Sex Workers Want Respect

[Jeana (DP)]

I've got news for you ladies. If your husband wants to have sex with someone else, he's going to do it. Whether he pays for it or not. Making prostitution legal won't change it.

 

[windovervocalcords]

I've got news for you ladies. If your husband wants to have sex with someone else, he's going to do it. Whether he pays for it or not. Making prostitution legal won't change it.

But its not about anyone's husband per se Jeana. Its about protecting others from STD's and other related problems and that these women are still human beings.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

But its not about anyone's husband per se Jeana. Its about protecting others from STD's and other related problems and that these women are still human beings.

There is a legal brothel in Nevada. The women are given regular health checks (weekly I believe). What are the women on the street given? Have they EVER been checked? Its been happening since the beginning of time. Its going to continue to happen. I say make it legal, tax it, and give it a weekly heath check. Of course they're human beings and they're able to determine on their own what they want to do with their lives and that shouldn't be any of our business.

 

[newtv]

There is a legal brothel in Nevada. The women are given regular health checks (weekly I believe). What are the women on the street given? Have they EVER been checked? Its been happening since the beginning of time. Its going to continue to happen. I say make it legal, tax it, and give it a weekly heath check. Of course they're human beings and they're able to determine on their own what they want to do with their lives and that shouldn't be any of our business.

I agree my dear-its a profession and however they manage to survive it is all that matters..there will be alot less disease and so on if its not underground..anything underground is not good..it creates the conditions for evil-abuse-and all things bad.
I was part of the team who helped get money to reward for info on the missing women in BC who later became the victims of the PIG farmer..I was a Board member of the Police Dept at the time.
The Chiefs of Police would look me right in th eye and say there was no serial killer..later it came out that they had this guy in their scope for 10 years..and i mean documentation..upon documentation..they didnt care cuz these women were invisible and devalued.
But to meet the families of these women (or many of them), they were daughters, and sisters, and cousins and friends, yada..they were often loved more than most of us..and they were respected no matter what they did for a living.

I dont choose that path for myself but in lots of ways I say, But, for the grace of God go I. My family life was a nightmare-and I could have easily found myself in a very bad world..I didnt - all I can say is thank god...because its not that far outside the realm of possibilities for any of us who have alcoholic parents, abusive parents, parents who dont care where we are and so on.
I am not sure how loved kids go down that road but I do know that there are many who were loved a whole lot more than I, and were respected more too. And I am a high achiever-who never slept around at all in my younger years..(I try to sleep around all I can now..lol)..

 

[newtv]

Newtv-

Thank you for saying what I was thinking.

yw..its tuff to read such things isnt it.

 

[newtv]

Yes and our aids and STD's and other transmitted diseases? Thru the roof.
No, it's wrong and just plain nasty. Not all are on drugs, but a large percentage are. You would have to be. There are plenty of other jobs out there. So what if you have to pay taxes? As for the men, if there were no hookers there would be less of an issue! It's a degrading job and you do what you have to do to survive, but never an option here. I would work 5 jobs first.

the diseases u mention do not stem from prostitutes alone by any stretch..there are alot of upper crust-respectable taxpayers running around infecting those they sleep with every day..
there just isnt an argument to blame any of the worlds ills or evils on prostitutes.
Women choose to sleep with men for many reasons not always love..and as far as I am concerned there are many marriages that have the tone of prostitution (using the word literally to mean the exchange of money for sex).
How many women have had sex with a husband to keep him-so he will support her..and her children? How many women are especially sexual toward their husbands when they want something.
I am sure there are as many as there are prostitutes.
Sometimes the exchange between a prostitute and a man is more honest..they skip the dinner- the romance- the BS..and just say, "here take the money and dont waste my time).
Its just so much bigger an issue than this thinking includes.

 

[Old Broad]

It wouldn't bother me to have it legalized. The women who chose that work can have a good health care system and a pension plan.
When I was a young teen my mother and I were shopping at the grocery store and she saw an elderly woman with her bag of groceries start walking to the senior citizens apartment nearby. My mother offered her a ride and this lady was grateful, before we dropped her off she complimented me on my long red hair. Afterwards my mother told me that many years ago this woman had been a madam at the local "house" and she was probably thinking she wished she had me working for her back in the day!
Who knows what happens to cause a woman to become a prostitute, abuse can do a lot of damage both physically and mentally. I've known women who give it away so much you can't keep track of everyone they've been with. Legalizing it would help make things better for the women, I certainly don't see where it would make things any worse.

