I’m not against those who work for sex, but the idea to earn for a living doesn’t seem nice. IMO, sex should be for 2 people (or more for others who prefer polyamory) who wants to be intimate/romantic with each other. My point is money should not be the purpose.
I don’t guess it needs my approval but as long as there is a demand for the service it will happen.
Like you, I just like everyone to get sex for sex, that’s how I’ve always done it, but that’s a very recent outlook, it was very gatekept before and women generally were trading sex for something, and men were generally trading something for it. I remember being in high school and the only categories were girlfriend, slut, or just don’t have sex, it was so fraught.
I expect there may always be a marketplace. And certainly don’t hold any sort of bad feelings towards those trying to market themselves, if you can make a living at it, great.
Went to barber school with a lady who was doing job retraining after getting busted for prostitution. She said she really had enjoyed it, had few clients, all regulars, worked out of her home, made a good living. Wasn’t bothering anyone until apparently someone noticed and was bothered.
Out of curiosity, why does sex need a purpose? Why should it be or not be for anything in particular? What makes it any different from, say, juggling?
Sex work isn’t just prostitution, by the way. It’s anyone making a living off of sexual content. If you’re shooting porn or are a cam girl, you’re a sex worker as well.
Prostitution is problematic in that currently, because it’s an illegal service, it’s largely being performed by people who don’t have a choice in the matter. Human trafficking is a huge problem. If prostitution were legalized and regulated, if the societal “we” changed our collective attitudes towards it, life would improve for a lot of people. I struggle to phrase this next bit in a tactful way. If you’re against improving the lives of so many people because it doesn’t align with your view of sex should be for, that’s pretty shitty of you. Not saying that’s the case, I don’t live inside your head, but that’s how I see it.
In places where prostitution is legal, the amount of human trafficking goes way down, because the brothels in these places are usually inspected pretty regularly. They have to follow regulations or else they will be forcefully shutdown, and the employees being there willingly is usually one of those regulations.
out here you need a license for it as well. Which, from what I’ve heard, is not easy to get
I’m not against it if they think it will improve their lives. As i said on my other replies, im opening my mind to this topic. I just feel bad for people who gets life ruined because of it. They are not forced to do it, but some need to go hardcore (no pun intended) because that’s their only way to survive during these hard times.
Eh, it’s just a service in exchange for money. Just like a massage parlour or spa or doctor or chiropractor or hair stylist. Sex isn’t special.
I like this answer, but he deleted. It’s still in my inbox so I’m gonna share but not mention the commentor’s name
In germany sex Work is a normal regulated job like any other. You are insured, receive vacation days, etc. It is accepted here as completely normal work like any other. Because it is. was once in a brothel with a friend. While he was in the room with a lady, talked to the others and asked why they were doing this job. The answer was “I like dicks” and “Its fun and pays very well” To be honest, the ladies seem to enjoy their work more (and earn a lot more) than any job I’ve had in my life.
I think if it doesn’t affect other people, and nobody is being exploited/everyone is participating willingly, then it’s none of my business what others choose to do.
I’m actually trying to help sex workers, particularly porn Creators, use the fediverse to take control of their social media. I want to help them keep control of their own destiny - https://xxxiver.se
Legalize it, tax it, regulate it like any other job.
I’d not buy any, even when single.
I would consider selling before a lot of other jobs. Depends on the money really. Not much of a market for straight, average looking, men in their 30s however.
There are two main “career paths” here:
- Those that willingly choose sex work.
- Those that are pressured into sex work.
Imo, the former is perfectly fine (because everyone involved is consenting). The latter is problematic and the actual problem we need to solve.
So many people conflate the two and assume that all sex work is exploitation. All mixed in with the implicit sexism that says women shouldn’t have any autonomy over their own body and sexuality.
It’s a pretty high percentage.
But it’s a pretty high percentage for similar reasons to illegal pot sales funding terrorists or gangs/cartels. The legal status puts it way more in the purview of organized crime.
I mean, is it a high percentage? Feels like the kind of thing that you could fudge figures either way.
And yeah, we need to empower sex workers and give them legal and health support.
In the context of women being literal sex slaves, even 5 or 10% would constitute a high percentage that gave regular purchasers a reasonably high chance of encountering one. (I wasn’t intending to play that semantics game, but it’s worth noting regardless.)
I think it’s pretty high. There are legal places that have some safeguards in place, but in most of the world there’s just nowhere for a woman to say “I’d like to try sex work” and get an opportunity to do so. It’s inherently the people on the fringes of society, the runaways with nowhere to go who end up reliant on a predator, the people addicted to drugs that have no way to get their next fix, the people trafficked. Even the “high class” stuff, because there isn’t any legitimate entry point, is relying on tactics like calling it a modeling gig and then propositioning the models, and there’s an inherent element of coercion* to that as well.
*Coercion isn’t the perfect word choice but I’m blanking on a better one. Even if the intent isn’t explicitly to manipulate the women, the result is a lot of wild emotional swings, then a pitch when you’re still under their influence. And we’ve seen examples of people taken overseas and having their passports taken away, even by an NFL team. It definitely happens at a far more frequent level than we should be comfortable with.
I also know that male prostitution is a thing, and “women” isn’t comprehensive. But it’s mostly women.
I agree with pretty much everything you’ve said. I’ve just seen “it’s a high percentage” to be a dogwhistle for “all sex work is inherently exploitation so we should ban it.”, so apologies for assuming.
