addiction or because they are very poor. Is governing this going to aid these demographics or hinder them. I mean if it becomes a legal occupation people will presumably no longer be in receipt of the same state benifits, would the disease control penalise them in some way for the risk of their occupation for instance when it comes to life insurance or something along those lines. Ideally i want to say yes but i just wonder how it would pan out if it were to become legal and if it would create a sub division of prostitution that doesn't follow the legislation. Would it just cause people to turn a blind eye to that problem and only concentrate on stats of prostitution within the structure of the legislation.
 

tshadowchaser

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if regulation where in effect and the boys/girls followed them some of the health problems might be lowered. Taxes are good for the goverment but remember they drive up the cost of everything also
 

arnisador

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It's legal in several Nevada counties, but only at a house with a special icense. Streetwalking is still not OK.

An argument against it is that, like gambling, it attracts organized crime, increased violence/loitering/littering/etc., makes the neighborhood less attractive to live in, and so on. But, licensing it has obvious benefits in disease control and such.

On balance, I would say: It's their bodies. Legalize it. Yet, I know this could lead to increased exploitation of vulnerable women (beyond the already high levels). It's not a simple matter.
 

sgtmac_46

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Now that's capitalism in action. I can find a few nice young ladies, give them a home, and put them to work. Gives new meaning to the word 'sweat shop'. They better have my money.
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Just another commodity.
 

terryl965

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Yes legalize it and tax it. Make it a commodity instead of a crime.
Terry
 

sgtmac_46

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Would any of you be willing to marry a prostitute?
 

terryl965

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sgtmac_46 said:
Would any of you be willing to marry a prostitute?

If the right woman came along and I loved her and found out she was a prositute sure why not. But as life has it I have the most wonderful wife of 17 years.
Terry
 

sgtmac_46

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Just so everyone understands, it wasn't christianity per se that outlawed prostitution in the US. There have been legal prostitutes in christian nations since the time of christ. What outlawed prostitution in the US were the same forces that outlawed alcohol for a time. It was actually the first feminists who decried prostitution as 'white slavery' that helped bring about it's downfall in the legal realm.

http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/rcah/html/ah_071700_prostitution.htm

The women's temperance movements viewed prostitution as destructive to men and marriage. Women, in essence, outlawed prostitution......some people don't like competition.

Putting aside issues of veneral disease, however, prostitution is a wonderful institution as far as men are concerned. In eras past, it allowed men to concentrate their lives on accomplishment, while getting their 'needs' met whenever they desired, with no strings attached. Contrast this with the time and effort put in to finding and keeping a spouse (not to mention cost-anyone who thinks it's prostitution is more expensive, hasn't been married). It's a win-win for men.

For women, on the other hand, it's a bit trickier. There's far less incentive for a man to marry a woman. Why buy one cow, when you can rent all different sorts of cows when you need them, and have a different flavor every time.

Ironically, this answers a question i've had for some time. Homosexuals seem to be disproportionately represented among ancient conquerors (Alexander the Great comes to mind). I think this likely wasn't a result of anything inherent in homosexuals, so much as it contrasts the dynamics of their relationships. A heterosexual, tied so often as they are to a wife, and consequently children, are often compelled to stay closer to home and hearth.

Alexander, however, being homosexual, had no such entanglements, finding, as he did, all social fulfillment in the company of men. With his lover(s) in his company of soldiers, he had no home he needed to return to in which to find social fulfillment. He could campaign for years with no desire to return. Which explains why many of his men, having a strong desire to return to their wives and children, finally demanded he cease their eastward advance and return home. Just a theory, but I digress.
 

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sgtmac_46 said:
Just so everyone understands, it wasn't christianity per se that outlawed prostitution in the US. There have been legal prostitutes in christian nations since the time of christ. What outlawed prostitution in the US were the same forces that outlawed alcohol for a time. It was actually the first feminists who decried prostitution as 'white slavery' that helped bring about it's downfall in the legal realm.

http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/rcah/html/ah_071700_prostitution.htm

The women's temperance movements viewed prostitution as destructive to men and marriage. Women, in essence, outlawed prostitution......some people don't like competition.

Putting aside issues of veneral disease, however, prostitution is a wonderful institution as far as men are concerned. In eras past, it allowed men to concentrate their lives on accomplishment, while getting their 'needs' met whenever they desired, with no strings attached. Contrast this with the time and effort put in to finding and keeping a spouse (not to mention cost-anyone who thinks it's prostitution is more expensive, hasn't been married). It's a win-win for men.

For women, on the other hand, it's a bit trickier. There's far less incentive for a man to marry a woman. Why buy one cow, when you can rent all different sorts of cows when you need them, and have a different flavor every time.

Ironically, this answers a question i've had for some time. Homosexuals seem to be disproportionately represented among ancient conquerors (Alexander the Great comes to mind). I think this likely wasn't a result of anything inherent in homosexuals, so much as it contrasts the dynamics of their relationships. A heterosexual, tied so often as they are to a wife, and consequently children, are often compelled to stay closer to home and hearth.

