A Whoring Shame

For over two hundred years, the government of the United States of America has faced a running battle with prostitution. Owing largely to a sense of Christian moral outrage, the act of trading money for sexual acts has been stigmatized in nearly every aspect, resulting in its current illegality across the majority of states. Various organizations, groups, and individuals with specific ideals – religions, conservatives, feminists, etc – have all spoken out about the negativity associated with sex work, relying primarily upon useless and outmoded concepts of morality and decency to prove their case.

Before going into the specifics of legality, detriment, and benefit, it is useful to recognize the existing double-standard prevalent within America concerning sexual acts. Until the landmark decision of Lawrence v. Texas in 2003, sodomy was illegal in every single state at one point in time or another. The Supreme Court finally ruled the statute as unconstitutional, yet the fact that such laws existed throughout the majority of American history is indicative of the American mentality concerning sexual acts. Provided reasonable concessions to safety – many of which are necessary for coitus – anal and oral sex are exactly the same as vaginal intercourse save for the possibility of procreation; despite this lack of substantial differences, it was still illegal.

In a facet of sexuality that is only scarcely divorced from prostitution, pornography is a massively successful industry within the United States. This is relevant to the prostitution double-standard by virtue of the fact that it is an industry centered around paying others for sexual acts. It is worth noting that the illegal act of payment for sexual intercourse does not state that such acts are legal if the transference of currency is not from the one receiving the act to the one perpetrating the act; this means that a man cannot have another pay a prostitute for the first man to utilize. The double-standard occurs in the fact that pornographic acts include the consensual intercourse of two or more individuals who are being paid to have sex with the other person(s).

What are the precise differences between prostitution and pornography? Legal status, taxes, testing for venereal diseases, and government oversight where applicable. Therefore, the legalization of prostitution mandates taxation, testing, and oversight. While this article is not intended to delve into the specifics of what would be needed to make legalized prostitution a reality – as its focus is instead on the various impacts and circumstances surrounding it – it is a simple matter to list the basics required. First would be an officially designated and inspected facility; this would serve as a hotel of sorts. Second would be regular testing for the prostitutes, and a required pre-visit on-site test for patrons, as well as enforced condom rules and limitations on the acts that may be performed. Third would be a constant tax on gross income for a company, rather than taxation for specifics of the service. Fourth would be regular physical inspections of the facilities, medical evaluations of the employees, and audits of the revenues.

With that said, there are numerous concerns that have been raised regarding the negative results and impacts of legalizing prostitution. Aside from the inane belief that prostitution is immoral – a ludicrous claim, given the fact that morality is dependent upon the individual rather than an objective system – the least plausible argument comes from feminists. The conjecture that prostitution is inherently degrading or exploitative of women does not take notice of the fact that males are also prostituted, or the fact that women often volunteer themselves to industries such as pornography, which – as mentioned above – is virtually identical to prostitution. The fact that men and women alike have been historically exploited due to the sex trade is something that happens with or without legality. Much as prohibition fueled the black market in the sale of alcohol, the illegality of prostitution fuels the illegal sex trade, reducing oversight and increasing risk to all involved.

Consider the fact that many strippers in legal clubs run by honest citizens accept money for sexual intercourse; such people often use stripping as a way to find customers. The escalation and ineffectiveness argument, which states that even legalized sex work would result in pimps and illegal control of funds and activities still existing or flourishing, again does not take into consideration that this is already a given fact in much of the legal sex industries of the U.S., partially due to a lack of oversight. Returning to the example of prohibition, the legalization of alcohol has since resulted in a vast reduction in the illegal making and selling of alcohol. Though moonshine is still produced and sold in parts of the country, the overwhelming majority of citizens buy their alcohol from legal sources, as it is safer, cheaper, and often of higher quality than the illegal alternatives. Those most likely to resort to illegal prostitution would be those who either are unable to purchase sex due to a disease or similar condition, or those who cannot afford the prices of the legalized alternative.

There is no effective solution to this. It is regrettably true that prostitution will likely always exist in an illegal format, even if legalized versions are created in the future. However, a program put into place in Australia with the intention of educating the populace has shown considerable success. As sex work is largely legal there, the education program has resulted in the sex worker portion of the populace to be amongst the lowest at risk for HIV within the nation, a feat that flies in the face of many who oppose legalized prostitution in the United States. While there will always be a black market, a safe and legally-run organization would inevitably increase the safety of both parties. Given the current political climate of the U.S., it is not likely that this will even be considered within the foreseeable future. Perhaps that time will be sufficient for the concerns for be formally addressed and resolved, with a solid foundation providing legality and safety to America's true national pastime.