So it's been a while since there has been a good old fashioned flame war around here...

[anwyn18]

It seems Iceland has now outlawed strip clubs, and there has been some press citing Iceland as now being "the most feminist" country in the world, based on their openly lesbian head of state, a greater number of female politicians, and this most recent move

Comments

[sugarcontent]

In principle - if we all lived in a vacuum - I have no problem with women (or men for that matter) making an informed and personal choice to use their bodies to make money.

But we don't live in a vacuum. We live in a patriarchal society where women are still shamefully exploited given the opportunity. And it's hard to ignore the fact that allowing profit to be made off women's bodies leads to some horrendous exploitation of women in these industries.

I know you said that you were talking about women who have weighed their options and decided that stripping is the career for them and not trafficked women - but I think it's naive to think that you can separate the two. Just because some women have the privilege of choice and happen to choose to work in these industries doesn't mean that these industries aren't still riddled with women who have been given little to no choice and who are being exploited

[anwyn18]

"Just because some women have the privilege of choice and happen to choose to work in these industries doesn't mean that these industries aren't still riddled with women who have been given little to no choice and who are being exploited

[sugarcontent]

I honestly don't think you read my response properly. I think you should read it again.

I did not say at any stage that I agreed that strip clubs should be banned or sex work should be criminalized. In fact, I said the opposite.

What I wanted to point out was that the reason these industries are of concern are because they are a hot bed of exploitation. Pretending that there is not an issue of exploitation in these industries is naive at best. Pretending that the issue is not inherent because of the nature of the industry within a patriarchal society is just as naive.

Again, I never said that a sex industry where people chose the career, which is properly regulated and the workers are properly protected and supported was not desirable or acceptable.

I just pointed out that no such thing currently exists.

However, as I said before, I don't think banning or criminalizing is any kind of solution.

I don't want to get into the factory-workers comparison because it's frankly irrelevant. But I think you'll find that people do make

[cat_guts]

Hmm... It's a curious one

From your friendly stalker.

[anonymous]

It is a sad truth that sex work creates dangers for women. The solution is not prohibition.
It has been demonstrated that access to sex workers reduces the incidence of rape (can't be bothered hunting sources, violet blue has good links). If anything, it's the criminalization of sex work that creates danger for prostitutes and strippers. Criminalization, strangely enough, breeds crime. Particularly where it involves a commodity as powerful as sex.
If the concern is for the safety of women, I believe the best approach is to shape the sex industry so that the workers are protected. Not just from the clients but also the employers.
It is stupid to think that you will protect people by making them criminals.