Nah, keep it legal. There are plenty of people that, even with the help of alcohol, can't get laid.
Then there's others like my boss, who has a gorgeous and fun wife who has no problem going and paying some ugly pig.
is it only cash that determins the legality? not perhaps a fancy dinner and movie? clothes and jewelry? weekends at the Hamptons? holidays in Hawaii? kinda hard to draw the line.
Diane and New Haven bring up serious concerns for women. Everything they say is true. The problem is that it is all personal between the woman and her husband. If the man, for what ever reason, is going to visit prostitutes, that visit might as well be legal and controlled by law. It will be less likely that he will come home with STDs.
Of course, the woman who quails at the thought of her husband going to a prostitute may not want legalization because that might make it easier for him to do so. There are logical arguments both ways. That's why this one is such a quandery. For most of us, sexual fidelity in marriage is closely bound up with feelings of love, devotion, loyalty, respect and the like. But it is also true that in our society that, for very complicated reasons, these feelings are stronger in some than in others; they are stronger at one time than at another. In short they are not always constant. Is It fair to deny the services of prostitutes to all just because some, maybe even just a few, have strong feelings of constancy?
Another thought for those who are married. Suppose there is strain in a marriage and the man feels a compelling need for outside sex. Consider that the strain, no mater how bad, may be only temporary. Which would the wife prefer: that her husband visit a prostitute, or that he take up with a woman at the office and complicate the marriage with a love affair? It seems to me that the former entails fewer complications than the later.
just to be fair here the rising incidence of male prostitution for "needy" women should fall into the same catagory but most laws dont even acknowledge its existence ergo zero prosecution.
Steissd, thanks for the description of conditions in the USSR. It sounds pretty horrendous. My comments all refer to the US, which is all I know anything about (and the truth is I know less and less about that all the time).
This topic is one of the most difficult we gan get into because almost everyone sees it at least a little differently.
Well, laws that try to regulate sexual behavior are often irrational in their essence. Take, for example, laws against homosexuals that existed in certain historical periods everywhere in the world. Sodomy was considered being a delinquent behavior, while lesbianism was not (despite of the fact that it is also a homosexuality). Well, I think that all these controversies can be explained by the fact that majority of the legislators everywhere are males...
Steissd, so true. Another factor in this country is, as someone else mentioned, the powerful fundamentalist religious lobby. Also, there are pervasive remnants of the Puritans after all these years.
IMHO, it is always a mistake to try to legislate morality.
Diane, And the legislators never learn that trying to legislate morality never works. c.i.
c.i., what irony, and yet the legislators and executors and adjudicators (yes, even them, now) are aways prostituting themselves. Do as I say, not as I do!
BillW, Do you think the same thing went on in the past, but it's more public now with news traveling at the speed of light? Also, in the past, it was 'hidden' better - not as many loose tongues? c.i.
It was also a smaller group before. A small group of white men sat down in smoky rooms with a little of the best and decided who would be what - there was an illusion of a vote for each. Today, we have a little larger group of rich, white guys called businessmen sitting around handing out fat checks - maybe it isn't so different!
BTW, there's usually some girls are these get togethers, I hear!
Still popping out of a cake? c.i.
Why waste time on presentation?
The 'tease,' my man, the tease. c.i.
G, your just stringing me along -
*Although many attempts at humorous remarks
regarding prostitution have been made here, I feel
that they are a bit out of place. Prostitution has
been one of the OLDEST professions since the old
laws of the old testament, which allowed for a man to
get rid of a wife, for any reason, it didn't have to be
a meaningful reason, if she was a lousy cook, or
gained too much weight, or the husband just got
bored & was stricken with lust for a younger newer,
more streamlined version.
*The reason that Jesus (as the story goes in the
new testament) was so totally opposed to this
treatment of women in the law, & out of pity for the
future of ANY woman who had been discarded by a
husband - she had NO CHOICE at all, no manner of
living, other than prostitution. Any woman, once "used"
was a valueless thing - a cow or a chicken had a far
a greater value.
*Prostitution, itself - however - comes in myriad forms
and shapes. Some are far worse than a woman selling
her body. Let's face it, up until our century, women
remained valueless - in the early 1900's men were still
busily debating the heated topic of whether or not a
woman possessed a SOUL! Now - I ask a question in
all sincerity & ask for your most honest, meaningful &
truthful answer... Do you, or have you ever; spent
YOUR TIME? Hour after valuable hour of YOUR very life,
"for sale" to the highest bidder?
*I am of the opinion that our society doesn't bring happiness
or contentment. In fact, I would go so far as to say that our
society makes many of us quite sick (when one considers
the vast numbers of persons seeking help for "soul sickness"
an emptiness and a malady so broad that it sucks the very
marrow from our bones, and chokes the "real life" out of us
before our very eyes. How many times have you (had to)
say yes - when your more honest and heartfelt answer was
ABSOLUTELY NO?? When our society doesn't "work" for us,
it takes a very strong individual to stand up, and to say"No,
I do not buy into this culture...this culture is making me sick"
How many of you know an older man who retires from his
"company job" or 40 to 50 YEARS - and he is given a watch,
a pen set, or some other ridiculous, sad, pitiful excuse for an
thank you. Selling the very best years of your life - if THIS is
not a form of prostitution, I don't know what else could even
compare to it. In fact, I believe THIS to be the worst, most
damaging form of prostitution going on today. Selling your
entire life to a greedy company who promises to make all
your dreams come true (but can't) that new sports car, all the
status symbols you've been taught to want & instructed to yearn
for - a better house than your neighbor,the most expensive car.
Where are the close friends,?the family members? the people
you love and who love you? Those who are closest to your
heart. These are the confused ones & they need a hand up
so they can understand what part they play in your life.
babsatamelia said a mouthful as far as I'm concerned. Over all, I'm saddened and disgusted with the society I've been left to finish my life in, not to mention the negative future society my growing children will have to deal with too.
I'm against a lot of things that I consider morally wrong, which go on everyday legal or not. Religious belief has nothing to do with any of it as far as I'm concerned. For me, it's much more about common sense.
I understand there are many types of prostitution, taken on in different forms, which are not illegal but go on anyway. Doesn't mean I have to agree with it, like it, want it to be legalized if it isn't.
Hey, I think just about anything that isn't good for us should have a sin tax. The thought of that idea will probably get most of you responding, won't it? Oh well, that's a whole nother subject isn't it?
In answer to a previous question addressed about having the choice of wanting a spouse to either be unfaithful by cheating with a prostitute or some other woman, I'd prefer he have sense enough to communicate his concerns first, before acting out of revenge, resentment or emotion. I would lose respect for anyone being unfatithful, regardless of who it was with.
With all that said, I do believe I'd rather see our police going after the more serious offenders of the law, and not spending tax money on setting up prostitutes. There are bigger problems to contend with in our society.
We talk about prostitution as if there's a right and wrong in moral terms. If we are honest with ourselves, there are issues in our lives that are also controversial that needs to be discussed more than the subject of prostitution. What of all the CEO's and officers of companies that have lied and cheated their companies, employees, and investors? Many of them are supposed to be highly ethical individuals, but in fact are immoral and crooks. They have ruined more lives than prostitution ever will - legal or illegal. These crooks don't ruin peoples lives one by one, but in whole swats of people that have depended upon them to protect them. The irony of their immoral behavior is that many still walk the streets as free citizens. Where do we go from here? c.i.
