Should Prostitution Be A Legal, Recognized, And Respected "Job"?

I'm watching a debate about prostitution, and the comment section is filled with people demonizing the woman speaking against prostitution because she was passionate about the cause, ridiculing her, making her out to be an idiot etc. Almost all of the comments were made by men and it got me thinking. Now, I'm not about to claim that all men are pro-prostitution, or that all men would go to a prostitute if given half the chance. What I am saying is that we have a problem when people who say that prostitution is degrading to a person and that encouraging young women to become prostitutes to support their studies is despicable, get passionate about it and are considered "hysterical". Imagine your little girl - be it a sister, daughter, cousin, niece etc. - growing up to take dick from several random strangers every day, not because she enjoyed it, but to make ends meat (pun might be intended). Of course for many men, even that thought doesn't deter them, for several reasons.

Self image

In general, men have a radically different view of themselves than women. This image illustrates it nicely:

To a woman, paying for sex would feel degrading and like an admission of her own unattractiveness. To a man, this doesn't necessarily click. Why wouldn't women want to sleep with them? The reason they resort to paying for sex is not because they're unattractive, but because women are whiny bitches that always "friend zone" them. Just the friend zone concept in general is a reflection of this self image, as it's invented to cope with being found sexually undesirable, because admitting to the truth would simply be too much.

Male chauvinism

When I was a teenager, some people that I knew went on holiday. When they got back, the girls told me stories about how they suspected some girls at a shady club might have been there against their will (trafficked), due to how young and unhappy they looked. Meanwhile, a boy from who was with them supposedly got it on with a prostitute. When I asked him about it he was neither saying nay nor yay, but had "that look" and kept glancing at the other guys with a sly smile, no doubt enjoying being 'the man' even though none of the others stooped to his level and bought sex, though they all could have. Let's face it, you're paying for it, it's not exactly an accomplishment. The kicker is, behind his back they were all talking shit about him for it, so why would no one confront him with it? What is it in "male culture" that makes speaking out against the sexual exploitation of women the wrong thing to do? I asked him how he would feel if she was a victim of trafficking and was there against her will. He said he didn't care. Which brings me to the next point...

A complete lack of respect for women

This is a societal problem. It's not just men that lack respect for women - women lack respect for women (including personal respect for ourselves as women). We're not just being reduced to whatever it is we're being reduced to; we're allowing ourselves to be reduced to this! We allow this by buying into the "fact" that we should look a certain way, that we should judge other women by this scale, that we should compete with each other for male attention, that being acknowledged by men for being beautiful is more important than being acknowledged as intelligent, well-spoken, hard working, funny, honest etc. by not only men but also each other, our fellow women. However, most women still think we deserve more than to sell ourselves for sex, whereas it appears many (I'm not saying all or even a majority of) men couldn't really care less. But even with prostitutes the thing known popularly as "female jealousy", whereby women demean each other due to jealousy, play a part. We don't like to think the men we care about would solicit the sexual favours of another woman because we are unable to satisfy them, so we blame and ridicule her, "the whore". This is due to a complete misunderstanding of what is going on. There is only one repulsive party in the sex trade industry, and that is the person paying for the services. Let me say straight away, that I understand there are people who feel they "have to" pay for sex, for example certain handicapped people feel that the only way they will ever have sex is if they pay for it, and some people with particular "tastes" feel they have to solicit sexual favours from a prostitute in order to enjoy them - I still think it's gross. I am a very sexually open person, and if people want to sell sex that's their business, but to resort to buying another person's body.. just the thought of it makes me feel queasy.

The problem doesn't reside with the service providers

There is still an ongoing debate about whether or not legalizing prostitution improves circumstances for prostitutes in the long run. I'm not qualified to answer whether or not prostitution should be legal, but I don't mind that buying sex is illegal, although I feel making it illegal should be considered superfluous. Anyone raised with a hint of dignity would never pay for another human being's body. I might be romanticizing the state of the human race when I say that but that's my prerogative. Anyway, to sum up: if I discovered a woman I knew was a prostitute, I would be respectful. If I discovered a man I knew liked to frequent prostitutes behind his wife's back (or just in general), I would probably not speak to him again. It might be his personal choice, but it's one that affects all women, and not something I'd ever want to be around. If you think it's OK to buy access to another person's body, you and I are different on a level that is so fundamental we shouldn't even bother interacting.

What about pornography?

I don't know, to be honest. The obvious difference is that you have two parties that both get paid to engage in sex with each other, women often being better paid than men in a bizarre twist. It's also not about sex at all - it's about the illusion of sex for the viewer, filled with tips and tricks to make the viewer think he's watching something amazing. While it may be pleasurable for the actors (at times), it's not about their actual pleasure, but the pleasure they portray. In that way, there is not really a division of power (ideally). Practically, the porn industry is notoriously ruthless towards women, and treats women as something disposable. What gives?

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Yours,