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The argument has been offered lately that to oppose the legalization of
prostitution is to oppose the freedom of women to make use of their
bodies as they wish. It is not an argument that one can simply laugh off
as a bit of advocacy for a position that will never be implemented as
policy, because, in effect, it already has been, in many places. Even
while the laws against prostitution are still theoretically in effect,
they often are unenforced irrelevancies, like the laws against
"fornication" (ie. premarital sex). In fact, here in Chicago, the services
go so far as to advertise in the Yellow pages (see "escort agencies") and
in at least two of the weekly papers (The Reader and New City, under
"adult services"). So, far from this being a far out position that we
need not fear seeing in practice, it is actually de facto reality, here
and in many other cities.
The argument in question ignores the reality that the "choice" made in
entering prostitution is often not a free one. A phenomenon that is seen
more and more is that of the young woman, often in college, who is forced
to sell her body out of financial desperation because there is no other
work available to her at the time, and her "choices" are between this or,
in order, dropping out of school (because financial aid has been cut and
she can't raise the tuition), locking her out of job opportunities as a
result. This, followed by death by starvation (because food stamps have
been cut off under "welfare reform") or hypothermia, depending on what
the weather is when she finds herself out on the street. If this is not
coercion, what is? Society, in presenting her with a choice between
selling herself or being denied a chance at survival (ie. being killed
by being forcibly kept away from food) has participated in her rape. The
fact that the recipient of her involuntarily granted favors is chosen more
or less at random does not change the moral status of the situation.
Question : "Well, what someone who can't find a date
supposed to do, you (expletitive deleted)?
Answer : click here
The defense offered on behalf of the johns (and the pimps) in this
situation, is that at least they gave her a way out of a life threatening
predicament. And, I would add, into a marginally less threatening
predicament, given the prevalence of AIDS in the sex industry. But there's
another issue. Desperation can be manufactured as needed.
Question : "How is that?"
Answer : click here
As a matter of practical reality, legalization or effective legalization
creates an incentive for many who are in a position to decide what the
job market shall be, to structure it in such a way as to create such
desperation. If good job opportunities exist, and one is a fat, bald,
boring, and mean spirited 50 year old man who aspires to have sex with a
string of beautiful, intelligent 21 year old women, one may have to change
one's expectations a little. But let such desperation as may drive a
woman into this industry become commonplace, then satisfying this
otherwise unrealistic desire may become as simple for our personnel
manager, as picking up a copy of the local free weekly and dialing the
phone.
If our would be john must fear arrest, he may not feel free to do his
part in exploiting the atmosphere of desperation that he might otherwise
like to benefit from. Soft, weak white males do not tend to fare well in
the county prison, even during short stays. Indeed, it has been said, that
they often gain a deep personal insight into what it feels like to be
forced into sex. But remove this fear, and those of us on the losing end
of this unequal power relationship will find ourselves in a vulnerable
position. What has been glossed over is the fact that the laws against
prostitution help protect the freedom of those who don't want to enter the
industry from being economically coerced into doing so.
So, perhaps, a more rational approach would be to view the prostitute
as a possible victim and offer her counseling, as one would offer it to
any rape victim, and criminalize the act of paying for prostitution. (Say,
with a prison sentence of a few years, and a mandatory removal from
managerial work for life. Either that, or requiring that all decisions
involving hiring or firing be farmed out to a licensed consultant).
By the way, when I referred to "those of us" who would be finding
ourselves vulnerable in the paragraph before last, this was not an
oversight. Some young men may like the idea of prostitution becoming more
widespread, because they may want to buy. Setting aside the moral issue
for a second, here's a happy thought. Sexually undesirable men aren't the
only ones who have libidos. There are more than a few middle aged and
older women who like younger men, and some of them are in management,
too. I remember one, in particular, who openly and vocally relished the
notion of the young men in grad school paying their way through, that way.
She looked at me in much the same way that a lion looks at a wildebeast
in a nature special, before asking me how much I cost, as I got up and
left in disgust. Not all of the creeps out there are male. Be careful
about what you would wish on someone else. The same may end up being
inflicted on you. Even if your johns (or should I say, janes) are the
right gender, given your sexual orientation - not something that you will
necessarily be guaranteed.
Like it or not, in an "every man for himself" system, one is far
likelie to end up a victim than a victor, even if one has so little
emotional connection to those around one as to be able to view the
opportunity to so impose on another as a victory. The legalization of
prostitution would function as a major step in that direction.
Question : "Fine. So what is the alternative, that will
be so much better?"
Answer : click here
What is especially appalling is how comfortable "respectable" citizens
have become with policies that may lead to their own children being
cornered in this fashion. That, and the fact that they may do so, and
still be considered "respectable". It is enough to make one wonder just
how civilised this society actually is.
It can be hard to know who to trust. Ever notice, that whenever there
is an action such as the one in question, that would reduce a young
woman's desirability to the opposite sex, one can count on hearing from a
chorus of older women who think that it is the best thing that the young
woman can do for herself, or will at least try to argue that it isn't so
bad? Almost as if they wanted to be rid of a potential competitor for
their present mate or a future one, and saw nothing wrong with taking
advantage of her trust in them to lead her astray in order to do so.
Ever notice how more and more older men, seem to be growing fond of
playing the same game when dealing with their younger peers? It's enough
to make one wonder, if the growing demand for unconditional civility is
an attempt to mask an upsurge of passive aggression.
Question : "What gives you, a man, the right to speak about this?"
Answer : click here
As a closing note, since someone will bring it up, yes, there are many
private sources of scholarship money, a point that neo-conservatives love
to bring up. Lightly skipping over the fact that there are also many
students, too many for the funds available, and many won't qualify for
those available, such as the ethnicity or gender specific ones. (Like the
one at the University of Chicago, which was available to students of
Norwegian descent from Logansville, Illinois, who eventually wish to
practice dentistry, if I remember correctly). Following the lead set by
their perennial hero, former president Reagan, they offer half baked
ideas without examination, as if they were solutions, and indignantly
refuse to listen when the flaws in their plans are pointed out. A failing
the embrace of which, has become a matter of bipartisan consensus, sad to
say.
This commentary produced some responses off-line, one of which was the
following ...
If you're interested in this subject, here is an article by a group of
feminists who don't seem to view the legalisation of prostitution as being
at all liberating for women. One of the more than slightly interesting,
and disturbing notes to come out of this article has been that the
rhetoric of oppression has been used to stigmatize those opposed to
Mr.Cherry's so-called cause.Something for those who have defended
Political Correctness on the basis that speech codes are needed (for the
rest of us to be able to silence the creeps) to think about - the creeps can play
that game right back, and are likely to prevail because they have more
time and energy to waste on political infighting than anybody else.
The danger of making freedom of speech a negotiable issue can be seen
in bold relief at this point : by stifling the opposition, whether one
does so by browbeating it into silence or censoring it outright, one
can make the disappearance of that opposition so seamless that most
won't even know that it was ever there, or that there even is another
side to the issue. Do you really want to risk giving that kind of
power to the dregs of society, and do you really think that any real kind
of sensitivity is likely to result from having done so?
