sex workers

[Superpants]

many christians object to sex work on the grounds that patrons treat those who serve (mostly women) as objects, and not as human beings. even though clients might give these women gifts, etc., these women are often just viewed as a means toward sexual gratification.

how is this different than any other profession? when i leave work after a busy day and stop at the grocery store, i don't stop to think of the person behind the cash register as a "human being" either. it never crosses my mind that this person has feelings, loved ones, a life outside of the grocery store, etc. for me, at that moment, that person's function is to make sure that i get my groceries paid for so that i can go home. in short, the public uses this person as an object to help them buy food.

how does this differ from the service that a stripper provides? the relationship between a stripper and a man that goes to a strip club is a business relationship, nothing more. this profession is often condemned because true love and caring do not exist at strip clubs. well, how does this differ from other customer-service inustries?

 

[Athene]

Many non-christians object to sex work on the grounds that patrons treat those who serve (mostly women) as objects and not as human beings.

 

[Trillian]

how does this differ from the service that a stripper provides? the relationship between a stripper and a man that goes to a strip club is a business relationship, nothing more. this profession is often condemned because true love and caring do not exist at strip clubs. well, how does this differ from other customer-service inustries?

It doesn't differ at all. Some woman don't mind being objectified like that, and I say "more power to 'em". I wouldn't want to do it, but when you have bills to pay you do what you have to do, I guess. I have a friend who is a phone sex operator and I thought it was disgusting at first... but, it pays her bills (and then some), it covers her medical/dental insurance, and she works from home (at night), therefore is always with her children and is able to continue homeschooling even after a rough divorce. The fact is, the objectification of women is about the only way some woman can support themselves, so it's good that they have that available to them.

What I find amusing is that no one argues against the objectification of male dancers... I've been to those clubs, and believe me, women treat those guys like a piece of meat and get pretty raunchy about it... It is even worse than the gentlemens clubs I've been to, since men aren't allowed to touch the dancers, but at the a ladies club there are no such rules protecting the male dancers.

Tril

 

[wblastyn]

how is this different than any other profession? when i leave work after a busy day and stop at the grocery store, i don't stop to think of the person behind the cash register as a "human being" either. it never crosses my mind that this person has feelings, loved ones, a life outside of the grocery store, etc. for me, at that moment, that person's function is to make sure that i get my groceries paid for so that i can go home. in short, the public uses this person as an object to help them buy food.

It's this line of thinking, that retail workers are not people, that causes the abuse retail staff have to deal with everyday. Retail workers are people, and they do have feelings, as are prostitutes.

 

[Superpants]

i think some people are missing my point. essentially, i am saying that stripping (and other sex work) is no more dehumanizing than other "legitimate" work.

when i deal with a retail person, i don't go out of my way to be mean to them. i simply conduct my business, and go along with my day. i don't stop to think what makes them special as people. maybe this is wrong. maybe i should try to spend more time thinking of the special qualities of all the people i encounter. but, i really don't have enough time in my day to do this with all the people i meet.

what i'm saying is that using the arguement that "sex work" is dehumanizing seems to be an invalid reason to outlaw the industry.

 

[JEBofChristTheLord]

what i'm saying is that using the arguement that "sex work" is dehumanizing seems to be an invalid reason to outlaw the industry.

I think that makes sense. After all, I would think that the work of a professional executioner, or professional army machine-gunner, is as or more "dehumanizing" as sex work.

 

[12volt_man]

many christians object to sex work on the grounds that patrons treat those who serve (mostly women) as objects, and not as human beings. even though clients might give these women gifts, etc., these women are often just viewed as a means toward sexual gratification.

how is this different than any other profession? when i leave work after a busy day and stop at the grocery store, i don't stop to think of the person behind the cash register as a "human being" either. it never crosses my mind that this person has feelings, loved ones, a life outside of the grocery store, etc. for me, at that moment, that person's function is to make sure that i get my groceries paid for so that i can go home. in short, the public uses this person as an object to help them buy food.

how does this differ from the service that a stripper provides? the relationship between a stripper and a man that goes to a strip club is a business relationship, nothing more. this profession is often condemned because true love and caring do not exist at strip clubs. well, how does this differ from other customer-service inustries?

It's not sin for you to go to the grocery store.

To go to a hooker, not only are you sinning, but you're causing the hooker to sin, too.

 

[Superpants]

jonathanbrickman0000-

why did you compare sex work to executing people and operating a machine gun? you're right, such jobs are dehumanizing. why are you even mentioning jobs such as this? are people supposed to think that working as a stripper similar in some way to killing people on a battlefield?

my arguement is that it is no more sinful for people to go to a strip club than it is to go to a grocery store.

the bible is clear that there are two types of prostitution: cultic and common. cultic prostitutes were those that performed sex acts for money at temples of pagan gods. the bible forbade this practice. "common prostitution" (having sex for money without religious implications) was not condemned in the bible.

actually rahab (a prostitute) praised in hebrews chapter 11 as an example of faith.

