How is prostitution "degrading"?

[TheSpartan]

I don't understand how it can be degrading. Yes, obviously slavery-bound prostitution is degrading (due to the forced nature of it), but as for women whom voluntarily became involved in prostitution, how is it degrading? They are receiving fair market value for their services. The most skilled and marketable they are, the more they earn--with many women earning several hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. It is like any other market service-oriented prefession in this regard, yet few people say being a plumber, doctor, construction worker, lawyer, etc. is degrading. What gives?

[Anonymous]

It isn't' degrading at all. It is simply two people making a decision about their sexuality for themselves. The problem is that it is considered sinful, so people want to stop others from doing it. However they can't very well justify that it should be illegal since there it is a victimless crime, so they twist the facts to make the prostitute look like the victim.

You can't really claim the man is the victim of a woman in our society, plus currently our culture has a problem with male sexuality, while embracing female sexuality. This is why the cops tend to go after the Johns, over going after the prostitutes.

If going to prostitutes became normal for guys, then it would shrink the power women have over men. Any time a woman stopped sleeping with her man to teach him a lesson, he would be able to get laid as easily as she can. This would even give him less of a reason to get married, and if properly regulated prevent him from being forced into becoming a father before he is ready.

This is why a lot of women even claim female sex robots would be a form of slavery, but they have no problem making robots do other tasks. There argument is as dumb as if a guy said a robotic dildo was somehow a form of slavery and is degrading to women. Women like having sexual power over men, and they don't want to lose it. They have to make it sound like the man is hurting someone if he has an easy source of sex, in order to maintain power over male sexuality.

[TheSpartan]

This has partially been my hypothesis, actually. However, I would say visiting prostitutes is very normal--just not widely accepted.

[Opinion Owner]

It isn't as normal as it use to be, or as normal as it would be if it were legal and properly regulated.

[Ivy_Nicole]

This opinion is really disturbing. People have no problem at all with male sexuality. really a man is hero when he fucks mutiple women while a woman is called a slut when she does.

[Opinion Owner]

A man is not a hero for fucking multiple women. That is just a lie women tell themselves. The fact is while women whine about being slut shamed, men are constantly being called, creeps, perverts, man whores, womanizers, players, and many other names that all mean slut. A persons sexuality should be their own business, and it doesn't matter if it is a man or a woman.

[Metlahead]

And here I am, a whore loving slut desiring womanizer. I can't even use the word slut or whore in a negative way because they don't mean anything negative to me... I understand that people mean to convey something negative, but it just makes no sense to me so I can't comply with it. I love sluts...

[TheSpartan]

Sluts are great, man. Spread the love, bro.

[mistninja314]

AGREED with/from the 2nd paragraph on down AND I was going to say the same thing. Something like "IF THEY MADE IT LEGAL, the way that things work in today's world would seize to exist in about 3 years tops" LOL and no I"ve never have/will probably sleep with a fucking prostitute

[WhiteSteve]

I think of prostitutes the same as strippers: it's more degrading for the people paying. If I was a hot chick, I'd be a stripper in a heartbeat. A HEARTBEAT. It's just being naked, there's no shame in that. But the few times I've been dragged to strip clubs by a group of guys I was with, I never felt more pathetic. Like this stripper probably thinks I can't get girls naked on my own, so I have to pay. Strippers are smart as hell, that's like free money for doing next to nothing. Pragmatically speaking, there's no harm in it, provided the club is safe. The only drawback is uptight people judging you outside of work.

[WhiteSteve]

Forgot to include... there IS more assumed risk for prostitutes though. Obviously there are STDs, but that's mostly preventable. Sex is only as "special" and "intimate" as you allow yourself to perceive it to be. If you can make a business decision to have emotionless sex, more power to you, I say. The real danger comes with the crazies you can encounter, which is why pimps exist.

[bubble_tea]

Truer words have not been spoken.

[TheSpartan]

This is probably why the price to hire a pristitute also is higher than most other professions: the risk factor.

[WhiteSteve]

@bubble_tea Thanks, you know how I love to keep it real😆 @ asker Yeah, that, and the illegality, since most places outlaw it. Any assumed risk of jail time will cost you.