5-10% is far too high, yes. I don’t know if I’d agree with that figure (it really depends on what you consider sex work, tbh), but exploitation is a serious problem that needs fixing.
I approve of it in that it’s legitimate work, unlike being a landlord, and lots of vulnerable people end up doing it as the only method of supporting themselves, as well as a lot of single moms trying to deal with making an income and parenting, etc. I would not disparage anyone doing it. Would I worry about their emotional and physical health and safety doing it? Yes. We have a sex workers collective drop-in center in my city who make efforts to try to help keep them safe, such as testing, condoms, etc, which is great. But I can’t help but wonder how someone’s mental health would be affected by just being a glorified blow up doll. There was an Ask Reddit once about what people saw on porn sets, and someone who worked on one said all the girls seemed really fake and unhappy and vacant emotionally, and that concerns me. I would not want anyone hurt by doing this work is my point, but I don’t object to them doing it of course. Just please take care of yourself!
Edit to add: last weekend my church took a potluck to the local park where there is a small tent encampment of unhoused folks and invited them to eat with us, which they did, which was nice, and although they were shy we all talked a little, and some of them were clearly sex workers from what they talked about. One had what I think was scabies on her skin, and that’s the kind of thing that worries me.
Do you not believe in casual, not romantic sex?
Yeah i forgot about casual thingy. Maybe i should edit my post to include that, but the idea of money being involved is not something i’m comfortable with (yet? - i’m keeping my mind open for this discussion)
It’s not for you to be comfortable about unless you’re planning on paying or getting paid for it. That’s like someone who paints their miniatures and agrees to paint the miniatures of a friend not feeling comfortable about money being involved, because he’s doing that for other reasons, but there are professional miniature painters.
Anything you do for fun you’re likely to be uncomfortable charging for, but you need to remember that that’s not your job, and regardless of what your job is there’s a good chance that someone out there likes to do the same thing for fun and would feel uncomfortable charging people for it.
Why do you get to have an opinion on something between two strangers that otherwise doesn’t affect you
I have an opinion because it affects anyone sexually active that is not in an exclusive relationship. Legalized sex work would increase sex worker healthcare, directly reducing national STD numbers.
Legalized and well regulated*👌
Yeah, libertine social values historically died off through STD epidemics. Puritanic cultural strictures were ultimately survival mechanisms in societies that didn’t have safe sex practices and technology.
Sure, Im not directly affected, but feel bad for people needing to work for it.
And if they find sucking some dick less repulsive than sitting in a call center 10 hours a day?
Do you know they need to do it?
Well that just seems like an opinion on the human mindset dating back thousands of years.
And what about women who marry guys for their money, in order to be trophy wives? Is that sex work?
And what would you suggest incels who are hopped up on repressed hormones and horny intentions do? Would you rather they rape an unconsenting woman? Or pay money to a consent for pay woman?
And what about women who ENJOY sex work? You know how they say never make your hobby your living? Well, maybe that doesn’t apply when you’re taking it in the ass for $1000, and orgasming all over the ancient oriential throw rug.
And what about porn? Should porn only exist from guys who leaked out private sex tapes? Without paid sex models who have no experience in acting, we wouldn’t have such jems as the lemon stealing whores! I LOVE that intro! I’ve never seen the actual porn side of that video, but sometimes porn unintentionally creates cultural masterpieces!
I mean, honestly! Whats better every Saturday night than lighting some candles, putting on some light music, and just wackin’ it to some pornagraphic video that highlights the peak of society. A woman trapped in the washing machine, and her stepbro finding her completely helpless!
And what would you suggest incels who are hopped up on repressed hormones and horny intentions do? Would you rather they rape an unconsenting woman? Or pay money to a consent for pay woman?
I would rather not have sex workers subjected to those people and that they instead get the thearpy that they need. Its crazy that you seem to imply that men who can’t get sex will just rape women.
Totally fine with sex work. Just keep it safe and be nice.
Office workers also sell their bodies.
Builders sell their bodies too.
Sex work is no different than any other line of work.
Neutral. Everything depends on the people involved and the context. A lot of jobs don’t seem nice and money shouldn’t be the purpose. That’s more a criticism of the economy than of sex work.
Regulate it, keep the workers safe, ensure they’re well compensated and tested. Basically, treat is like every other profession.
If two consenting adults want to exchange money for sexual favors, who cares? If the worker chooses to sell their body for money via sexual acts, why is that inherently worse than someone who does construction selling their body for a living?
This is where a good ol’ “hate the game, not the player” applies.
I have no judgement of the people who do it to make money. Any issue I have is with the economy and culture that drives some to do it to survive when they wouldn’t otherwise choose to.
Your point about money shouldn’t be the purpose… but some people, especially women, are stuck where sex work is their best paying option. It’s not their fault.
In a perfect world where no one is forced to do any particular labor to survive, when consent is given 100% of the time, and everyone’s safe, I have zero issue with sex work from any angle. In this imperfect world, my issue is with the system and not the individuals working in the industry.
Yes. All the issues with sex work come from cultural and systemical issues. For example that it’s very opaque for people outside of the industry, the stereotypes you have to deal with, people judging you constantly or it’s not illegal everywhere.
And not to say there’s not some fucked up shit happening in the industry.
I think the argument should be the same like with drugs: it’s generally good, but it can be a problem and just for the transparency and oversight we need to make it legal everywhere but well regulated. That’s my opinion.
