For Sale By Owner--
Look around your house very carefully. How many possessions do you own? Now, pretend you are going to have a yard sale, sell everything you own, and start fresh...sentimental feelings and monetary values aside, how many of the items are illegal for you to sell?
You are now ready to sell your thoughts, erotic stories, homemade porn DVDs, business ideas and any other intellectual property you can come up with. I just sold a business plan for $500.00--not a business, but my idea and a long term plan for the business. It is up to the person who bought the plan to implement those ideas and get funding.
What is left to sell? Oh, yeah...my body. I can sell my babies via "expenses paid," my kidney can be processed to a recipient, also for "expenses paid," but my actual body? No--unless I want to pay a healthy fine and face a prison term. Ironic, isn't it? The ONE thing I have absolute control over is the one thing I cannot sell.
I can go to a bar, have a man buy me drinks all night and go have sex with him. I can walk up to a stranger, ask him out on a date, and have sex with him. I can even join a singles dating club for sex. BUT I cannot ask for money in return for sex.
All our lives, women are told "it's your body, you are in control." Okay, I understand that if I say no, then everything must stop or it is rape. If I do not want the baby inside me, I can have an abortion. If I want to have a hysterectomy, sex change or other medical procedure, I can schedule and pay for it. Technically, if I wanted to end my life, I can point a loaded gun at my head and pull the trigger (this is only being used as a point for this discussion!). If I want to have sex for money--NO!! Why? What is society afraid of...why is the world's oldest profession so illegal?
The Fears of Society? Or Political & Religious Factors?
Prostitution was legal in the United States not that many years ago. Think of all the "Soiled Doves" helping the settlers and miners relieve their tensions (and emptying their pockets). Why is it that within a very short period of time the thought and actual profession of prostitution ceased as a viable and legal job?
As the west got more settled with "proper" women and the Prohibition was coming to pass, prostitution was being phased out into an illicit and illegal profession. The legally married, God-fearing and proper wives were scared of the prostitutes independence, the hold these women could have on their men and with the diseases running rampant, forced the issue with their men. The Prohibition really was the beginning of the end with this trade, however, but there is more...
Politicians found a viable cause when women were allowed to vote. By forcing prostitutes out of business and making it illegal and enforced by prison terms and fines--they won the votes from the "proper" women. Of course, this is a shortened and very localized version of the real story. There is far too much to say and too many individual cases to cover in one article, even for someone who loves history and research as much as I.
Morally, the fears of sexual freedom and out of wedlock sex is tied to religion. Each type of spiritual belief has a consequence for sex without the bond of marriage. Prostitutes are definitely partaking and selling sexual favors...but did you notice the consequences are geared towards the women involved, not the men? But, Mary Magdalene was a prostitute and we all know how her story ends...
With the "civilization" of the United States, the religious beliefs and morals, and the politics of getting votes, there were many unemployed women. These women faced stonings, tar and feathers and getting run out of town--now they face beatings and murders by "Johns," stiff fines, and imprisonment. But yet--they can get paid to have sex in a movie. Be it a rated R movie or a pornographic one, they are not as morally or legally repugnant as actually selling a person's body.
Sex Sells...
Sex is a billion dollar business. Look at ads in a magazine, sexual aids and toys, porn magazines and movies, therapists, strippers and exotic dancers, swingers clubs, condoms and birth control, and the list can go on and on...
Web sites are designed for sex products, dating and pornography-movies to live cams. It is legal to pay to watch someone perform live masturbation, but not to have sex with that person. What is it about the act of sex that has so many repercussions? How can legalizing sex for money benefit the workers now plying their trade in secret and society in general?
If politicians got involved in legalizing prostitution, they would lose votes from the still "proper" members of society. Okay, but look at the possible benefits to those on the edge, the benefits that could carry over to the "proper" members. Sex workers would be required to have mandatory testing for diseases, back alleys and streetwalkers would be cleared out making these areas lower in crime rates, new businesses regarding sex for money could be built and taxed, revenues for towns and outlying areas would increase due to the new businesses and the jails and courts would not have these cases crowding their overpopulated and overloaded systems.
By making prostitution legal, this would remove the "taboo" factor of sex for money and reduce the child trafficking going on right now--yes, in the US!! It would help reduce a small portion of rape cases and may also help reduce the already tight budgets for the police so they could work on other more important areas of crime.
No, this is not a free ride, a golden ticket or a miracle solution to all of the issues, but if legalized and treated accordingly, it could be a positive step for society. Along with every gain, there are repercussions, but those can be minimized and worked out over time as well.
Yes, there would be sex businesses, but there are already plenty of those. Look for the local adult store on the corner, in the alley or wherever it had to locate just to open. Check out the strip clubs, erotic dancing and other sex oriented clubs. Hell, just click on the TV and watch the latest Trojan vibrator or Bob's Extenze commercial.
Prostitution...The World's Newest, Oldest Profession?
In conclusion, I feel that with the proper regulating, prostitution could be a viable and safe addition to the legal sex trade. We are all sexual beings and some people enjoy the option of paying another person for sexual favors. Let those who perform those sexual favors ply their trade and be safe while doing their job.
Society and individuals both can gain from legalizing the trade and if both worked together to form a solid and binding regulatory system, there could be many benefits. Financial and judicial gains can be far reaching, the taboo back alleys would be safer for society and those who choose to participate in the profession would not be taking their personal safety in their own hands just to pay the rent.
Let people sell their own body, the same as they can sell everything else they own. It is time to stop regulating what other do with their own bodies and maybe focus on what really needs to be taken care of...like hunger and health issues!!
I do not have all the answers for this question, just my own thoughts. However, I hope I have given some of you something to think about. And next time you want to sell something, think about the one thing you are not legally able to sell...Your own body, with your own consent.