[bubble_tea]

I'm trying to come up with more comfort zone questions just for you xD

[WhiteSteve]

@bubble_tea You know how I love those!😆

[Ivy_Nicole]

Because mostly (95%) of prosititution is not voluntarily. Also sometimes one volunteers because they have no other means of making money or are in a hopeless situation.

Lets say it this way. If you would fuck and give oral to 15 girls/women that are not necessarily hygienic, your age or very fat/ugly, wouldn't you feel violated/degraded?

In this dutch documentary (about hookers in amsterdam) they said that less than 1% really likes this profession and most people are there unvoluntarily. But mostly they like the money (get money for their kids in eastern Europe or something like this) and need to find ways to reduce the pain of getting penetrated so many times in a day/week/month.

[lanternhill]

Exactly.

[TheSpartan]

Sex slavery only exists because prostitution is illegal. If prostitution was a legal, regulated industry, sex slavery would be almost non-existent. In nations where it is legal, it is voluntary. As for working when in a "hopeless" situation, this is no different than working at a minimum-wage job because you don't have any options, and that isn't degrading. The difference with prostitution, however is that women typically earn 10-20 times the minimum wage (which is due to the risks due to its illegal status, the low supply of women willing to be prostitutes, etc.) Feelings of being "degraded" don't matter. The point is whether or not we can objectively prove prostitution is degrading. Besides, whether I would have sex with unattractive, fat, or old women for money is irrelevant (though I totally would for $100-$200 an hour--beats my UPS job); if someone is voluntarily willing to do that, why would it be degrading?

[Ivy_Nicole]

Dude I live in the Netherlands! It is legal in the Netherlands. And still 95% does it unvoluntarily. This documentary is from the Netherlands.

www.npo.nl/.../POMS_S_EO_755343
I really wish you could understand Dutch and see what really goes on.

And I so sure that you wouldn't like to do 15 old/fat/other women in one night. You can simply not convince me of that. It is clearly a misconception amongst men that women must like this. Really these people are lured in by loverboys or are from eastern Europe , their situations are poignant.
Sex slavery in a prostitution legalised country like the Netherlands happens everyday. Movies and so generally give a wrong/romanticed view on prostitution, but it is a hard business, which no one actually likes.

[TheSpartan]

I'd do It with those types of women for money, yes. That would be $200 per woman--so about $3000 for one night's work. According to the US State Department, about 900 of the 15,000-30,000 Dutch prostitutes were forced slaves. That's an alarming number (though it has nothing to do with legalization).

[Ivy_Nicole]

The US state department doesn't know actual numbers. This because unvoluntary people are NOT registrered. Pimps register them, admitting they are not volunteers means taking a beating, cutting off supply of drugs or being drugged, or family members are threathened. The other are people from eastern Europe who don't like it and need to do it for their kids and don't understand the language and don't know how to seek help or say that they want out. These numbers are totally wrong. But OK. You clearly want to believe that everything is ok. So I wish you good luck with looking the other way when something is clearly wrong so you can go to those poor women guilt-free.

[TheSpartan]

I don't believe everything is ok. For everything to be ok, Prostitution needs to be legalized in all Western nations, with police resources being redirected from fighting drug usage to combating the vestiges of human trafficking that would remain.

[Tractorbeam]

That 95% figure is a total crock of shit. You should come to Australia, and see how it works. It's legal in my state now, and has been for more than 25 years. Women fly in from overseas or interstate, just to work at it legally. I had 2 friends who ran brothels before it was legal. All the girls were happy to be there and never forced to do anything. A girl working here in a licensed brothel has the right to refuse any client and doesn't need a reason. That's law. The girls have a union, and unions are strong in this country. There are also plenty of government regulations, which a brothel manage dare not break, or risk losing his/her license. Most claimed cases of trafficking are nothing more than women working illegally without a current work visa. I'm not saying it can never happen, but it's rare. Some girls will come into the country with other people paying their visa and air fare, and been tricked into working for low wages to repay that debt. About 10 prosecutions in 10 years.