OB

 

[windovervocalcords]

yw..its tuff to read such things isnt it.

Ignorance is not always bliss.

 

[newtv]

Ignorance is not always bliss.

very true

 

[deanws]

Many women who become prostitutes are NOT on drugs.

Many of them have no other options.

I feel for those who work their fingers to the bone, and cannot get health insurance, but I also feel for women who cannot get a job ANYWHERE that
gives them health insurance or enough money to live in this very expensive country.

I feel that prostitution should be legalized and taxed. That way, it is
safer for everyone involved.

Oh, and if you think that prostitutes are corrupting your married men, keep this in mind: The MEN come looking for them!!

There are ALWAYS other options besides becoming a . JMO.

 

[deanws]

I would last about 2 minutes.:doh:

Most of the time...that is all it takes!

 

[Amraann]

I think your attitude toward these people borders on bigotry to be honest..they are people who respected men tend to sleep with or hurt or maime or whatever-its the oldest profession..so why is there no protection and respect..only because all of us who are not prostitutes devalue them to that place..I dont want to be one but I am no better than them.
And for the person who refers to them as Ho's..and concludes ho's dont deserve respect?? Ho is an attitude not a profession. There are many who could qualify as Ho's who make money other than via prostitution..it refers to a behaviour..Many prostitiutes are nicer than most people here tend to be when there is someone to tear down - especially a woman.

Bigotry??? Are you kidding?? I never said it should not be legal ... I merely pointed out the obvious if you want to be valued you value yourself first.
Don't sell your body and then cry for respect.
I don't know who these so called " respected men" are but I am fairly certain if a poll was done few here would respect the men either.
I did not say "Ho" I said Hooker which is infact an approriate term to describe a women who is in the profession of prostitution.

I am unclear as to what your comment about "people here" refers too but sounds to me like its some issue you have with WS not about HOOKERS.

In coinciding with your line of thinking then drug dealers should have respect as well?? I mean they to sell to some "very respected men" & women.
They devalue themselves by selling drugs why should society respect thier bad choices? Where do we draw the line?

 

[kazzbar]

If you want respect , stop being a hooker and selling your sex for money. They are never going to gain respect whilst men can buy them to do any degrading act they want them to. You want respect then earn it , honey!

 

[Marthatex]

Maybe "respect" is the wrong word to use.

Maybe they want "recognition of their profession"; or "benefits".

If they get benefits, protection or regulation; they'll have to pay taxes on their income; also maybe make alot less.

Drug dealers sell something bad for people and bad for society.

Maybe its the pimps who should be considered "bad"; is sex bad for people and bad for society?

 

[OneLostGrl]

newtv- I agree with most everything you have stated on this subject.

I'm not going to get into my reasons because they would cause issues and create drama that I'm not interested in... But, I will say this- NEVER say never, Ladies!!
You do not know what you would or would not do if you could not feed your children.
Seems to me, it'd be a hell of a loving mother willing to sell her body (and with selling her body, her soul gets a bit of a beating as well) to take care of her kids!

Minimum wage only pays so much and not all of us can afford to continue our education after highschool.

Imagine this- a mother must live and raise her children on $1,200 a month but rent is $600. and utilities are $400. Ooops, kids sorry, ya can't eat cuz all of mommys money is gone. Oh and don't get sick cuz mommy's job doesn't offer health insurance! Oops, wait a minute- mommy can't go to work anymore cuz she has no money for gas or car insurance!

 

[windovervocalcords]

newtv- I agree with most everything you have stated on this subject.

I'm not going to get into my reasons because they would cause issues and create drama that I'm not interested in... But, I will say this- NEVER say never, Ladies!!
You do not know what you would or would not do if you could not feed your children.
Seems to me, it'd be a hell of a loving mother willing to sell her body (and with selling her body, her soul gets a bit of a beating as well) to take care of her kids!

Minimum wage only pays so much and not all of us can afford to continue our education after highschool.

Imagine this- a mother must live and raise her children on $1,200 a month but rent is $600. and utilities are $400. Ooops, kids sorry, ya can't eat cuz all of mommys money is gone. Oh and don't get sick cuz mommy's job doesn't offer health insurance! Oops, wait a minute- mommy can't go to work anymore cuz she has no money for gas or car insurance!

Thank you for your post! You capture my feelings too.

We have some widely divergent views on this thread. It's a great topic. IMO I think we ought to take care to not start calling other women ho's. At some level any woman can be a "ho" in someone's eyes.