Alexander, however, being homosexual, had no such entanglements, finding, as he did, all social fulfillment in the company of men. With his lover(s) in his company of soldiers, he had no home he needed to return to in which to find social fulfillment. He could campaign for years with no desire to return. Which explains why many of his men, having a strong desire to return to their wives and children, finally demanded he cease their eastward advance and return home. Just a theory, but I digress.
It's more of a moral issue than anything else I think. Legalization IMO would cause more problems in the long term. Some of those have already been mentioned here in this thread. Prostitution would not I think, cause men to be more reluctant to marry. It probably wouldn't affect the general populace as a whole in that regard.
The analogy of the one flavored "cow" could've been put better with say... "ice-cream." :wink1: (trying to spare you some red-rep points here...:D )

Is/was there any proof of Alexander's homosexuality? Or is it speculation? It's easy to see how that idea could come about... far from home on the road for days and years on end... the only women are the ones from the villages that you raped and pillaged. Many men have in the past shown remarkable restraint in the absence of their opposites sex. But that's another topic entirely anyway. :D
 

sgtmac_46

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MA-Caver said:
It's more of a moral issue than anything else I think. Legalization IMO would cause more problems in the long term. Some of those have already been mentioned here in this thread. Prostitution would not I think, cause men to be more reluctant to marry. It probably wouldn't affect the general populace as a whole in that regard.
The analogy of the one flavored "cow" could've been put better with say... "ice-cream." :wink1: (trying to spare you some red-rep points here...:D )
I don't know if you've noticed, but men are more reluctant even now to marry than in the past. This is largely attributed to the more liberal stance of women on cohabitation and premarital sex. Do we truly think that sex for money wouldn't have a further freezing effect on marriage.

One may look at the impact on society of brothels by looking at another area of adult entertainment...The strip club. A couple decades ago they were a hidden phenomenon. Now, they are a multi-million dollar industry, patronized by all different strata of the community. The brothel, I feel, would have the same impact and clientele as a strip club....(but with much more satisified customers)

MA-Caver said:
Is/was there any proof of Alexander's homosexuality? Or is it speculation? It's easy to see how that idea could come about... far from home on the road for days and years on end... the only women are the ones from the villages that you raped and pillaged. Many men have in the past shown remarkable restraint in the absence of their opposites sex. But that's another topic entirely anyway. :D
lol, quite right.

On the topic of Alexander's homosexuality, there has been some debate. However, the predominant view is that he was, at the very least, bi-sexual, and was more likely mostly interested in men. However, there is some room for debate.

On the wider topic, however, it is clear that homosexual behavior is well represented in ancient military history. The famous Theban Sacred Band were 150 warriors bound together in homosexual attachment.

Many Romans, likewise, preferred the 'company' of men. Perhaps it's no surprise, however, given that men of war at that time would leave their homes for years at a time on the frontier, might engage in homosexual behavior.

Still, as predominent as it likely was in the armies, they at least had the odd village maiden and prostitute for the heterosexuals. It was probably far worse for the sailing man. (This is very likely why it's such a cliche among sailors).

This isn't to say that all or even most of the ancient warriors were homosexual. Merely that they were likely over-represented due to the fact that they had less to lose by leaving home and hearth. A married man might worry what his wife was doing if he were gone for years at a time. He might come home and find several children he never knew he had.
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7starmantis

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terryl965 said:
Yes legalize it and tax it. Make it a commodity instead of a crime.
Terry
Would that really work? Its the same argument for legalizing weed....there is absolutely no way to really tax or regulate it. Trying to do so would just take up much more time, effort, and money of our police than it does now. Legal or not, trying to regulate and tax it would be seriusly impossible.

7sm
 

michaeledward

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7starmantis said:
Would that really work? Its the same argument for legalizing weed....there is absolutely no way to really tax or regulate it. Trying to do so would just take up much more time, effort, and money of our police than it does now. Legal or not, trying to regulate and tax it would be seriusly impossible.

7sm

I know, just like taxing and regulating alcohol is prohibitive.
 

ed-swckf

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michaeledward said:
I know, just like taxing and regulating alcohol is prohibitive.

Its something a lot of UK people avoid by doing booze runs to france a lot, same with tobaco maybe they will pop over for a tax free hooker too!!
 

7starmantis

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michaeledward said:
I know, just like taxing and regulating alcohol is prohibitive.
Taxing and regulating alcohol is much easier because of the process needed to create alcohol. Marijuana needs only a seed, dirt, and water (dont forget the plant light and a small closet:)) Sex needs only....well you get the idea.

7sm
 

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Loki said:
If it prostitution were legalized, it would ensure women's rights, provide disease control, allow taxation and government reulation.

Should the world's oldest occupation be given legal status?

Absolutely not.. In the USA women make 200 - 600 an hour. In canada where it IS legal, their highest paid girls make in the 150 range. If they are smart, women use a vouch system between them and the other providers which ensures safety.
 

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