[bubbletrouble]

Amsterdam? Only 1%? Somewhere else in the world I could believe but not somewhere as liberal as Western Europe .

[TheSpartan]

Or even somewhere as developed as Western Europe .

[Ivy_Nicole]

Believe what you want. But is clear in the Netherlands that there are a lot of negative sides to legalizing prostitution. If you have seen the unfortunately dutch documentary you know this number of around 95% is very realistic. No prosecution doesn't mean that there is no harm done. Police is patrolling heavily in prostitution areas because that is where the most drugs is sold and the most trouble happens. And if you look at the swedish model. You see that this works very good and there is a very low rate of human trafficking. The Netherlands is not ready for this because then the trafficking goes underground, But I think better control is needed in the legalised prostitution areas for now. I heard there is even a law designed by the EU to get all european countries to make prostution illegal. But this law is not accepted yet.

[Ivy_Nicole]

@Tractorbeam Maybe in Australia, but really we don't have unions for this in the netherlands and also mostly the girls can't get bankloans. Most work by a pimp and when they don't they usually het threathened to get one when they are young. And pimps especially push girls into taking every client. Not all but a lot. Ever heard of the term 'loverboy'? This really does happen here and makes me sad. The police cannot do much if the women don't tell them, but they are mostly scared, distanted from family, hooked on drugs, emotionally dependant to the pimp, dependant on money or any other thing.

[bubble_tea]

Most people are prudish and the thought of having to take all your clothes off to deliver a service is degrading. It'd be also degrading to be a young sexy housekeeper who gets paid 10x as much to clean your house in Eva's costume, because they can't imagine anyone would accept that offer without being damaged in the brain or in serious money trouble.
Not just being naked, but also having to have people touch you and do things to you is even worse. Ironically, few people would say actors and actresses accepting roles involving sex scenes is degrading or models making out with other models for a 'great ad' when they often cannot choose who they have to make out with.

[TheSpartan]

Exactly what I was thinking!

[Ihav2fart]

I approve this message! Finally putting up a picture ey?

[bubble_tea]

👊 @Ihav2fart haha yeah! a 'rate me' question is coming next 😂

[Ihav2fart]

👊 Do it!

[TheSpartan]

I'll give you your first rate: a solid 7.5 out of 10 (about the 90th percentile of looks).

[bubble_tea]

@Ihav2fart NOOO!! I'm just kidding lol Asker, ummm.. uhh... thank you? 🙈

[Ihav2fart]

i never give number so... WouldSmash/10

[TheSpartan]

Lol you were going to ask the question anyways.

[bubble_tea]

@Ihav2fart What? I remember you said a certain Korean singer was a 9 or 10 and only a 7 now because she's dating someone 😂

[Ihav2fart]

lolol i like you spunk

[bubble_tea]

NOOO I wasn't! I was just kidding! 🙈 It was an inside joke between me and farty 😂

[GalaxyHotChoc]

How could you feel proud to put a price on yourself.. There is no price for your body. Your body is worth much more than just a pleasure thrill. It just means you have no respect for yourself. But oh well its their life. I find the ones that seek out to them are probably more degrading... like married men.

[TheSpartan]

You're putting a price on services, not your body.

[GalaxyHotChoc]

Services to use your body. Same shit.

[TheSpartan]

So, how is your body priceless? Because, clearly the market has, in fact, put a price on a body. How is this different than being, say, a professional athlete, whom is literally putting prices in the services if his or her body?

[GalaxyHotChoc]

So you're comparing prostitution (which is in fact illegal in some places) to a professional athlete? The job of an athlete isn't to fuck around and get paid for it , plus have a high chance of catching diseases.

[WhiteSteve]

I was about to make the same athlete comparison. I think there's some validity to that. My dream was always to play professional football, albeit not a realistic dream. But theoretically, that leaves my body vulnerable to a myriad of physical danger, some as simple as torn ligaments and minor broken bones, but I'm also at risk of being paralyzed (or even killed, if your neck breaks the wrong way) and concussions, which more and more are being found to potentially heighten the risk of CTE, which can lead to depression and suicide. Also, they're beginning to link it to cases of ALS. So by this measure, being an athlete is likely MORE dangerous than prostitution. But I'd play in the NFL for bottom dollar or even for free if they let me. But a promising player just off of his rookie year just retired after one year, citing the risks of head trauma.

