george carlin on prostitution
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My Tweets- amanda_brooks: @AllyFiesta Yes. Very. It's anti-prostitution rhetoric under the guise of anti sex trafficking.
- amanda_brooks: @Doctor_David I'm going to. Part of the big plan. :)
- amanda_brooks: Finished "The Industrial Vagina" by Shelia Jeffreys. This is not a book to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.
- amanda_brooks: @Riley_Nicole Thank you! On its way. Slowwwwlllllyyyyy :)
- amanda_brooks: @thebellasecret Thank you! I discussed it from a marketing perspective but not a "what do you do with the time?" perspective. Blog idea!
Geeky
I've discovered the pleasure of working with Brian Gardner's WP themes. His Revolution is mind-blowing and he's actually a nice guy. Although his work is easy to use right out of the box, there's infinite fun to be had by customizing (i.e., destroying) it. As you can see here.
Yeah, but pleasure is against some peoples’ religion.
JW,
Apparently so.
A cartoon in Playboy: a young woman leaving a church tells the pastor “If sex is dirty and degrading and will ruin my life, why should I save it for someone I love?” (I’m paraphrasing, but that was close.)
XX
I’m all for prostitution.
Except there aren’t any hot chicks offering me money to have sex with them. WTF?!
Ian
Ian,
Yours is the lament of men everywhere.
XX
It seems like everyone is thinking along the same lines. The illegalality and immorality of prostitution is likely rooted in religious beliefs. It does seem silly that it is illegal in all but one state.
Laura,
Religious values based on what? The purity of a woman’s womb? The purity of a man’s bloodline? I examined part of that line of thinking over here.
It is illogical though, especially since the modern American woman is supposed to be her own boss. Apparently it’s okay to place a value on a woman’s sexuality, as long as she doesn’t take matters into her own hands. I think that’s where the real “logic” comes in and it’s at such a base level people don’t even realize it.
My $0.02, of course.
XX
I think it should be made legal!
You are all ignorant. Don’t you know that prostitution is demeaning to women?! It shows that we should be nothing more than a toy to be played wit hand then tossed to the side. I’m all for sexual liberation, but don’t be F’in stupid! GET A REAL JOB!
First, sex work is a REAL job. Might not be socially acceptable, but it is indeed a very real job — real money, real effects. It’s absolute reality.
Secondly, I and the people I know are not demeaned by sex work. We all have bad days and bad experiences. If we feel demeaned, we leave. Mostly, we do not and so we stay. We like sex work.
Third, no one says you have to like sex work or be a sex worker. So don’t. No one is demanding that of you. But you do have to realize that other people make choices different from you. It does not affect you because it’s their lives, not yours!
Fourth, it has to do with worker rights and womens’ rights, not sexual liberation. Don’t confuse the two.
Men often form long-term relationships with their paid companions and do not form these relationships with free one-night stands they picked up in a bar.
A woman in control of her life, living independently of the system and demanding respect is not a toy. Few men are stupid enough to think so. A lot of women, like yourself, only see the surface.
@Ey ya!
You say you’re all for sexual liberation but view prostitution as demeaning to women. Hmm…I’m not sure if you are aware of this or not, but there are tons of feminists who say the same thing about your sexual liberation. I can give you a list and several blog links if you like. They would also tell you, as you so eloquently told Amanda, et.al., “don’t be F’in stupid!” because all “sexual liberation” is just another way for men to control women.
Aspasia,
Oh yes! Thank you for another perspective. You are so right — all the “real” feminists believe ANY woman putting out to a man is demeaning and undermining all women.
XX
I agree. Why should it be so illegal? And what is really so immoral about it? I don’t understand. If men can captilize on their gifts and attributes why not women? I think it holds a certain respect and as long as you are happy doing it I don’t see why anyone else should stop you.
Niki,
Preaching to the choir!
Though I really think men have an issue with women making the most of their natural gifts — somehow men seem to feel that detracts from them. Which is not true.
XX
You see Amanda and Aspasia, sexual liberation is fine. It means a women can choose to sleep with any man she wants. But very few women actually say you know what when I grow up I want to be a prostitute.
Most women in prostituion are there because of poverty not just in this country but around the wolrd. Which means that either you were not able to find a job and had to find some way to support yourselves. There will always be men who will pay for sex.
