She has a good point.

[ilovemyalibi]

I was talking with my sister and she brought up the point that porn stars are basically like exclusive prostitutes. They get paid to have sex, just like prostitutes do. Therefore, she surmised, porn stars should be just as susceptable to the law as prositutes are.

Thoughts?

Comments

[magnifiquem]

Porn stars aren't getting paid to have sex- they're getting paid for people to see their videos/pictures. They are not selling the same product as prostitutes. Prostitutes sell their bodies; pornstars sell their videos (and although their bodies are the most important part of the video, it is still different. Prostitutes sell their physical selves while porn stars only sell an image.) Because they are only selling an image, it means that there is much less opportunity for them to get their physical selves killed, or get an STD, or to um... tempt men to do immoral things. (In our society, it's a lot more shameful to hire a prostitute- to physcially have sex- than it is to watch a sex video.) So- the law, first of all, needs to protect prostitutes more than pornstars, as prostitutes have more private audiences with men who could, potentially, harm them. Also, as our laws refelct our puritan backgrounds, they recognize having sex as being more immoral than watching sex. (After all, the pornstars are having sex with other pornstars, so

[ilovemyalibi]

Austin brought up a good point as well. Porn stars, because of the nature of their work, still pay income tax. Prostitutes, however, don't report on any of their income and therefore do not pay income tax. The government doesn't like this so they outlaw prostitution. Perhaps if we can devise a way for prostitutes to pay income tax the government won't care anymore?

[magnifiquem]

I think that prostitution would still be considered too dangerous or immoral. Perhaps in a protected, sanctioned form it would be alright- I think there actually are places in the US where it is not outlawed, but it is limited. The sort of prostitution where women sell themselves on the street won't, and shouldn't, be made legal. Prostitutes get murdered like... a lot. It's just kind of the nature of the work... when you have frequent private time with skanky, greasy men who you pick up on the street, bad things are bound to happen. Porn is a much safer profession.

[ilovemyalibi]

I still feel that people have a right to do what they want with themselves. If people bring harm to themselves, that's their fault. This is similar to the argument against the game of tag on the playground. Children aren't allowed to play tag on the playground anymore because there's a possibility that they'll get hurt. If we protected people from every single activity because there was a chance that they could hurt themselves, the only thing people would be allowed to do would be to lay in their beds with a can of bug killer and a fly swatter.