Travel to other parts of the world and see how the other half of the world lives. We don't even know what kind of choices women in other countries have due to the culture or the poverty. Are they all unworthy of respect and protection? We are likely talking about some very savvy working women in Vegas who have their act together and are demanding better working conditions.

This is an old feminist topic. Maybe some posters were not around in the days when the term feminism was something noble. (before the backlash, ie Rush relabelling liberated women "feminazi's")

"Carol Pateman in The Sexual Contract goes to some length to show that the prostitute is not really a wage laborer but rather an independent contractor who has it within her means to start or stop a transaction. Her contract is with a male customer and not an employer.24

WHISPER (Women Hurt In Systems of Prostitution) and COYOTE (Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics), are two prostitute organizations that hold widely divergent views on the issue of harm and degradation attributable to their profession. Some of the divergence in experience can be explained in terms of the nine categories of prostitution referred to earlier. In these categories the danger to the individual prostitute varies widely between the first four categories and the last five. Women in WHISPER may not have the same background or political skills those in COYOTE have. In both cases, prostitutes are led by their experiences to believe that prostitution is either very dangerous and degrading, or relatively safe.

One would not claim that WHISPER members have not experienced prostitution the way they describe it, nor would one deny that members of COYOTE have experienced prostitution the way they describe it. WHISPER is generally more involved with the experiences of women of color, and very poor white women, many of whom have had fewer educational advantages than COYOTE women. In addition, many of WHISPER’s members may have additional hurdles to overcome that are rarely encountered in COYOTE."
http://www.feministissues.com/liberal_feminism.html

http://dmoz.org/Society/Sexuality/Politics_of_Sexuality/Sex_Work/

 

[Jeana (DP)]

How come the feelings of this being disgusting aren't heaped on the men who seek out these women and pay for sex?

 

[Masterj]

How come the feelings of this being disgusting aren't heaped on the men who seek out these women and pay for sex?

EXACTLY. The women clearly seem to receive the blame. If there wasn't a market for what they are doing, they wouldn't be in that profession.

And I also agree with windovervocalcords - women need to stop calling other women ho's and . Those words are just so nasty and hateful.

 

[newtv]

Bigotry??? Are you kidding?? I never said it should not be legal ... I merely pointed out the obvious if you want to be valued you value yourself first.
Don't sell your body and then cry for respect.
I don't know who these so called " respected men" are but I am fairly certain if a poll was done few here would respect the men either.
I did not say "Ho" I said Hooker which is infact an approriate term to describe a women who is in the profession of prostitution.

I am unclear as to what your comment about "people here" refers too but sounds to me like its some issue you have with WS not about HOOKERS.

In coinciding with your line of thinking then drug dealers should have respect as well?? I mean they to sell to some "very respected men" & women.
They devalue themselves by selling drugs why should society respect thier bad choices? Where do we draw the line?

prostitutes are not drug dealers
and there is no respect whatsoever in your attitude toward these women and men who exchange money for sex honestly..there is nothing hidden-they will do what u want if u pay them.
I have issues with attitudes not people-I wouldnt be able to name one person here that I have a personal issue with- I can describe attitudes from posts at any moment..I think you made a big error in how u described these people and you are not going to now dump it on me..stick to the issue..your post was blatantly in poor taste and now you try to bring drug dealers into it.
I am all for charging pimps and drug dealers-the prostitutes are not one and the same..why not just own that your attitude toward them is hateful..its not about deflecting to a whole other level of criminal such as drug dealers-or about playing on emotions about who I might have issues with..I have issues with attitudes and in this case it is yours.

 

[newtv]

newtv- I agree with most everything you have stated on this subject.

I'm not going to get into my reasons because they would cause issues and create drama that I'm not interested in... But, I will say this- NEVER say never, Ladies!!
You do not know what you would or would not do if you could not feed your children.
Seems to me, it'd be a hell of a loving mother willing to sell her body (and with selling her body, her soul gets a bit of a beating as well) to take care of her kids!

Minimum wage only pays so much and not all of us can afford to continue our education after highschool.

Imagine this- a mother must live and raise her children on $1,200 a month but rent is $600. and utilities are $400. Ooops, kids sorry, ya can't eat cuz all of mommys money is gone. Oh and don't get sick cuz mommy's job doesn't offer health insurance! Oops, wait a minute- mommy can't go to work anymore cuz she has no money for gas or car insurance!

and I agree with you..