Because of that I will not say that prostitutes are demeaning to women or that prostitution is demeaning. But rather I will say it is circumtances that make a women feel like she has no other choice. It is because of that I do not want prostitution to be legal, the issue is porverty, and I want those who are poor to have access to help and organisation helping men and women who do not have jobs to find jobs and while waiting providing support to help the poor.
As a women I just can’t imagine any women wanting to be a prostitute for her career. I do see that there is something wrong if you feel you have to sell yourselves because you are desperate. I am sorry but I don’t see selling sex as just nother form of business, I just feel most women do not wnat to have sex for money. I just don’t think a woman should have to that. I do not agree with the way EY YA put it but I honestly believe if a woman could get another job, if she did not believe this was only her choice as she has to make money somehow, she will not be in prostitution.
What about those women who are forced into prostitution, what about human trafficking and sex slaves from asia.
I honestly believe society needs to end prostitution, and help women find jobs becasue really proverty is the real reason a woman would only go into prostitution. Desperation.
I don’t understand why people have this perception that feminist hate men or that feminist do not want sexual liberation for women. As much as I loved George Carlin, I never understood his beef with feminism and I think feminism only get’s a bad rep because guys like him just perpetuate the stereotype.
Yas,
Since you’re on a sex worker’s blog deciding to pass judgement and “educate” Aspasia and me about sex work — well, you’ve got to understand that we have the right to our lives and our beliefs as well (just like you do). There are PLENTY of other women also enjoy sex work and made it their chosen work — just like us. The stereotype of desperation leading to prostitution is a stereotype. There are plenty of poor, desperate women who do NOT choose sex work because it doesn’t appeal to them. That’s their choice, just as it’s a choice to enter sex work.
Keeping it criminal doe NOT help the person involved. Tell me — if you’re desperately trying to make ends meet, how does being arrested and having a record possibly help you? Few employers want to hire someone with a prostitution-arrest record.
Decriminalizing prostitution is one way of helping. Legalizing is NOT the answer, few sex workers want it legalized. Simply removing the legal stigma through decrminalization will go a long way to protecting every sex worker. I’m not going to go into the points here, there are plenty of other places online where this is covered.
Nor am I going to go into the whole trafficking-hysteria and “resuce” industry. That’s covered in other places as well. Suffice to say — it’s a load of shit. The people who truly need help are ignored and continue to suffer, the people who get the “help” are generally adults who are sex workers by choice. Not effective policy.
You should know that feminists are often very anti-sex and VERY anti-sex worker. I used to be proud to call myself a feminist because I believed what I was doing was the ultimate in feminist expression. Now that I know more about the feminist movement, I prefer to refer to myself as a sex worker, not a feminist. This change in thinking came from hearing what feminists think of me (and women like me) — not from anything a man said. Again, this is covered very well on other sex worker blogs. The things so-called feminists say to and about sex workers is worse than almost anything I’ve heard men say.
If you truly educate yourself on the issues at hand, instead of believing what you’re told to believe, you will find your opinions changing. This has nothing to do with sexual liberation — it has everything to do with human rights.
XX
wish i felt attractive and wanted sexually. call me to talk.how do i feel desired when physically, emotionally i realize i am such a vile disgusting creature? any help? i have no friends, no character, black and puddle of pathetic deserved loathing by others and self.
ND,
Have no idea what you’re trying to say, but I removed the phone number you posted on the chance that the number was not actually yours.
Ian, I feel your pain:)
For those of you who feel the need to tell Amanda how she feels, I would suggest YOU get a real job.
David,
Well said.
XX
I just recently came across your blog and have loved following along with your writings on the escort business, life after and publishing ( as a side note, I am wishing you all the best in regards to getting your books out there. They sound extremely interesting and I look forward to reading them). However, I wanted to see if I could get some clarification on this particular subject. What exactly is the difference between legalization of prostitution versus decriminalization of prostitution? I’ve noticed from following your blog that this subject has come up several times and I just wanted to find out the difference. And just to add my 2 cents, I do not consider prostitution or escort work degrading to women nor do I understand why it is still illegal. In most cases (excluding sex slaves and human trafficking), any woman who chooses to enter the trade, enters in of her own free will. She makes a choice ( I guess I should also say he, just for political correctness). Therefore, by continuing to make prostitution illegal, the government (and the various people who “influence” it through whatever means) are once again forcing their own opinions and religious beliefs on the majority of the general public. In a certain way, it kind of reminds me of the abortion debate. Why should anyone else have the right to say what a woman willing does with her body? I’m not trying to open a can of worms with that particular statement, it is just that the parallels between the two are striking. Anyway, love your blog and thanks for answering my original question if you’re able to get around to it.
