Don't stop there, B. Unpack that.
That question changed your entire outlook on the subject. Cool. What was your outlook on the subject before that question was asked? What was your out outlook on the subject after that question was asked? And what about the question or the answer to it caused you to shift your perspective?
What was your outlook on the subject before that question was asked?
- That no man has a right to legislate the use of a woman's body and that compared to all of the crimes against humanity that happen on a daily basis, sex work is paid far too much attention by justice systems. My outlook was that it's as legit as any other job that requires the use of the human body.
What was your out outlook on the subject after that question was asked?
- That a sovereign government has given itself all the right in the world to legislate as it sees fit. You know how you tell your kids, "my house, my rules. If you don't like it, pay some bills or get your own house"? Same concept. I still believe sex work is paid far too much attention by justice systems and the people who should really be punished (predatory cops, pimps, rapists, child traffickers, media companies that encourage sexuality in minors, etc) should be targeted so much more.
My outlook is that to compare sex work, most specifically prostitution, to being a cashier, doctor, construction worker, or therapist is unintentionally intellectually dishonest at best. While you do use your body to perform the necessary functions of those jobs/careers in exchange for money, the vast majority of jobs/careers do not have direct correlations to rape, theft, murder, kidnapping, STIs, incarnation, and the most unsympathetic treatment against girls and women.
I could go into the spiritual aspect of sex and how sex work is a perversion of a sacred institution but it'll be a wasted argument in this thread.
And what about the question or the answer to it caused you to shift your perspective?
- The easiest thing to do is defend something when you don't have to deal with the consequences of it. "Yeah women are empowered by fucking who they want when/how/why they want... as long as I don't have to answer for a sex worker getting robbed or her client get robbed... or a sex worker getting raped/killed or her client getting raped/killed... or anyone getting caught in a sting operation... or anyone catching an STI that they might never get rid of... ESPECIALLY IF IT IS MY OWN DAUGHTER, SISTER, OR MOTHER... women empowerment!"
My last time in a strip club I asked a dancer who was pretty conscious herself a question: If you never had to strip for money against, would you still strip? She stopped dancing, looked me dead in the eye and said "Hell no. I wouldn't wish this shit on anybody. I'd leave and never ever come back" It may seem glamorous with the bright lights, music, celebrities, money raining, social media attention, fast money but that shit lasts a few nights a month for most sex workers and they still have to navigate not getting robbed, abused, or killed in a world that will say she deserved it because of how she dressed"
Most advocates for sex work would rather argue for the world they wish they lived in instead of dealing with the world they actually live in. And that is intellectual dishonesty.