Allow me to decide My Value: Legalized Prostitution

Allow me to decide My Value: Legalized Prostitution

Blue and not red. Vanilla ice cream not Chocolate. Homework at night and not during the day. I do vote. Victor and not Mike. Saint John’s University and not Pace University. Obama and not McCain. Wash dishes now not later. Classes in the evening not morning. Sex after marriage not before. Rollercoaster and not plane rides.
I believe in choice.

I believe in my own individual rights, I believe in individualism. I am an individual. I know I am responsible for myself. I believe in “my body”. I believe in the right to do to one ’s self, what one wants. I believe in self worth. I believe in the right of each individual to decide what their own self worth is. I believe in the age of 18. I believe in the rights I have been told I have. I believe in choice. I believe in options.
Defined by Webster’s Dictionary, the word choice means; the right, power, or opportunity to choose; an option. The ability to choose is merely the ability to have options. It does not mean you have to choose one side or another, but you do have options. When a person or political body puts a HAULT sign and completely stops you from doing something through the use of punishment, they have taken away your choice. They have taken your choice to maybe participate in something that may make you happier, provide you with a better income, or obtain certain pleasures. This individual or political party has stripped you of your individual rights. They have indirectly stated that their opinion matters more than yours. In a world where everything we own has been bought or taken from someone else, what can an individual really claim as “their own”? What property does a person own? What does a person have that was not been paid for or given to them? The only thing that comes to mind is an individual’s, physical being.
Now imagine if you wanted to add a new tattoo or piercing to your body on your 18th birthday but could not. Because the government does not see tattoos as positive aspect of life and sees it as immoral, so they ban it. Not only do they ban it, but they will put you in jail if caught in the act. Any rational human been would be upset and maybe even confused. This is similar with prostitution. I personally would never partake in this option, but I do not agree with the government’s role in stripping that option away from me.
I believe in the choice to prostitute.
I believe in self prostitution.
I believe in legalized prostitution.
If at the age of 18 I am able to fight a war I may not believe in, I should be able to CHOOSE to do with my body as I please. At the age of 18 I should be able to CHOOSE to partake in prostitution. I am not referring to those who may have been pushed into prostitution due to unfortunate reasons. I speak for those who made the conscious CHOCIE to sell their body with the knowledge of all risks.
“If nobody wants to sell sex, it is a crime to force anyone to do so. But when men or women do want to sell their bodies, they should have that full right without encountering punishment or discrimination. If the client behaves decently, the relationship between the sex buyer and the sex seller must be considered a purely private transaction. “- NILS JOHAN RINGDAL, Love For Sale
Since Barney and the creation of cell phones were invented children everywhere have shouted, “I cannot wait until I am 18 and I have freedom.” It is not until they become of age with more wisdom do they realize how mistaken they were. People are only given the freedom to do the limited work and participate in the limited activities that the government allows them.

At the age of 18 you are now allowed to enter clubs, buy cigarettes, buy a lottery tickets, buy porn and join the army. Some, if not are all things that could potentially put a person’s life in danger. At the club a fight could break out, leading to injuries or even death. Cigarettes are a known cancer risk, but yet they are still legal to use and distribute. Watching porn could have a negative effect on a person’s mental and psychological being. Being able to join the army is dangerous in the sense, that an individual never knows what will happen to them. Their life could be taken away at any moment. Although all of these activities have risks, individuals are still given the OPTION to choose. So, why are we not given the same choice to join in prostitution? For the purposes of this discussion let me define prostitution. Prostitution is “the giving or receiving of the body for sexual activity for hire but excludes sexual activity between spouses” (Statutes 4). For those who say prostitution is illegal for safety and health reasons have been blinded themselves from all the other legal activities that can harm if not kill individuals in society. No-one forces an individual to smoke cigarettes or enter a club; they have a choice to make their own decisions. The government has taken rights given to society by the founding fathers away. The government only applies constitutional right when they see fit.
If the government sees it fit to legalize prostitution while giving males/females the option and choice to do to their body as they please there would be many positive and productive outcomes. The government would be giving its citizens their constitutional rights. Prostitutes would be safer working the streets, and the act of prostitution would be able to be taxed, which leads to revenue for the government. The legalization of prostitution would not be a free for all. It would be highly regulated and only open to individuals 18 or over with no mental dispositions.

There are many positions to this issue. The people who share my opinion are those who want the CHOCIE to use their 18+ body to do as they wish. While others share the position of people who want to strip you of that choice and make you follow their own morals and guidelines.
The opponents of legalizing prostitution at the age of 18 are 100% against the legalization of prostitution and believe prostitutes deserve the harshest of punishments. What is their reasoning? Why do they feel this way? It is their clam that prostitution is immoral because it is exploitative and demeaning to sex workers. Some say it increases the sexually transmitted diseases, or will open gateway to violence. Opponents often feel legalized prostitution creates an “easy” way out that females would prefer rather than going to school.