Shawna,
Thanks for the kind words!
To start with, though there are some real and dangerous issues surrounding prostitution — a LOT of these dangers come from the illegal status of it. Which is WHY sex worker activists desire legal change in order to protect all sex workers, whether they are there by choice or not. Those who are NOT there by choice will have more safe options to get out than when they’re considered criminals. Unfortunately, most people in power do not see things this way.
Though the majority of sex workers are women, there are plenty of male and transgendered sex workers too! And we ALL want the laws out of our bedrooms and off our bodies! For instance, professional sports and fashion modeling require heavy use of the workers’ bodies, yet don’t come with such legal desires to micromanage the body.
The difference between legalization and decriminalization (as its commonly understood in the US) is the difference between regulation, liscensing and arbitrary rules, vs the simple legal freedom to work for yourself without fear of arrest and having legal/medical resources you can use without fear.
There was some great discussion here:
http://www.realprincessdiaries.com/2008/11/towards-a-new-proposition-k/
which touched on New Zealand, currently felt to be the world’s most successful decrim model, and discussion of regulation via the Nevada brothel system here:
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2009/02/09/resisting-sex-panic-sex-workers-struggle-evidencebased-regulation-nevada
So, there’s a start for you!
XX
Hello,
I’ve just discovered this blog today and want to commend you on speaking your piece openly and publicly, helping to dispel the popular myths enshrouding this profession.
As a fellow sex worker and “reformed” feminist, I too tire of having our own unique perspectives denied and ignored in favor of unchallenged, widely-accepted stereotypes and misperceptions. I’m not trafficked and never have been, having always worked independently. As I’ve explained to people for years: I may have entered this business due to financial desperation, but I stayed because it turned out to be a genuinely worthwhile experience. Are there downsides and dangers? Yes. But that doesn’t detract from my right to decide what’s best for me. My choices may not be popular or well-understand, but they’re still my choices to make.
Because of my involvement in the industry, I was able to put myself through college, having graduated in October with a Bachelor of Science degree. I am the first person in my direct (blood) lineage to EVER receive a bachelor’s degree (my uncle having completed an associate’s degree and my mother attended but never finished college). That’s a big deal to me. And now that my degree is attained, I STILL am choosing to remain involved in escorting. How desperate does that sound?
After 6 years in, I can foresee my continued involvement in this profession for many moons to come. Why? Because, unlike selling out in Corporate America, I feel as though I have a large measure of control and autonomy in my job, which gives me great satisfaction. Beyond that, my morals and ethics aren’t nearly as compromised doing this as they were while working in demeaning, low-paying positions out there in “civie” society.
Is it so incomprehensible to believe that some people enjoy sex and the companionship of others enough to where they choose it as a means of supporting their livelihood? I don’t subscribe to Puritanical doctrine or modern religion and therefore don’t view sex and intimacy in the negative light that has become the all-too-common perception. An contrary to popular assumption, you don’t have to come from a broken home or have a drug addiction to choose prostitution.
But I’m preaching to the choir here. Thanks Amanda for providing this venue and outlet!
And please excuse my many typos.
AM,
Congrats on obtaining your degree! I stripped through my last year of college and I didn’t have to take out student loans that year! Made me wish I’d started sooner. Sex work can be a VERY useful tool.
“After 6 years in, I can foresee my continued involvement in this profession for many moons to come. Why? Because, unlike selling out in Corporate America, I feel as though I have a large measure of control and autonomy in my job, which gives me great satisfaction. Beyond that, my morals and ethics aren’t nearly as compromised doing this as they were while working in demeaning, low-paying positions out there in “civie” society. ”
Yes. Exactly. Sex work — for the right person — offers a level of freedom not normally found in mainstream society. For the right person, compromise is conformity and degradation, sex work is not.
