Have a Care for Them, Too
Sometimes society just has to hold its nose, in all fairness, to be decent and fair and to guarantee for a vulnerable group the same security that all of society relies upon. Prostitution is an industry that grew with humankind. Sex as a commodity to be traded. As sordid as it is, it sure as hell beats rape. And the most respected members of society are among those who regularly seek out this kind of sex.
Which is no reason to respect either them or the practise, but it does point to a simple fact of life: prostitution is a fact of life.
Its extirpation as a representation of low-lifing misery that often captures helpless and vulnerable women and young girls who may turn to prostitution as a last desperate attempt to support themselves, would be a perceived bonus to society. But no society has ever yet been successful in legislating prostitution out of existence.
Which is why the trade carries on, with public distaste for its presence, and the law breathing down the necks of those who ply that trade.
If men did not actively, continually and determinedly seek out sex-for-hire, there would be no such sex trade. Where there is a market, there will arise a contingent anxious to serve that market for a profit. And even when we speak of a marketplace fraught with danger, physical and psychological stress, health concerns with the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, there are buyers and there are sellers.
Women who prostitute themselves are held in general societal contempt. They have fallen so far there is no esteem for them as human beings. And because they are viewed as fallen creatures when they come to harm, it seems society barely blinks. And that's just wrong.
You don't have to feel that prostitution is a good thing, that it services an industry and serves a practical purpose, to feel that women in the trade are deserving of protection. Decency demands it.
Denying them that protection under the law because we deem their pursuit disgusting is demeaning to us as human beings. They are human beings worthy of being cared about and for. What is it precisely that makes them less worthwhile and worth caring about than the world-famous cardiac surgeon who seeks to have himself serviced by a street prostitute?
Which is no reason to respect either them or the practise, but it does point to a simple fact of life: prostitution is a fact of life.
Its extirpation as a representation of low-lifing misery that often captures helpless and vulnerable women and young girls who may turn to prostitution as a last desperate attempt to support themselves, would be a perceived bonus to society. But no society has ever yet been successful in legislating prostitution out of existence.
Which is why the trade carries on, with public distaste for its presence, and the law breathing down the necks of those who ply that trade.
If men did not actively, continually and determinedly seek out sex-for-hire, there would be no such sex trade. Where there is a market, there will arise a contingent anxious to serve that market for a profit. And even when we speak of a marketplace fraught with danger, physical and psychological stress, health concerns with the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, there are buyers and there are sellers.
Women who prostitute themselves are held in general societal contempt. They have fallen so far there is no esteem for them as human beings. And because they are viewed as fallen creatures when they come to harm, it seems society barely blinks. And that's just wrong.
You don't have to feel that prostitution is a good thing, that it services an industry and serves a practical purpose, to feel that women in the trade are deserving of protection. Decency demands it.
Denying them that protection under the law because we deem their pursuit disgusting is demeaning to us as human beings. They are human beings worthy of being cared about and for. What is it precisely that makes them less worthwhile and worth caring about than the world-famous cardiac surgeon who seeks to have himself serviced by a street prostitute?
posted by Pieface | 6:55 PM
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