"Prostitution is an extreme form of gender discrimination. Legalization of this violence to women restricts women's freedom and citizenship rights. If women are allowed to become a legitimate commodity, they are consigned to a second-class citizenship. Democracy is subverted"
- Donna Hughes, author of Making the Harm Visible

Supporters of Donna Hughes forget that women are not the only form of prostitutes. Men also subject their selves to prostitution. Society never complains about the men who use their body and/or sex to make extra cash. Male prostitutes have continued going around without a bother in their world, by simply calling themselves “escorts”. Not all escorts have sex with their clients but because, “compared to female sex workers, male sex workers have been far less studied by researchers, and while studies suggest that there are differences between [male and female escorts] look at their work, more research is needed” (eHow). Those who state that prostitution should remain illegal for moral sake are blinded. Some people who do prostitute do so to provide food for their child and shelter for their family. In terms of morality, is it more moral to let a child suffer without basic needs? Or allow the mother to provide for her child. Others have forgotten that the United States is a self proclaimed “melting-pot”. A melting pot is merely a multicultural place with people from all back grounds exposed to each other. This being said, with many cultures, brings many backgrounds/upbringings/morals/standards. Therefore we will not all value things the same. Those who oppose the legalization of prostitution may have been brought up in a different house hold. A household where free speech and the right to express yourself was not taught or valued very high. We all do not think the same. The United States has taken its own CHOCIE to be different than other countries. For example, “in Singapore, sex for money is open and commonplace. While Denmark women can be legal prostitutes so long as it is not their sole means of income.” (Mark 1) We as humans sometimes forget that individuals do not represent the whole. We cannot force our opinion onto everyone else. People who support the legalization are NOT saying everyone should be a prostitute. Supporters are just putting into action their first amendment right. The United States is formed on freedom of speech, religion and trade. Unfortunately rights are questioned everyday because, “in a free society, however, all such laws are inappropriate because they violate the basic rights and liberties of the individuals involved.” (Freedom Daily). Our first amendment rights as stated in the Constitution protect our speech and religion. Although it may have not been the intention of our founding fathers to promote prostitution, they played a role in creating a document that helps protect and defend these acts. People who use morality as a stance against legal prostitution often forget that, “U.S. government is designed mainly to be run by the people, [this] is in direct opposition to modern liberalism that insists it controls people” (Mark 6). By making prostitution legal you are both
pleasing the people who would partake as well as the people who would not; due to the CHOCIE they are given.

“According to current evidence, roughly half of the street prostitutes in Washington, D.C., and New York City are HIV-positive. In Newark, New Jersey, the estimate is that close to 60% of all prostitutes carry the AIDS virus. Yet, in the relatively "free market" of Nevada, where prostitution is legal, not one (as of 1989) of the state-licensed prostitutes has ever tested positive for AIDS..” – Paul Armentano

Aside from the claim that prostitution is immoral, people share the views of the group REAL also known as Real, Equal, Active, Life that “Sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and AIDS will increase due to prostitution.” This statement may be true, but it does not have any weight. It has no weight, because you can never prove this fact without actually legalizing prostitution and doing collective and external research. Since, there is no way to fully test this hypothesis without legalizing prostitution, both positions are running on pure assumption. Legalizing prostitution would come with regulation and protection for prostitutes it would NOT be a free for all. In Nevada where prostitution is legalized they have testing centers for their prostitutes which accounts for their 0% of HIV among their legal prostitutes. These regulations in other states could include monthly testing and an actual office which could keep documentation of all the workers. This documentation could range anywhere from name and address to a list of different clients and their sexual status. Any prostitute who does have a sexual transmitted disease would be immediately known and stopped from having clients, because they are no longer just affecting their selves. Another form of protection would be offered through the police task. The same officers who haul in prostitutes into jail and waste tax payers money to
process them would be able to keep an eye open for these “street workers”. The police officers would be able to step in if they saw any obscene behavior.