I’m very glad you like my blog. You might also enjoy:
http://deepthroated.wordpress.com/
though it can be a lot more political and full of debate.
Continue to be strong and make yourself happy. You live your life, not anyone else. (I have to remind myself of this sometimes.)
XX
Prostitution is illegal because women don’t like the competition. It is that simple. And prostitution will never become legal anytime soon because of this. Prostitution also dilutes women’s power over men, this is no small thing to women. If a guy can pay 30 bucks and get a satisfactory lay this is a very real threat to an overprice low quality peace of ass. Hence the law that makes no sense now makes a lot of sense. It is there to eliminate competition.
One more thing to add, young girls have much less objection to Prostitution and stripping – that is a prostitute who does not put out. It is because they have little competition, this usually changes when they get older then many of them will have a convenient change of heart and see this as “exploitation of women”. Of coarse they did not see it as exploitation when they made more money than most doctors and lawyers make. Then it was all good.
Bob,
Your comments echo what some sex workers believe — that women who are against prostitution are feel that sex workers offer “competition” to the traditional marriage arrangement and proper financial support of women raising children. All that’s hogwash, of course. But, many believe that because regular women feel the competition, they’ll make sure prostitution stays illegal.
I sometimes believe this, sometimes not. Either way, I hope we can fight our way past this attitude!
XX
Bob raises an interesting hypothesis that if prostitution was decriminalized or legalized, it would increase competition and lower the price. I’m not so sure about that, because decrim would probably also raise the demand for prostitution, since clients don’t have to worry about doing something illegal when they solicit.
It’s looks to me like New Zealand escorts aren’t charging 30 bucks for a lay, but then New Zealand is more of a socialized country than the US is, and women have more options there.
In any case, it’s interesting to wonder what would happen to prostitution if it was decriminalized worldwide.
Susan,
That’s an old argument most sex workers believe. In countries where it is decrminalized, I’m not sure sex workers have complained about their rates. Of course, I doubt anyone has cared enough to do a study. If you look online, countries where prostitution is decriminalized, they still have comparable rates to the US. Where street prostitution is decriminalized, they have comparable rates to the US. From outside appearances, it would seem that there would be no massive loss of income.
As for the increase in competition, I think the economy is taking care of that right now! Decrim would create an influx, then as girls decide this isn’t really work they like, they’ll leave. The numbers would end up stablizing at a rate that’s probably simliar to today. New Zealand experience no surge in prostitution after they decriminalized. And I agree there would be a client surge.
I do wish it would be decriminalized worldwide. Very much so.
There will always be clients who only want to spend a minimum and sex workers who provide that. And there will always be clients who wish to spend more and sex workers who provide it. The only real difference that I see is a loss of fear after decrim. That’s worth fighting for.
XX
My main issue and dislike toward the industry of sex work is the general looking down upon by society friends and family and feeling of being unlovable to partners. Because of their contributation to society and work in this field. I believe prositutes by choice have some of the biggest open hearts and are some of the least judgemental and open people you can
find who show love to any and all unbiased by social stigmas and treat clients equally and eachother with dignity and respect it is just hard
to read so much about the negative and not look at the positive like all the single moms out there who are well taken care of by their clients and enjoy a comfortable lifestyle without the daily grind that is required even with education IN my personal opinion Prostituion is part of the natural order of humans as a species and is completely normal the destruction of the natural is akin to the destruction of nature and the feeling that somehow we are no longer part of the animal kingdom and above our animal instincts and desires in my opinion Not true unnatural and unhealthy.
Men are by nature promiscious and I for one wouldn’t want it any other way as I love being that men are ready for love all the time. The day a man feigns a headache there is hell to pay and all women know this and it is in the male nature to provide for women. What could be more normal ? Its not called the oldest profession for no reason Right?
So by nature men enjoy and need female companionship and variety.
And women by nature should be cared for and allowed to live her choice to be housed and cared for by one man or by a community of men or of her own violition and independant of men.
