Discussions
Porn vs. Prostitution
Posted by RMania • 9/13/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: law, porn, prostitution
In most places within the United States, prostitution is illegal while some forms of pornography are not. Is there really a significant difference between the two? It seems like an inconsistent application of the belief that people should not be permitted to have sex for money.
User Comments
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Porn stars don't get paid to have sex, they are actors!
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And prostitutes don't get paid to have sex, they escort people!
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Prostitution is generally understood as the trading of sex for money, while pornography involves the customer of an adult film paying money to watch other people have sex with each other, while receiving no sexual favors himself in return. All parties in a pornography film are paid, therefore no one is paying for the sexual favor except the producer/director/viewer all of which do not get anything from the cast-
Exactly. To me this is an apples to oranges comparison. I wonder what more is there to say?
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But what are the popular objections to prostitution? Aren't they usually borne out of a concern for the prostitute, the person having sex for money? That they are degrading themselves and their bodies? That they are victims of exploitation?
However legitimate these objections are, they seem to apply with equal validity to both porn and prostitution... I don't see how the customer's precise role is relevant. -
Have you read this recent thread?
www.blogcatalog.com/discuss/entry/should-prostitution-be-legalized -
timethief, no I haven't. I'm not sure if you're just whining about a double thread, but if so, this thread, unlike that one, is not about whether prostitution should be legalized. It's about the apparent inconsistency of legalizing either porn or prostitution and not the other.
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RMania, perhaps you should read the thread rather than guessing about whether TT might be "just whining". It was quite an in depth discussion of the issues involved in prostitution and the concerns that many people from various edges of the political spectrum have about it. If you're interested in the issue you've posted here, then that discussion would probably be of great interest to you. -
MadameX,
If I was wrong and timethief was just showing me the link because they thought I would be interested in it, then I'm sorry. It's just the last few times people did that in my threads it was to "rebuke" me for doubling another active thread or beating a dead horse or whatever. I wanted to make clear that I started this discussion with a different intention than other recent prostitution discussions. I'm still interested to browse through those as well. -
@RMania
Sheesh ... what's with the attitude? I was pointing you to a thread that has a diversity of opinions expressed in it that are relevant to your post. If you don't care to read it that's your prerogative.
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I'm with Rmania on this.
Both industries make a profit from sexual intercourse.
Both the prostitute and the porn star get paid for "services rendered".
Morally and physically speaking they are in essence, the same thing.-
I'd actually never thought of it that way...not that I think about either a lot or anything.
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Anok, right. The objection to prostitution, as far as I know, has never been about the customer enjoying real sex. So pointing out that the customer is in one case having sex while in the other case only watching it doesn't resolve the moral discrepancy here.
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No, the prostitute is paid by her client for services rendered.
A porn actor paid by a director/producer/production company/etc. for working with them on a money making project. It just so happens that sex takes place. -
pumpkinlights,
I'm aware of that, but it doesn't change the fact that in each case a person is agreeing to have sex with someone else in exchange for money. Why is it relevant who actually hands them the money? By that logic, it should be permissible for me to pay a prostitute to have sex with my friend.
Edit: Also, a porn actor absolutely is paid by the customer. Obviously it's an indirect form of payment, but if customers stop paying for porn, porn stars won't get paid much longer! -
"Edit: Also, a porn actor absolutely is paid by the customer."
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No, the producer pays the actor. The actor gets paid whether the film sells or not.
My daughter is a model. She is often paid by photographers to shoot stock images. She is paid by the photographer who then is paid by magazines for his images. The magazines do not pay her, she is paid whether he finds a magazine to buy the image or not. -
pumpkinlights,
You are missing the point. Why did you only quote that part of my response and not the part where I admitted the payment is indirect? And what about the part where I said it's irrelevant who actually hands the porn actor the money? The point is they are still getting paid by SOMEONE to have sex. It's like what annaswan said. If I pay the pimp, whom I did not actually have sex with, and he then pays the prostitute her share, should that significantly change anybody's moral judgment of the situation?
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Simply put, prostitution is not often a choice. Prostitution cannot be regulated effectively and therefore is a detriment. The porn industry has a very strict set of standards are far as std check ups, use of condoms, age of consent, etc. Women choose to be porn actresses, I know a few including one in my family and believe me they would beg to differ about you calling them prostitutes. If prostitution could be regulated and had a set of standards that protected the participants against disease, statutory rape etc I would say legalize it, but at this point there are too many "independant contractors" for it to be in the same catagory. It's like this:
lets compare the prostitutes to the hamburger joint on the street is easy, cheap, and though not very clean still has appeal and can get you sick
Porn is the habatchi grill prepares the food in front of you, you see the cook wash his hands, you know what you're eating and it hasn't been known to spread illness.
They both get you off.. err.. fed but one follows rules and guidelines that protect the public and the other... well I am sure you have heard of mystery meat.-
OK well that is a different argument, and one that I expected. But I have to disagree with you that porn is much more of a choice than prostitution. OK, maybe you know a few porn actresses who say they absolutely chose their careers and enjoy what they do. You don't think there are some high-priced escorts who are the same way? In each industry, there are those who entered into it with complete freedom, and there are those who were coerced or feel like they were coerced into it. You're telling me your average B level porn star who submits herself to extreme acts beyond straight vaginal sex (because it's the only way for her to make decent money) is living the life she always imagined?
Why do you say prostitution cannot be regulated the way porn is? Do we really know this or is it just a lack of trying? I know legalizing it wouldn't stop some prostitutes from skirting the regulations and taxes, but again, certainly not all porn actors and producers act within those boundaries either.
Porn was a greasy hamburger joint at one time too.
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People can download porn from the secrecy of their computers, but hiring a prostitute has too much room for embarrassment. -
Prostitution, in its purest sense, is a term which should be reserved for politicians. -
prostitution is just a more "hands on" approach to pornography. They're both ultimately the same. Selling modesty for money.-
A "penises-on approach," if you will.
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lol..
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Okay - if I was following this correctly, some sort of degree of separation is being made between the two because there's a direct prostitute/client exchange of money in one and an INdirect exchange of money in the other?
Question - what if client pays prostitute's “Pimp" instead, and Pimp pays prostitute? Would this not be the same degree of separation?
Does it really make a difference if there’s a “middle man” between the sex and the pay?-
This was what I was going to say.
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both are the same in a way that they have sex for money. -
Prostitution - As they say, it's the oldest profession and still thriving fast everywhere.
Porn - We now have webcam porn, wats next? -
Prostitution is outlawed not because you see a naked person during the process. It's outlawed because the crimes and risks that are associated with it.
If you visit a prostitute, become infected with a VD of some kind and bring it home to your spouse - you have a problem that you don't have with simply looking at a photo.
Looking at a photo won't give you and your spouse aids.
You can't beat up a porn picture after you're done with it (unless you're really unstable)
A porn picture can't accept crack as payment for services.
A porn picture can't walk up to you on the street and beg you for paid sex........
Now when pornography does lead to crime, child pornography for example, then it is outlawed.-
I think the comparison was between a prostitute, and a porn star as in...the person who gets paid to have sex on camera.
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@danny: Agreed, but pornography carries risk as well. It has been known to break up marriages as well as cause emotional detachment and addiction in some men.
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