Turning tricks for tuition

Yeah, I don't understand why it is a problem or why it should be compared to slavery either. I mean, how is prostitution any worse than, say, a girl getting herself knocked up by some rich old man in exchange for a comfortable life? It might be wrong on moral grounds.. but that is her personal decision, not something society should concern itself with.

Re: (How is) It's slavery(?)- Well, most prostitutes have pimps who take a rather large cut of the money in return for protection, management, drugs, and "free samples of the wares", sometimes being abusive themselves. Sometimes, the girls are runaways who don't have anywhere else to go. Prostitution isn't by definition slavery, but I suppose it could be compared to it at least a decently large percentage of the time.

edited 1st Aug '11 11:15:02 PM by Wulf

I have a friend who was a stripper for two months to pay for college. She hated it due to the long hours (her weeknight hours were 6:00 pm to 4:00 am and she would have class the next morning), she rarely got days off (even holidays, she was forced to work on Christmas) and on some nights she hardly got anything due to cheap patrons. Also, there were constant insults from those same patrons.

When she quit, I was extremely happy for her. Watching her suffer like that was heartbreaking.

I agree that what you describe happens often, but doesn't seem to be happening at all in this case.

I don't think prostitution automatically means slavery, this case is a pretty clear one of "not that morally awful form of prostitution". Everybody's better off - the girl has a better life, the sugar daddy has young pussy, and society has higher levels of education. There may be some negative side-effects, but I don't see any reason for them outweighting the positive effects.

Yeah , it can be soul-crushing, but so can a lot of jobs (telemarketing?), and we don't wring our hands when poor girls have to resort to those.

edited 2nd Aug '11 2:12:07 AM by SlightlyEvilDoctor

Regarding prostitution as a form of slavery, do you honestly think that working at Mc Donalds is actually a better job? Are you going to go and talk to a self-employed prostitute who makes $1000 per day that she should quit and become a low-paid wage-slave?

If she has a pimp that beats her or uses drugs to keep control or her, then yes, making her work at Mac Donalds instead may be for her own good.

However, if she doesn't have a pimp, I don't see how making her stop and give up her education to work at Mac Donalds can be for her own good

You are quite right. The missing element in cleaning up prostitution is not abolition but regulation. Make them register, make them have medicals, give them a licence and if they do get beaten up make sure that going to the police won't get them arrested instead of their attacker.

Not only do you get rid of trafficking (since you check they are legally allowed to work) you also reduce disease and allow them to work safely.

You know, I would legalize prostitution just to see the unions. How amusing. The very idea of a prostitutes' union is simply inherently funny to me. I suppose it's because I grew up in a world where it's frowned upon; I bet if I'd grown up in the 1800s... and they had a concept of unions... that would be a totally normal thing. Ah well.

It's all very Discworld.

While I am generally in favour of regulating, rather banning prostitution (It's the pimps that are the bigger problem, really), the issue in this case is the appalling costs of education in the states.

I once worked out that the cost of tuition at my (Pennsylvanian) cousin's college was so much that one year of her tuition cost more than the seven years so far I've had at mine. The problem with multiple degrees is that you are uni forever.

It's also reality where I live, the Netherlands, we're not quite on the disc, but we're getting close.

This is one area in which we Aussies definitely have it better. The government is paying for my degree, and I will pay them back once I start earning money.

And it's even cheaper if you pay up-front!

But yeah, I know plenty of people with crummy jobs, but it's not nearly as desperate a situation. It's mostly about paying the rent and having spending money.

Yeah state funded education is fantastic, I owe a lot to it.

prostitution is also legal and regulated. I'm not complaining.

edited 2nd Aug '11 7:20:15 AM by joeyjojo

The fact that they have to resort to it shows some massive problems with the system.

If they don't have to resort to it (and it thus is their personal decision), it's fine. And I don't mean that "there's other options", since those options might not be available to that specific person.

What is the Australian system, exactly?

It definitely seems to be an inherent problem with the system. The solution I would suggest is similar to the aussie model. Good luck getting that done though.

Scotland gets five years of free higher education! Courtesy of the SNP and Labours efforts over the years!

To give you an idea, you can get a masters without paying a penny. As long as that is the only degree stream you do.

Re: (How is) It's slavery(?)- Well, most prostitutes have pimps who take a rather large cut of the money in return for protection, management, drugs, and "free samples of the wares", sometimes being abusive themselves. Sometimes, the girls are runaways who don't have anywhere else to go. Prostitution isn't by definition slavery, but I suppose it could be compared to it at least a decently large percentage of the time.

I think I've heard somewhere that the majority of prostitution is freelance from girls just looking for money. I don't remember if that claim was from Penn and Teller's Bullshit or maybe Belle du Jour's site, so I'm not putting that much stock in it and may simply be remembering wrong, but I do know that Belle has often commented that the public perception of prostitution, namely streetwalking, is not representative of the whole. The point is, prostitution is not so easy to generalize about because the form it takes for each girl can be vastly different depending on race, looks, whether or not drugs are involved and so on. For example, some girls specifically price themselves high to prevent the bottom feeders, the ones most likely to beat and abuse, from buying their services.

In my opinion, we should be trying to legalize it as quickly as we can in order specifically to prevent those abuses you mentioned, which occur largely because it's an illegal industry. It's not going away, so at the least we should be trying to improve it. Giving power to those actually selling their body in the forms of their work being legal and legitimate, having police protection, regulation, and setting the ball rolling for social acceptance [which can help with mental issues some girls have] makes it worthwhile. It'll never be a job just anyone can do, but at least for those who are suited to it, and do it, they should be able to profit from it without shame.

edited 2nd Aug '11 12:44:18 PM by Kashie

@OP: Personally, I don't see anything wrong with it; if anything I applaud the resourcefulness and willpower of the females involved. They want an education, and they're willing to work for it. And they're being honest about what they're doing.

Prostitution is just as much an "honest job" as any other; having known some sex workers, most of them are no more or less mistreated than the average wage slave working a register or pushing a broom; if anything, they might be less so depending upon circumstance.

Also, this is not a new occurrence; young girls have been renting the goods to pay for college at least since I was in high school (that I know of) and there's a reason they call it "The Oldest Profession".

It's voluntary on both sides, the men are obviously getting what they want from the arrangement and the women are likewise. Let it be as far as I'm concerned.

I thought about being an escort in college, then I realized how much I hate making pointless small talk.

@Kino: you should have been a bodyguard instead. They're expected to keep their mouths shut.

Valid point, but back then I couldn't shoot as well as I can now. I wonder if Ke$ha is hiring; i'll have to check back in a few years.

Doesn't Ke$ha have a bunch of STD's?

No more than any other chick you'd hook up with.