Well guys, I still don't think Disease has anything to do with it. Certain rural counties in Nevada allow legal prostitution and since they began testing for disease on the working girls in 1986 there hasn't been a single STD case from a Nevada legal brothel. I think there are other factors than disease. Legalising and regulating it would cut down on STDs via the sex trade.
Because pornography is simply an extension of desires that pretty much everyone has. It might not be to everyone's taste, but you have to be pretty extreme to actively move against what is, of course, a private act that concerns only the individual.
Prositution is entirely different in the mindset of the average person. It's not individual any more, and it involves intimacy with another person that contains several issues that many feel are taboo- the taking of money for what should be sacred and a non-commodity (and no matter what the moralists say, people (in general) simply don't THINK it's the same thing with porn), and the possible morla degredation of the person indulging, as opposd to engaging in wholesome activities like dating or marriage. People are far less likely to see porn detracting from such things.
Right or wrong, that's pretty much why the difference.
Oh, and also in that demand for porn is so staggering, it's an academic point anyway.
Originally posted by Ushgarak
Because pornography is simply an extension of desires that pretty much everyone has. It might not be to everyone's taste, but you have to be pretty extreme to actively move against what is, of course, a private act that concerns only the individual.Prositution is entirely different in the mindset of the average person. It's not individual any more, and it involves intimacy with another person that contains several issues that many feel are taboo- the taking of money for what should be sacred and a non-commodity (and no matter what the moralists say, people (in general) simply don't THINK it's the same thing with porn), and the possible morla degredation of the person indulging, as opposd to engaging in wholesome activities like dating or marriage. People are far less likely to see porn detracting from such things.
Right or wrong, that's pretty much why the difference.
Oh, and also in that demand for porn is so staggering, it's an academic point anyway.
This is the first reply that has made sense. Still, given that prostitution has been with us since time began it doesn't answer everything. Sex has always been a commodity, like it or not. Some cultures seem to accept this. The USA probably never will. I just don't get it.
Originally posted by Darth_Erebus
This is the first reply that has made sense. Still, given that prostitution has been with us since time began it doesn't answer everything. Sex has always been a commodity, like it or not. Some cultures seem to accept this. The USA probably never will. I just don't get it.
I think it does answer it. It doesn't matter how long prostitution has been with us; in the mindset of the average person, they do not equate porn with prostitution in any moral sense.
People don't see porn and prostitution as being the same commodity. It's perceptual, probably correct in that perception as well, but right or wrong that is the perception, so that's pretty much how it goes.
well, technically i think pornography is prostitution....second hand that is.
by buying porn, you pay the actors (indirectly though their marketing/production) to have sex.
the only difference between that and hiring a hooker is that you are not the one having sex with them. but if you go out and rent a couple of hookers to have sex, even without yourself involved, wouldn't that still be prostitution?
im not against porn or anything, or even prostitution so long as its regulated and made as safe as possible. just thought i would throw that in as devil's advocate. 😛
Someone posted this same question in of all places, a porn forum (where I got the idea). The best answer by far was by a female pornstar, Kimi Lixx.
It goes as follows
"I have always thought that the legalization of prostitution has more to do with the social power structure than the percieved morality. Prostitution can empower women. Placing a value on your body, large or small, gives you some value. No matter how worthless people around you have told you that you are, you're worth at least that much. You don't have to give it away, you don't have to be manipulated, you don't have to be married, you don't have to be under anyone else's control. You have some defined worth all on your own. Believe it or not, that scares the hell out of people, men and women. (Italics mine) Women who want to use sex as a leverage tool in relationships don't want prostitutes available to their partners. Men who want women to submit within relationships and give up the pussy as a consequence don't want pussy to be acknowledged as valuable. Governments want people in relationships making more taxpayers, not out screwing whores for fun.Pornography doesn't replace pussy. It's not especially threatening to the social power structure between men and women.
I honestly think it comes down to this, and all the free speechifying and bible thumping and STD testing and poverty decrying is just a smoke screen."
By George I think she nailed it right on the head.