I was going to put an even nastier title to this post but I don't want this blog to get into any smut filters. In short, the wackoes in Berkeley are at it again - they want to decriminalize prostitution.
I consider myself to be a feminist, but I cannot understand how this is a "woman's issue". It seems to me that the people who are going to benefit most by the decriminalization of prostitution are the pimps, who will not have to worry about their 'stable' getting busted and therefore be able to make more money for them, and of course the customers, who will be able to buy as much sex as they want without having to worry about police sting operations.
Backers of the measure insist that prostitution is a societal mainstay, a commodity in perennial demand. Therefore, it should be treated like any other job and have unions, government workplace protections, fair wages, insurance and legal recourse for workers who face abuse or civil rights violations
What planet are these people on? Women who go into the sex trade don't do it becuse it's a 'good job' or has the potential to be one. They do it because for whatever combination of reasons (poor self-esteem, bad coping skills, lack of education, drug addiction, etc) they can't do anything else. What we should be doing is helping prosititues get the skills and self-confidence they need to stop being prostitiutes, not helping them stay in the sex trade.


Comments (2)
What about self-employed prostitutes? They do exist. From what I read, it's mostly the women, not the pimps, who are prosecuted under the current system. Decriminalization might actually help them, as they wouldn't be living in fear of the law and dependent on the pimps to "protect" them.
Posted by elswhere | September 18, 2004 12:25 PM
Oh, um, and hi. I found your blog a couple of months ago from a random google search [we went to the same summer camp a long long time ago]. I don't even usually post political stuff or comments, so I'm not sure what just got into me just now. Anyway. Hi. Hope all's well with you. Sorry to double-post. Shana Tovah.
--elswhere, who played the maid in The Children's Hour circa 1980
Posted by elswhere | September 18, 2004 12:31 PM