Some snippits:

"young, cashed-up blokes who just want uncomplicated, no-strings attached sex."

Then from GOlisa
"By no means does prostiution replace an intimate caring relationship"

Runner has a good point "No one wants their daughter or wife to be one"

No matter how relaxed some who are invovled in this practice may appear on the surface, or.. to what level they have rationalized it into the 'there is nothing really right or wrong, and this works for me' basket....

I contend that the reduction of our bodies to the level of a commodity for sale, while at the same time, our bodies being the instrument of the expression of our deepest human desires and needs, -is damaging.

In Asia, they say you only object to the smell of pigs under the longhouse until you get used to it.. then..its the norm.

There is only a 'moral' issue here, if we accept that there is some moral standard to which we are all accountable. If we are nihilists, believing that there is nothing to believe in, prostitution is the least of our worries, as many worse things will arise with THAT foundation (mass genocide of inconvenient peoples).

When Jesus said to the woman caught in 'adultery' 'Go..and sin no more' (after those who were condemning her all faded away when he said "he who is without sin may cast the first stone").. he really mean't it. Sex outside of marraige 'is' Sin. It's no more 'sinful' than many other things we do in our own heads.. how we think of people etc, but it is sin, and while we can survive many other types, this one might do lasting damage.

One symptom of that damage would be a man who just wants "uncomplicated, no strings attached sex"

And Jesus said to the blind man. "What do you see"? He said "I see men, but like trees walking" Jesus touched his eyes again and he saw everything clearly.
Perhaps we all need that special touch.. from Him.

Hey Debbie

The clients would not be in the room without the money. You distract but fail to argue the basic premise of my original post.

I am sure you are a shining example of the lucky few that are able to exercise genuine choice in their lives. I am sure that you are indeed a part of the small minority of men and women who do like the work of prostitution. But just because your own story is so fantastic does not mean you should not support the provision of services to those who are not as privileged as yourself.

Indeed money is big motivator for all of us but only a few “choose” prostitution. As DavidJS has said – if it is such a fantastic career path why isn’t the rest of society fighting for those job’s rather than mostly the poor and disenfranchised? Why does the industry need to indenture the trafficked? And what about the wonderful relationship between pimps and workers?

You might be over it but you can only speak for your self. And as for “doesn't ring true” I think the readers can look at all these posts including yours and decide for themselves which ones “don’t ring true”.

Romany, whenever you read or write the plural form of an article(profession, objects, people, etc.)you do not have the advantage of calling for specifics to argue a generality. You have every right to interpret what you selectively read and omit with whatever attitude you wish to bring to any discussion. However you do not have the right to foster that selective reading or your negativity onto others as if they made you think in such a way. It's your interpretation own up to it. I'm certainly not going to apologise to you for your thinking on any subject. Try adopting a more holistic view of events not simply picking away while offering nothing in return but further divisiveness.
I'm speaking in general terms of what is taking place in Australia. If I started with specifics the 350 word limit wouldn't explain fully my opening sentence of each individual experience. I have highlighted both the professional and the victim with in prostitution. If women and children are being bound and secreted into Australia for the purpose of sexual exploitation then I suggest that it is not an issue of prostitution but a failure of the many institutions of Police.
Sex work should be about free choice and social responsibility and acceptance, not threat, coercion and physical abuse, or a backdrop for drug abuse. And the people, men and women doing such work shouldn't be pushed back off a street corner in the dark of night and maligned by the general public. You may feel less sexually threatened with such an arrangement but, that is where the threat to the prostitutes is most prevalent. With prostitution being kept in the dark. Something dirty and evil. And for anything to change, that attitude must change. The totality of the negatives of prostitution is inherent in the social attitudes towards sex, sexual behaviour and prostitution, and bringing these attitudes of sex into the light of day will go far in removing the abuses that occur by the action of keeping them confined to the night, unseen, unspoken.

billy - you and others ask why the rest of society is not fighting to get those jobs. Some ideas

- Social stigma attached to the job at the moment. Plenty of bigots around prepared to look down on sex workers and treat them as inferior. I guess that would put many of us off.
- Personal views about the morality of prostitution. There are a number of jobs which others do that I'd be reluctant to take on - lawyers make plenty of money and plenty of us have used their services who would not want the job.
- Ideas about job satisfaction and working conditions. My dentist makes a lot more money than me but I'm not keen for his job either.
- Personal views about sexuality and intimacy. People do all sorts of stuff sexually that most of us would not choose to do ourselves even if we accept others rights to do so.
- Inability of partners to deal with it. I suspect that not many partners are secure enough to cope with the associated issues of prostitution.
- The hours. I'm guessing that the job involves a lot of night work. Not ideal for all of us.
- Limited opportunities for a significant percentage of the population - I doubt that I'd make much. Gender, age, physical appearance etc all impact on ability to do well in that occupation. Just as there are not many elderly, obese women playing first grade Rugby League.

The list could go on but that might give you a start.

R0bert

Hey RObert

You forgot the mention the job risks: Broken condoms, (HIV & other infections), beatings, rape and verbal abuse just to name a few. Not to mention the conditions. No workers comp insurance in this field or income security for that matter. The one big ticket item you leave off your long list is GENUINE CHOICE. I think most people do not go into prostitution because they are able to exercise genuine choice in their lives not to. Many are not so privileged.

I would suggest that prostitution can only exist in societies where sex is regarded as disgusting and women are considered second-class citizens. People who speak out against prostitution are often called Victorian moralists. Interesting how Victorian London had a huge number of prostitutes in proportion to its population (see Priestley's The Victorians). There you had women who were "Madonnas" ie: the wives of so-called respectable businessmen. And you also had the "whores" condemned by the same middle-class keepers of virtue. Of course these supposed keepers of virtue were turning up to the nearest brothel and obviously leaving the wife at home. The existence of prostitution depends on lies and hypocrisy. And it also partly depends on the oppression of gays. If young men were not turfed out of home for being gay, business at The Wall in Darlinghurst would be down.

Getting rid of sexism and homophobia may be a tall order but it doesn't alter the fact that in sexist and homophobic societies, prostitution thrives. Not to mention badly paid working conditions in other jobs I've aluded to previously.