[Tractorbeam]

That "High chances of catching diseases" is another bullshit wives' tale. Even in the USA 40 years ago, the average hooker had less disease than than the average female university student. They practice safe sex, because their livelihood depends on it. Here in Australia, prostitutes have a lower incidence of STDs than the average woman. and that includes wives and other women who never have sex. I have a scientific link to that on my other computer, and could post it if necessary. Their chances with most diseases are about one case in 1000 working years. Even then, it's probably through lack of care with safe sex.

[Izzex3]

Obviously I'm against human/sex trafficking,
But for those who want to have sex for money, I don't really care.
Keep on keeping' on. Make that money.

[TheSpartan]

Exactyl

[Tractorbeam]

I've met a lot of happy hookers and ex-hookers, who didn't feel degraded.
Is it really much different to being a doctor?
They're both paid to make you feel better, and they're not doing it purely out of friendship.

[Metlahead]

This is a funky situation because of the laws and the circumstances generally surrounding it, as well as the stigma, of course. Unfortunately, very few are actually confident and empowered by it, but they do exist. It may be largely due to the stigma and laws that this is true through... There is nothing wrong with prostitution in theory, and it is of course men's "fault" it exists, after all, it is a multi billion dollar industry and men love to pay, so there is a social contradiction which leads to tension blah blah. The fact is. while it isn't intrinsically degrading or wrong, we a as society have made it so, sadly.

[TheSpartan]

I'm not saying it is right or wrong--it just isn't degrading.

[Metlahead]

Well, in many ways degrading is wrong isn't it? Anyway my answer is that while it shouldn't be degrading, society has made it degrading.

[TheSpartan]

Pretty much

[chimchimcheree]

It's talentless, easy and sex is suppose to be intimate.

There's no skill in being fucked really

[Metlahead]

Lol, you are a fool if you think that. Why are there so many insecurities surrounding sex, if it is so easy and takes no skill? Why are some hookers charging 700$ an hour? You've clearly never paid for services and had your fantasy played out how you desire it if you think all they are doing is "being fucked"

[chimchimcheree]

You use money for a purpose.. A woman's purpose in life shouldn't just be sex. Men are suppose to charm a woman and give her a sense of self worth and appreciation which ultimately leads to her feeling special cause he's gone through the effort. When there's none of that going on.. Just exchange of money it makes her very existence just seem worthless cause life's not about money.. Tho it may seem it. This day and age you need money to buy food etc..

[chimchimcheree]

I guess they charge more so they feel less worthless... My sex drive is different to yours and everyone else's out there so I don't feel the need to pay a random woman to act it out. I respect that some people do. A prostitute isn't gunna have sexual insecurities going into that business is she? Or maby she does and feels even more worth cause she's having to do this to get money.

[Metlahead]

Men are supposed to? A woman's purpose shouldn't be? Who are you to make such claims? And what does self-worth have to do with it? Do you make 700$ an hour? How do you measure "self-worth" exactly? How does it make existence seem worthless? These are all unsubstantiated claims with no bearing in reality, and claims that you are in no position to make. The truth is, you probably have no idea about the ins and outs of the industry, you only understand the stigma and make poorly based assumptions based on it. People fear what they don't understand, and they dislike what they fear. It is important to keep in mind that, just like every industry, there is a spectrum of success, and it it no different for prostitution, there are self-fulfilled, successful, enlightened ones, and degraded, insecure, pathetic ones. But it is the person that makes the difference, not the profession itself.

[chimchimcheree]

Worthless*

[TheSpartan]

Who says sex is "supposed" to be intimate? Even if it was, then that would only justify the high rates charged by prostitutes; they are, after all, doing something "intimate" for money, thus the pay of twenty-times the minimum wage per hour. There is skill in sex. This is why some women are paid $15,000 a night versus $100 an hour for other. If the labor did not justify the pay, they wouldn't get away with charging that.

