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jhameiaSo, with the whole Eliot Spitzer scandal and all, there's been reignited discussion again on sex work and whether a person can advocate for sex work and still be feminist (or equalist, or progressive, or what-have-you).
Now, I understand it when people say that prostitution shouldn't be legalized more on economics - the economics required to maintain the cleanliness, fairness and basic human rights of the sex industry would be enormous. I mean, look at those big capitalist corporations which turn out corrupt - it would take a LOT of power-restructuring and labour to prevent shit from happening.
I have a problem when people argue against prostitution on the basis of morality, because more often than not, it just diminishes a woman - that the most precious thing a woman has is her body, and thus she should do all that she can to preserve it and not spread it around. It's pretty much dictating what a woman can or cannot do with her own body (and not just women, but men too), and this kind of tripe is found in a LOT of discourse, from the feminist to the progressive to the religious.
And look, if a woman likes sex, likes having sex, and likes sleeping with different men in order to gain an income, what should she be stopped from doing it? She's providing a service, which is obviously appreciated. Why make prostitution illegal then? Seems like most of the problems with prostitution doesn't stem from the prostitutes themselves - they stem from the clients: clients who don't see the prostitutes as people, but as objects to be hurt, demeaned and abused.
Abusing a prostitute for being a prostitute is like abusing a kid in a minimum wage job - both are powerless to stop it, both often work it because there's little else they'd rather do (or can do), and most importantly, both are still human beings, no matter what the job they do. They're not the ones exploiting people - they're the ones being exploited. If a sex worker wants to exploit hirself, rather than subject hirself to being overworked by some boss, then that's pretty much at their discretion, right? They're not hurting anybody, and they open themselves to being hurt. And it's stupid to say stuff like "of course they're going to be hurt; they put themselves in positions where they will be".
HELLO, ACCOUNTABILITY?
If I get hurt by someone, it's not because I was asking for it; it's because that someone who hurt me? HURT ME. Let's put responsibility where it belongs: people wouldn't get hurt if there weren't people out there who get off on hurting others.
Back to the politics of the body. If I want to rent my body out (I wanted to say "sell" but then I realized, even if I did sell it, it's still attached to my brain and thus me, and thus, still mine), why should I get shunned for it? Why should I be accused of "not respecting myself"?
There are three things which should be ours: our body, our mind and our spirit.
People are constantly trying to manipulate or control our minds - look at the rhetoric of the politicians, the guilt-tripping of family and friends, the education we receive. And we let this happen.
Our spirits, too, are at risk when we work hard jobs that are mind-numbing, dead-end, boring, without respite and we get no respect from our employers. On a regular basis, people out there are having their spirits broken in a multitude of ways.
So if we can allow our minds to be manipulated and our spirits to be broken by other people, why the hell can't we rent out our bodies to be used by others as well, as long as it is on our own terms?
Now, I understand it when people say that prostitution shouldn't be legalized more on economics - the economics required to maintain the cleanliness, fairness and basic human rights of the sex industry would be enormous. I mean, look at those big capitalist corporations which turn out corrupt - it would take a LOT of power-restructuring and labour to prevent shit from happening.
I have a problem when people argue against prostitution on the basis of morality, because more often than not, it just diminishes a woman - that the most precious thing a woman has is her body, and thus she should do all that she can to preserve it and not spread it around. It's pretty much dictating what a woman can or cannot do with her own body (and not just women, but men too), and this kind of tripe is found in a LOT of discourse, from the feminist to the progressive to the religious.
And look, if a woman likes sex, likes having sex, and likes sleeping with different men in order to gain an income, what should she be stopped from doing it? She's providing a service, which is obviously appreciated. Why make prostitution illegal then? Seems like most of the problems with prostitution doesn't stem from the prostitutes themselves - they stem from the clients: clients who don't see the prostitutes as people, but as objects to be hurt, demeaned and abused.
Abusing a prostitute for being a prostitute is like abusing a kid in a minimum wage job - both are powerless to stop it, both often work it because there's little else they'd rather do (or can do), and most importantly, both are still human beings, no matter what the job they do. They're not the ones exploiting people - they're the ones being exploited. If a sex worker wants to exploit hirself, rather than subject hirself to being overworked by some boss, then that's pretty much at their discretion, right? They're not hurting anybody, and they open themselves to being hurt. And it's stupid to say stuff like "of course they're going to be hurt; they put themselves in positions where they will be".
HELLO, ACCOUNTABILITY?
If I get hurt by someone, it's not because I was asking for it; it's because that someone who hurt me? HURT ME. Let's put responsibility where it belongs: people wouldn't get hurt if there weren't people out there who get off on hurting others.
Back to the politics of the body. If I want to rent my body out (I wanted to say "sell" but then I realized, even if I did sell it, it's still attached to my brain and thus me, and thus, still mine), why should I get shunned for it? Why should I be accused of "not respecting myself"?
There are three things which should be ours: our body, our mind and our spirit.
People are constantly trying to manipulate or control our minds - look at the rhetoric of the politicians, the guilt-tripping of family and friends, the education we receive. And we let this happen.
Our spirits, too, are at risk when we work hard jobs that are mind-numbing, dead-end, boring, without respite and we get no respect from our employers. On a regular basis, people out there are having their spirits broken in a multitude of ways.
So if we can allow our minds to be manipulated and our spirits to be broken by other people, why the hell can't we rent out our bodies to be used by others as well, as long as it is on our own terms?
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Re: Comment Part I
Date: 2008-03-22 04:15 am (UTC)Based on the idea that the couple hasn't discussed anything about open relations or anything like that. I understand there are couples who have open relationships to I just wanted to note that.