What is your opinion on sex work?

Oatsteak, 2 years ago

If you have to pay someone to have sex with you, they don't actually want to have sex with you. If you're still willing to take advantage, you're a rapist. Simple as that.

OnishiMyers, 2 years ago

If you have to pay someone to have sex with you, they don’t actually want to have sex with you. If you’re still willing to take advantage, you’re a rapist. Simple as that.

How is that different than say... if you have to pay someone to tar your roof, they don't want to tar your roof, If you are willing to take advantage you are a slaver?

Now don't get me wrong, sex work has much worse track record of abuse than manual labor, though I would also say it's quite probable that is because of it's underground nature... criminalized things attract criminals, same way that illegal marijuana results in drug dealing groups that commit horrible crimes and shootings defending their territories etc...

Oatsteak, 2 years ago

Slaves don't get paid, so there's that. I get what you're saying though. But all work under capitalism is exploitative so I don't think there's a contradiction there.

And look, there is obviously a difference between paying a sex worker for their uh, services, and violently assaulting someone. But you know... Semantics. It's still having sex with someone who doesn't actually want to have sex with you.

OnishiMyers, 2 years ago

See but there's the point, Assuming the sex worker is, being paid fairly, and chosing to do it for the money, I can't see it as drastically different than someone doing any other task for the purposes of collecting a paycheck.

Now with both there is the exploitive nature of systems in general. IE a boss, corporation or pimp that takes 90% of the income for the product of other peoples work. Exploitive systems that force people to work in situations which they get only a fraction of the value of their work to the person, under threats of starvation, deportation, homelessness etc....

I still fail to find the killer statement on why sex work is really that different from regular work. Again asside from higher frequency of blatant abusers, and human traffickers forcing people into sex slavery.

But the general idea, cutting out possible abusive bosses, captors etc... on both scenerios.

I fail to see a difference between.

A person, accepting an offer to have sex with someone, in pre-agreed upon ways, for a pre-agreed upon price, doing what she offered to do, and recieving the agreed upon payment on completion.

A person, agreeing to an offer to paint someone's house, to an agreed upon standard, for an agreed upon price and recieving a payment on completion.

Both of these tasks carry risks, working on a house contains risks of injury from falling, toll on body due to repetitive stress injuries, possible chemical hazards from paint/thinner etc... which also can be factored into the price. As the sex worker has risks of diseases etc...

Now yes, in either situation if human trafficking is involved. If the person painting the house, or having sex is not actually free, is actually working under threat of death and the payment is going to some other person, that is a horrific situation.

But my point is the actual nature of transactionally "selling your body". In which case, both of these situations are more or less doing the exact same thing. It's effectively renting yourself, accepting the damage you are doing to your body in the process of this activity, giving up your time doing a task you probably are not enjoying in this context (though there's nothing wrong with it if you do enjoy the task even in this context), in exchange for money.

Oatsteak, 2 years ago

You don't see the difference between paying someone to fix your roof and paying someone to have sex with you?

Edit: Sorry, I'm not trying to be a dick. I just want you to elaborate. I agree that both sex work and... non-sex work is exploitative under capitalism, but I mean beyond that, don't you agree that sex work is a hell of a lot more dehumanizing and risky than re-tiling a roof is?

Not saying sex work should be illegal btw. That just seems to make things worse.

OnishiMyers, 2 years ago

It's not something I would want (for me I wouldn't enjoy sex in a transaction situation) , but no assuming consent, both parties being mentally able and un-coerced enough to decide whether the transaction is worth it to both of them. I do not see anything inherently different in those transactions. Now for some having sex is a high psychological toll... for some it is less of a toll, same could be said for painting, for some the physical toll of climbing and painting would totally wreck their bodies and cause serious injury, for some they would be more than able to.

Sex is just an action the human body can do. It comes with risks, it can be enjoyable to some, it can be degrading or painful to some in different situations. I see nothing wrong with anyone chosing to take those actions. There is of course something wrong with people being co-erced, forced to do things they don't want to do, and not being compensated fairly for what they chose to do.

arthur, 2 years ago

What an unhinged take. Have you ever even talked to a sex worker before?

Ghast, 2 years ago

My opinion is that sex work should be legal.

Yay.

It would enable involuntary virgins to get a good sex experience for payment;

Oh dear...

tracyspcy, 2 years ago

A product of capitalism

Ghast, 2 years ago

So other systems didn't have sex work? Feaudalism, theocracy, autocracy, none of them had sex work? This developed only once competitive businesses in the Victorian era began trading?

yxzi, 2 years ago

No one should get control over someone else's body without true consent. Taking money as a bribe does not equal consent. Getting laid should take some effort. Putting money on the table doesn't count as effort.

The thing is that mind and body can't be divided, at least in the long run. Abuse to someone's body is abuse to someone's mind. There is always the risk that people abuse their "right" they "earned" with their dirty money.

It's not the same as rape, but sex without sympathy is mentally unhealthy.

However, paying money to just talk to someone is more acceptable, albeit not necessary in an ideal world.

ree, 2 years ago

Your logic can be extended to all type of work. Destroying your health in a mine for a salary has similar conesequence. And for that reason sex work is just work and should be treated and legislated as such.

Btw, I don't see why getting laid should requiere effort, seems like an unnecessary value judgment.

pH3ra, 2 years ago

Countries where sex work is legal and regulated (Holland, Germany, Canada, Australia...) all registered sensible drops in human traffic, venereal disease spreading and rapes.People sell their bodies for food or money since the dawn of time and always will, like it or not. Keeping it illegal only favors criminal organizations and fodders a culture in which people are not allowed to do what they want with their own body, whether it is selling it, changing it or whatever. Edit: added links to studies made by people smarter than me.