But it should be her choice to provide for her personal needs and the needs of her fellow man and community in whatever field she chooses without risk of punishment for providing an indemand service. In my opinion any pain a wife or significant other may suffer due to jealousy or misuse of family funds in a addiction to prositution is unfortunate. But is the same with any addiction religious tithes,starbucks addictions, mc donalds, ect. you get the point we all spend somewhere and to make ourselves feel good we earned it we choose what we want in trade of our hard earned currency.
And as I see things all the married women out there should have no worries you are the partner and friend and the housed and kept women
prosititues are no threat to a marriage except in the event the wife walks away
and professional prositutes are not carriers of rampant STD’s as society would have you believe. The only fear is ego itself.
The only saddness I feel for prositution is the illegal issues and worries that it entails for the people involved. And the feelings of unlovableness I feel is placed upon sex workers when who else in society is so open and free to share time love and affection with their fellowman.
Not sure how this may be viewed but I am open to any and all opinions or debate and I’m really not trying to put anyone down. And of course I don’t believe in abuse or slavery unless it helps me to get the best deal at Walmart ( ok don’t kill me for that one. But once again you know what I mean )
Personal opinion,
Yes, most of the “problems” with prostitution stem from how society views it, not from the actual work itself. Some of us are trying to change society — but it’s not easy.
XX
Recently I’ve read an interview with a women that owns a place where men or women can relax
And she said that girls do not enter the sex business because they are “forced” somehow to, they do it because its easy money and its big money. She said that if one is smart enough dreams like opening a hotel somwhere in the mountains were very much possibile. Most od them spend more money just on beauty products, massages, spa, etc. than most women, with regular jobs, earn.
Why prostitution is illegal? Ask church people.. that’s why! There is no logical, reasonable argument behind it.
Duath,
Agreed and agreed.
XX
M,
Why don’t you read the post on the very front of this blog first? Keeping something illegal does NOT help the people involved. You should know this.
You should also realize that the problem of sexual trafficking isn’t a problem of prostitution, it’s a problem of poverty and exploitative humans.
There are NOT 27 million sexually-trafficked people in the world (unless you want to give me real evidence of this). There are, however, many millions of people trafficked for domestic work and labor — those numbers are still consistently far higher than sexual trafficking numbers. Right now in Singapore, I can almost assure you the bigger numbers of trafficking victims here are Indonesian day laborers and Malaysian maids.
And more people than you think choose prostitution to put food on their table. It doesn’t matter if they make lots of money or merely survive — if it’s their choice, it’s their choice. Women have DIED to defend their choice of work (the recent protests in Cambodia come to mind).
So again, read what I said on this post:
http://www.texasgoldengirl.com/afterhours/dec-17-red-umbrellas/
The illegal status of my work in the US does a lot more damage than infringing on my right to make my choices about my own body. And yes, I have rights. As a human I most certainly do. No one should be allowed to take those rights away simply because of my choice of work.
XX
[...] many other prostitutes who have publicly stated that they enjoy what they do (or did), including Amanda, Tracy, Veronica, Jane, Rebecca, Xaviera, Dolores, Jeannette, Valerie, Norma Jean, Amy, Patricia, [...]
Amanda,
I have been absolutely loving your blog. I did sex work for about a month, and honestly I enjoyed it.
I quit because I was the victim of a police sting. The female officer was trying to tell me that I was the victim of my clients. Odd that I didn’t feel victimized – sex work helped me feel desired (I’m middle aged, incidentally) and I also found that the men who saw enough value in my sexuality to put out cash were far more respectful of me than the ones who wanted “free” sex.
I’m going to court tomorrow, it will be interesting to see how things go.
Lailah,
Nice to hear your comments! I’m so sorry you were busted. It’s a ridiculous waste of police effort and certainly ruins lives needlessly.
Indeed, I’ve found that men who pay are for more respectful than men who don’t pay. One of the many great secrets about this work that no one ever believes until they see it for themselves.
Stay strong.
XX
It was an amazing waste of police effort. There were at least 10 cops in my hotel room, including the undercover. Wow. Makes you wonder what they could do with 10 cops elsewhere.
My sweetheart is a former sheriff’s deputy. He doesn’t know about this (we’re “on a break” in the relationship right now) but he mentioned that one of the reasons he quit the force is that he hates the way cops think.
I really think a lot of these cops are spending their time satisfying their prurient desires. Between the rush from the abuse of power and the fact that sex is involved….