These concerns are all reasonable, but none trump the violation of very citizen’s 1st amendment rights. People with a similar mind set of the group REAL and against legalized prostitution say prostitution is an “easy way out”. They fear that females, males, and transgender are refusing to work hard, strive for an education and struggle to make it in life. My response is simple. Why is it mandatory to, struggle in life, why must people go without food and shelter just so they can say, “I worked hard for my few benefits.” To say prostitution is the “easy way out” is to speak through ignorance. Individuals who are against prostitution forget that “the primary reason for participating in prostitution, for many who do, is for food, a place to live or just plain survival” (Covington 1). In a country where the lower and middle class pay more in taxes than the upper and wealthy, it should not be a surprise that people may NEED to use their own property to earn extra income. Now everyone who wants to refute my claim this with the word “education” must remember that education is not free. It does not only consume time, but also money.
“A recent study by the National Center for Education Statistics (1) shows that about 50% of recent college graduate have student loans, with an average student loan debt of $10,000. The average cost of college increases at twice the rate of inflation; the College Board (2) estimates that public school costs an average of about $13,000 a year and private schools costs $28,000.”
– National Center of Educational Statistic
With statistics like this, who’s to say that education is for everyone? That is why we have athletes, singers, and actors. If someone was to force them to go to school some of history’s greatest media would not exist or be seen acted out. School is not for everyone. The struggle to get a good education is not meant to everyone. I am a student I know how hard it gets, if you do not have a passion for school you will not make it. Passion and drive is different in EVERY human being. I can hear a reader saying “why not get a job at a fast food restaurant or anywhere.” This would be a reasonable answer if there was no discrimination towards people of different races, gender, religion and sexuality. There is a large population of illegal prostitutes who are transgender. Janice Covington of Charlotte, N.C was a “transgender prostitute in 1969 in San Francisco and 1970 in Chicago” (Covington 2). Janice claims to have chosen prostitution because she believes that, “our country will not give [her] rights as [an] American citizen to have a job without discrimination and to earn a decent living” (Covington 1). People cannot live on minimal wage, so if prostitution will remain illegal the government needs to provide adequate and stable jobs for its citizens. Until them, citizens should be given the CHOICE to use their body to earn income.
Along with the average human who is against legalized prostitution, there are strong collective groups who constantly fight to keep and end prostitution. We both agree that no one should have to sell their body to live but since prostitution does exist, why not make it Legal? A group of strong women known as, Feminist strongly opposes this idea. Before I continue I would like to explain feminist and feminism. A feminist is a female that practices feminism. Feminism is, “used to describe a political, cultural or economic movement aimed at establishing equal rights and legal protection for women” (Feminism). Many feminist are openly against prostitution as a whole, that is understandable but I am not quite sure why they are against the legalization of prostitution. If it were up to me, no women or man would have to sell their body in order to survive; it would just be for those who gain pleasure out of the act. Unfortunately, that is not the case so citizens who are old enough to risk their lives in war should be given a CHOCIE to do with their body as they please.
"The sex industry markets precisely the violence, the practices of subordination that feminists seek to eliminate from the streets, workplaces, and bedrooms."
– Sheila Jeffreys, (1997) The Idea of Prostitution, Spinifex Press, North Melbourne, Victoria.
Sheila Jeffrey’s quote is an opinion that many feminist hold. It is true that the sex industry may include violence but if these women choose to voluntarily become prostitutes, are they not also acknowledging the risks that come with such actions. My position is not that people should be pushed into legalized prostitution; my position is that they should be given an opportunity to make this decision on their own without discrimination and punishment from the government. Feminist, Sheila Jeffreys author of The Idea of Prostitution goes on to say that prostitution markets “the practices of subordination that feminists seek to eliminate.” I don’t find this true in all situations. Some of these women prostitutes enjoy the sex they receive and are in control of who they choose to sleep with. They sometimes see that the power is in their hands, because the male is willing to pay for a service they choose to provide. 39 year old Jacqueline who worked in the red light district admittedly states during an interview, “PROSTITUTION IS DEFINITELY less about sex than people expect. I have always been fascinated by the interaction between a client and a prostitute.” Jacqueline admits that she felt a form of power every time she took money from her clients, especially the times they did not even have sex. For
instance during time with one of her regular customers, “[they] didn't even have intercourse; [they] just did some snuggling and a little touching. He kept his underwear on, and it was so cute--he played the harmonica for [her] and gave [her] a cup of tea and a hug.” Jacqueline may not be the majority but she is definitely part of a group of females who walk the streets for pay, and enjoy every minute of it.
Feminist and I agree to a certain point; we both want to end all need for prostitution. But I am for the CHOCIE of an 18 and over citizen to do as they please with their body. In a way I would like to consider myself a “New Age Feminist”.
The reasons for prostitution may be cruel and immoral but the act itself should be upon the choice of the individual. I am not stating that prostitution should be open and free to all, but if the government says an individual is able to buy cigarettes, and join the war at 18, why can’t they use their own property to earn extra cash. Legalized prostitution would be highly regulated, and it would become a taxable income. In a time where the United States is in a deficit, legalized prostitution could be the cure. In a recession the 2 things that continue to boom are the; sex industry, alcohol. People are given the choice to drink alcohol, or smoke cigarettes even after it is proven to destroy a person’s health why aren’t they given the same choice with their bodies? It is their life, and ultimately they have to live with their decisions. The nerve of another human being to oppose their opinion on the whole is a sign of arrogance and belittlement of the US citizens own rights.

"Prostitution is criminal, and bad things happen because it's run illegally by dirt-bags who are criminals. If it's legal, then the girls could have health checks, unions, benefits, anything any other worker gets, and it would be far better."
JESSE VENTURA, Playboy interview, Nov. 1999