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> Should prostitution be legalized, should people be able to settle debts with their bodies? It would be indentured servitude if a court ordered it be done to

> Should prostitution be legalized, should people be able to settle debts with their bodies? It would be indentured servitude if a court ordered it be done to satisfy a debt, which I believe is illegal. Otherwise, it seems like it would be no worse than a glassworker being allowed to pay off his debts by making you a window. We do have reasonable bankruptcy laws and other tools for handling debt-related disputes.

sandworm101 10y ago
So we are OK with creditors asking for payment in sex? I think that ignores many realities. Those deemed sexually attractive, mostly young women, will be the target of any number of scams meant to force them into a financial corner so that they work off their debts. That may happen often today, but we use words like blackmail or rape to describe it. Nobody should want to legalize the practice by saying it a perfectly acceptable way for a young women to satisfy a creditor.
tveita 10y ago
> it seems like it would be no worse than a glassworker being allowed to pay off his debts by making you a window You might think so, and yet my understanding is that people who are forced into prostitution by poverty find it a though choice that impacts their self-worth. I doubt any down-on-their-luck glassworkers would feel humiliated and degraded by accepting an offer to make a window. Clearly your reductionist approach is losing vital differences.
- stcredzero 10y ago
  I doubt any down-on-their-luck glassworkers would feel humiliated and degraded by accepting an offer to make a window. In Cincinnati, Ohio, you can find many ordinary houses in working class neighborhoods with small stained glass windows. There was an influx of German stained glass artisans, and there were so many of them, that they sold to ordinary working people. Apparently, the whole Cincinnati scene died out because of the industry practice of the time -- preferring mercury containing solders -- caused so many mental health problems. There may have been such glassworkers in that environment.
  - sandworm101 10y ago
    Comparing glass blowing to prostitution is ridiculous. Calling them both professions is an academic approach to a very non-academic industry. I'm reminded of recent debates about whether female porn stars should be allowed to reject working with male stars on the basis of race or religion. That isn't allowed in other professions, at least in some states. But sex work is not subject to the same rules as other professions because it just isn't comparable to any other profession.
    - stcredzero 10y ago
      Comparing glass blowing to prostitution is ridiculous. I'm not the one who made the comparison. I'm just offering data. Calling them both professions is an academic approach to a very non-academic industry. https://www.ted.com/talks/toni_mac_the_laws_that_sex_workers_really_want?language=en https://www.ted.com/talks/toni_mac_the_laws_that_sex_workers...

sandworm101 10y ago

So we are OK with creditors asking for payment in sex? I think that ignores many realities. Those deemed sexually attractive, mostly young women, will be the target of any number of scams meant to force them into a financial corner so that they work off their debts. That may happen often today, but we use words like blackmail or rape to describe it. Nobody should want to legalize the practice by saying it a perfectly acceptable way for a young women to satisfy a creditor.

tveita 10y ago

> it seems like it would be no worse than a glassworker being allowed to pay off his debts by making you a window You might think so, and yet my understanding is that people who are forced into prostitution by poverty find it a though choice that impacts their self-worth. I doubt any down-on-their-luck glassworkers would feel humiliated and degraded by accepting an offer to make a window. Clearly your reductionist approach is losing vital differences.

stcredzero 10y ago
I doubt any down-on-their-luck glassworkers would feel humiliated and degraded by accepting an offer to make a window. In Cincinnati, Ohio, you can find many ordinary houses in working class neighborhoods with small stained glass windows. There was an influx of German stained glass artisans, and there were so many of them, that they sold to ordinary working people. Apparently, the whole Cincinnati scene died out because of the industry practice of the time -- preferring mercury containing solders -- caused so many mental health problems. There may have been such glassworkers in that environment.
- sandworm101 10y ago
  Comparing glass blowing to prostitution is ridiculous. Calling them both professions is an academic approach to a very non-academic industry. I'm reminded of recent debates about whether female porn stars should be allowed to reject working with male stars on the basis of race or religion. That isn't allowed in other professions, at least in some states. But sex work is not subject to the same rules as other professions because it just isn't comparable to any other profession.
  - stcredzero 10y ago
    Comparing glass blowing to prostitution is ridiculous. I'm not the one who made the comparison. I'm just offering data. Calling them both professions is an academic approach to a very non-academic industry. https://www.ted.com/talks/toni_mac_the_laws_that_sex_workers_really_want?language=en https://www.ted.com/talks/toni_mac_the_laws_that_sex_workers...