 

[12volt_man]

"common prostitution" (having sex for money without religious implications) was not condemned in the bible.

Actually, all sex outside of marriage is condemned by the Bible.

actually rahab (a prostitute) praised in hebrews chapter 11 as an example of faith.

Yes, she was, but this had nothing to do with the fact that she was a prostitute.

 

[Superpants]

all sex outside of marriage is not condemned by the bible. look at the situation of jacob and rachel in genesis chapter 30.

 

[Jacob4Jesus]

Besides its 'dehumanizing' aspects, there are many other viable reasons for prosititution to be illegal.

1. Mainly the biggest arguement could be the safety of prostitutes. How many serial killers can we name that have preyed on them? I honestly doubt this would change if it became legal.

2. How about the spread of sexually trasmitted diseases?

I don't really care one way or the other if it's legal or not, because I have no interest in taking part in it. There are probably some moral injections into the laws against prositution. However, working at a grocery store doesn't carrry the same inherent dangers that prostitution does.

Oh, and before someone says "You can get shot at a grocery store" as likely as a prostitute can get killed, yes both of them can happen but which situation is more likely to happen?

 

[Rygel]

Depends on whether or not some guy broke up with his girlfriend that day and couldn't take it.

Oh wait. That was the Tacoma mall.

 

[Mariette]

Prostitution is one of the oldest professions in the world. It's only become somewhat of a 'taboo' and 'bad thing' since the church was formed. Before then, prostitution was considered a respectable profession for a woman.

 

[Eudaimonist]

how does this differ from the service that a stripper provides? the relationship between a stripper and a man that goes to a strip club is a business relationship, nothing more. this profession is often condemned because true love and caring do not exist at strip clubs. well, how does this differ from other customer-service inustries?

I think you've made an important point that cannot rightly be ignored in a debate of this sort. But let me play Devil's Advocate a moment.

The relationship between a female stripper and a patron is more than a business relationship. It is a sexual relationship, even if no touching takes place. The stripper is selling sexual services. Sexuality affects people at a deep psychological level. The stripper (and the patron) cannot avoid being affected psychologically by using sexuality in this way.

Stripping reduces sexuality down to the shallowest common denominator -- devoid of romance, intimacy, or the promise of any future together. It portrays a woman as "cheap". It carries with it an air of unreality and misinformation, a kind of lie about the reality of female sexuality and of what it means to be a woman. If the stripper must express these lies often, what affect does this have on her self-image? It may be negative.

Working at a checkout counter carries none of these implications. There is no misrepresentation. Someone working at a checkout counter is simply someone working at a checkout counter.

Okay, critique away!

 

[Helo]

There was one woman in my life who taught me more about life than ANYONE else ever has. Her name was Tess, she was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her mother was a waitress, her father was a blackjack dealer. The day she turned 18, she got a job as a stripper and held that job for 7 years.

People look down on people who work in sex-styled jobs, but like I said, the woman who taught me most about life was a stripper for 7 years.

People are too quick to judge

 

[Eudaimonist]

There was one woman in my life who taught me more about life than ANYONE else ever has.

What did she teach you? (I'm not expressing skepticism, just wondering.)

 

[JEBofChristTheLord]

why did you compare sex work to executing people and operating a machine gun? you're right, such jobs are dehumanizing. why are you even mentioning jobs such as this? are people supposed to think that working as a stripper similar in some way to killing people on a battlefield?

The Lord has said that both are evil. Therefore, they are. I expect that the killer is doing considerably more evil than the fornicator, but that would be up to God.

 

[12volt_man]

all sex outside of marriage is not condemned by the bible. look at the situation of jacob and rachel in genesis chapter 30.

Actually, Gen 29:28 tells us that Jacob and Rachel were married.

If you mean the situation with Bilhah, she was his common law wife, by virtue of her relationship to Rachel.

 

[Helo]

What did she teach you? (I'm not expressing skepticism, just wondering.)

Basically everything that you usually learn on your own. She taught me alot about women and how they think, alot about life and living.

She was very wise. It supprised alot of people because they thought "Oh shes a stripper, shes hot but not too bright."

 

[JEBofChristTheLord]

Prostitution is one of the oldest professions in the world. It's only become somewhat of a 'taboo' and 'bad thing' since the church was formed. Before then, prostitution was considered a respectable profession for a woman.

Prostitution has indeed been considered respectable by some. However, it has been considered evil since very ancient times among the people that love God. See Genesis 34:27-31. The words "harlot", "prostitute", and "harlot" have exactly the same meaning; which you will find, depends on translation.