[chimchimcheree]

'you only understand the stigma and make poorly based assumptions based on it.' That's pretty much it, i just don't get it or understand why a woman would want to do that. I'm just thinking of her possibility to have a bf and her children's life's and like the whole thing. I don't want to get into an argument over the internet. And I get it you will probably get all high and mighty over me cause you put me in my place. But I'm willing to accept that. At the end of the day were two people with two different opinions on prostitution.

[Metlahead]

Just don't make such harsh judgments, acknowledge the unknown, and next time someone asks there is no shame in saying "it is a complex industry that isn't so black and white, and for that reason I will withhold judgment until I gain better perspective." I can say this because I have been around hookers since I was 19 and dated several, one for 5 years.

[Longblackveil]

I think prostitution should be legal, you should be allowed to sell your body. I'm not saying you SHOULD, but why does the gov have the right to say you CANT?

And let's face it, a lot of these girls don't have any other options. So prostitution helps them pay the bills and spend money which in turn helps the economy.

[TheSpartan]

Libertarian?

[Longblackveil]

Me? No not really, but in some ways yeah

[BCRanger10]

Prostitution, voluntary or not, is not a service. As with p*rn , it reduces the human body and sexual union from all their beauty and greatness to nothing more than means of mere pleasure. The body and sex are not commodities to be bought and sold.

Lawyers, though there are plenty of rotten ones out there, are tasked to uphold the rule of law. Construction workers build homes, roads, and places of business and do repairs on such. Plumbers make sure that we have running water. Doctors keep us healthy. All of them provide real, objective, and vital services to society. To place prostitutes in the same dignity as these other professions is an insult to them.

If you ask me, prostitution is only a "service" if you don't have the maturity to know that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a virgin beyond age 12 and that sex is not a basic human survival need.

[DodgersGM]

Well, just because a woman willingly partakes in prostitution, it doesn't mean that she loves it or is happy about it.

Keep in mindt that socioeconomic conditions and drug addiction are often major players that motivate prostitution. A lot of those women (and men) are simply doing whatever they can do to survive or stay medicated by their drug of choice.

Whether people like this opinion or not, the fact is that sexual activities are special in some way. Selling that special part of a person can very often be degrading, whether they're a willing participant or not.

I mean, surely there's a difference between giving someone a blow job for pay vs. being their lawyer, no?

[TheSpartan]

There's no inherent difference, no. However, there's a huge difference between high-class escorts and street walkers.

[DodgersGM]

I believe that there is a difference between the two.

[TheSpartan]

What's the difference?

[DodgersGM]

Selling sex puts a price on human connectivity. It reduces one of our most important sources of emotional interaction to a monetary exchange. It is different.

[TheSpartan]

Why can't there be a price on human connectivity? Everything has a price.

[DodgersGM]

Is there a price on love?

[TheSpartan]

Well, yeah, that's what dowries are/were.

[DodgersGM]

Oh okay. Well yeah, we fundamentally disagree then. Which is fine.

[Bluemax]

The overwhelming majority of prostitutes in the world earn nowhere near several hundred thousands of dollars a year.

I think for some prostitutes, they aren't degraded. They are usually in brothels in places where it's legal and regulated.

However, a study done on street prostitutes indicated that the majority of them never wanted to get into the business, and they want out of it. My chief concern is that it's not necessarily degrading, but it is often emotionally and psychologically damaging.

[ArabianPwincess197]

Because you're selling your body for money

[ArabianPwincess197]

You don't have a choice in who you have sex with as far as you earn income

[TheSpartan]

Yes, you do have a choice in whom you work with, unless you are bound by sexual slavery. And, you are not selling your body; you are selling the labor and skills of your body, similiar to a doctor or lawyer.

[chimchimcheree]

you don't put your dick in a doctor or lawyer... :s

[miserybusiness]

^ I'm guessing you've never banged a doctor or lawyer.

[ArabianPwincess197]

@miserybusiness - who are you talking to?

