*Despite this view, I don't always think there is respect shown the sex worker. Much of the feeling is more in line with contempt even by the men that use those services.*

Ah Pelican, the keyword there is "always". I don't think it applies
to "the wife" either.

Fact is that sex workers are indeed far more honest then your
common gold digger.

So glad they kissed and made up.

Pelican you know r0bert needs your approval and affirmation so much! He might get patronising and manipulative, but that's just because he's hurt and feels rejected. You're a good woman. A true nurturer:-)

'I don't always think there is respect shown the sex worker. Much of the feeling is more in line with contempt even by the men that use those services'

Do you think there is respect for the client? Do you think the sex worker respects the client at all? I think respect is for loving relationships, not for transactions of money for sex. Courtesy should always be expected.

I think pelican, basically, you think that the idea of men paying women for sex is men disrespecting women for a start. But why isn't women demanding money to sleep with a guy disrespectful too?

I suppose you see the monetary rewards not adequate compensation for sleeping with a stranger. But the price is set by the sex worker. It's all wrapped up with the expression 'men buying women', and as Perter Hume says that is total BS. They are buying the services of a woman who uses her body to work. Just like any occupation. It's a specialised service I'll grant that, but the monetary rewards reflect that.

PS: I feel really sad when people talk about relationships like this 'The paid transaction between John's and sex-worker's seems a lot more honest than the way a lot of people conduct other sexual transactions.'

I don't think this is true at all. Now most people have nothing on me and my level of cynicism, but I've only ever experienced people being pretty honest with the way they conduct sexual transactions. Prostitution is more explicit and transparent, but I don't see it as any more honest.

pelican,

'It is the same attitude that portrays promiscuous women as 'sluts' while men are championed as sowing their oats. '
The whole slut think is only the other side of the coin to my analysis of the way men's sexual desire is portrayed.

You cant have it both ways! If men are the predators, the perverts, the abusers, etc, and the women are the pure, the innocent etc as in my post above, then THAT is where the slut word comes from; A woman breaking out of the virtuous pedestal that they enjoy by default.

So, if you want to destroy the slut phenomena, this supposed hypocrisy, you have to destroy the male as dirty perverted predatory abuser stereotype.

Feminists the world over are perpetuating the slut phenomena with the constant victim positioning of women in any sexual encounter and any sexualised arena. They make it impossible for women to be seen as sexually assertive adults capable of lustful desire, and hence when a woman does undeniably display these natural female attributes she is thought of as a slut.

" I'd imagine visiting a prostitute wouldn't really be satisfying either - as it would be a physcial act without emotional intimacy. But I guess people do these things when they're desperately lonely - So I do not judge. "

Whilst it can vary from client to client, worker to worker I feel confident in saying in a broad sense you'd imagine wrong.

Plenty of people who see sex workers do so for more than to get their rocks off. Sex workers are people they are not soulless machines, they are well capable of listening and all too often caring. Crazy I know -but hear me out.

What type of service and situation people seek depends on the person - some seek release or kink. Some want to connect with another person some sex workers have more personal barriers and may have an imagined life of which they share with their clients. There is more to being a good sex worker than your ability to create pleasurable friction.

Personally, I don't do the fake life details, not my style. The time i share with my clients is that - share, yes my aim may be different to theirs, in that my main goal is to make them happy, and it is not about my personal needs. Listening, sharing, talking, laughing, cuddling kissing these thing go along way to creating a sense of emotional intimacy. It is no more effort to suspend belief than it is with a psychologist.

Like a social worker, i do care about the people I meet, but I can keep it in a separate little box where it does not bleed into my life and bring me down.

"melanie, if you are really a sex worker then you can work that out for yourself - you would know the safest arrangements."

Firstly, a quick google and you will see I really am a sex worker, and you'll find me on TV (Secret sex lives of Australian Men and Women - Lifestyle You and Insight -SBS) and in print Cosmopolitain and MX).

But you are totally correct - sex workers are the most qualified to make that decision and judgement for themselves.

With regards to already illegal activities, these are separate to the typically defined establishments.

Drug dependency is a social issue presumably if people are in this situation they ill require a good income to continue or support to change. How you get that income if you wished to continue is a choice.

Any type of forced labour is already something to be controlled separately and is not something that is limited to the sex industry, or any particular work models within it.

Protection from violence, is something that should be afforded to any person regardless of where they happen to stand or work.The article insinuates that is is due at least in part to the view of sex workers as vulnerable, and less likely to be noticed, the isolation and secrecy which comes from criminalisation and stigmatisation. Basically if sex workers are seen by society as a whole as equally valued people then this sort of violence is likely to no longer be disproportional.

Interesting melanie. That Lifestyle show is coming up by the looks - will watch if if I am not working. I acknowledge that there are sex workers who are not vulnerable in the same way as in those other scenarios mentioned in the above posts.

I do believe you when you say your work is sometimes like that of a social worker. Many of your clients must be lonely and in need of some comfort.

People, including me, may hold stereotypical views about sex work and sex workers although there is some a difference between the various ways people can offer these services from high class escorts to street work. I wonder if the independent sex worker or one who works in a more reputable establishment can be compared to those who are more vulnerable in less than satisfactory conditions.

I have worked with many people in law enforcement and the stories about some of the brothels don't always paint a picture of women in control of their destinies.