[ArabianPwincess197]

@chimchimcheree - I know -weird logic

[TheSpartan]

How does putting your penis in the service-provider inherently make it degrading?

[Ihav2fart]

your sell your mind which is way worse when you work in an office.

[demonology]

because most prostitutes dont want to do what they do, but they need to for money.

same way sucking up to your boss is degrading. you dont want to, but you do because you are stuck in a subservient position.

[heavensgift2girls]

Most people don't like their jobs and only do it for the money. So is your point that as having any other job is just as degrading as being a prostitute?

[demonology]

alright let me break it down then... a candle AND a flamethrower are both fire. sucking up to your boss AND prostituting yourself are both degrading. one can be WORSE than the other, but they are on the same spectrum.

[TheSpartan]

I'm talking more about the act of prostitution itself being inherently degrading. For economically free women with options, is prostitution degrading?

[JackKerouac77]

I guess most people see it as degrading as not being able to choose who you have sex with or being used/abused for money.

But if it's voluntary, you're right. It's just a different marketplace.

[AdamThomas]

Sex shouldn't be something to be bought and sold.

[ArabianPwincess197]

Agreed

[TheSpartan]

Why not?

[AdamThomas]

Would you be comfortable with your Daughter, your Mum or Sister being paid to fuck loads of random men who are probably a bit scummy, probably STD-ridden, don't respect them at all, just viewing them as something to shoot their load into?

[TheSpartan]

That's an emotional argument , and those are irrelevant.

[AdamThomas]

I'll take that as a no.

[TheSpartan]

The answer wouldn't be relevant. It logically wouldn't make a difference.

[AdamThomas]

Well I think it would because those are my reasons.

[TheSpartan]

All I care about are logical arguments, so this doesn't away me.

[AdamThomas]

Fair enough. Well you pay for it if you like, I'll keep on getting it for free.

[FourTwentyHippie]

Legalize Medical Prostitution!

[YazanAA]

Because women are not for sell

[TheSpartan]

You're right. However, labor can be for sale. If labor wasn't for sale, there would be no economy. And prostitution is just a form of labor.

[thealphamaleishere]

Because they are dis-gracing themselves. Although, one person living in sin is no worse of better than the next. After all, the Lord kicked it with the prostitutes and bums when he was on earth.

[Levi9incher]

it's not, its their choice, just feminists want to control what woman do and try and silence anyone who speaks out against them by saying being a whore is degrading

[Metlahead]

Actually there is a divide in the feminist community about prostitution... half of them say it is empowering, the other half say it is slavery. The truth? It depends.

[Ihav2fart]

I would say the ones that are forced into it is degrading, but the voluntary escorts might not feel degraded... in fact if you do sone research in the business some voluntary escorts find it empowering.

[TheSpartan]

Yeah, pretty much what I was thinking. It is like this: picking cotton isn't degrading, but being sold into slavery to pick cotton is. The same applies to prostitution.

[Ihav2fart]

i agree!

[Bethanycats]

It is very degrading and dumb but think about this why is it legal to do it for money but illegal for money? So either way it's just that but it's the point is your flaunting yourself around you can be trashy without getting paid so Actually no it's not.

[Gibbo24]

can't imagine there are thst msny women that enjoy it. So I'd say thats pretty degrading!

[Scrimshaw]

Judging by your attitude, it seems like prostitution is as far as you'll ever get in terms of your sex life. That's probably why you seem so pro-prostitution and why you are asking this question in the first place... LOL.

[TheSpartan]

So, do you have an argument or not?

[Scrimshaw]

I have plenty of arguments against prostitution which I do not even see the point in sharing since most likely you will not accept my views.

[miserybusiness]

^ No duh. You aren't accepting his views either. You don't have to accept anything, the whole point of an argument is to combat conflicting views.

[TheSpartan]

Im not talking about arguing against prostitution as a whole. I'm talking about the proposition that prostitution is degrading. You believe it isn't degrading yet still immoral.

[bubbletrouble]

One sells their body.

One uses their money to buy sex.

My personal viewpoint? So long as she isn't forced, I don't see a problem with prostitution but it definitely needs to be regulated.