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Should brothels be banned?


Seaworth'sShipmate

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When Stannis was master of ships, he had the idea of banning all the brothels in Kings Landing.



Some say he did it because he was a repressed prude. Perhaps that is so, but there is another reason to ban them: to do so as a public health measure, and to stop the exploitation of people.



I think its a little misleading how the prostitutes are portrayed in the show and in the books. They are shown as very sexual, attractive, and "fun loving" types. However, prostitutes in the real world ( whether middle ages or today) I have heard are very unhappy, sad people. In the middle ages they were probably crawling with disease after one year or so on the job.



Before I was born, my father prosecuted a few prostiution cases. He told me the prostitutes generally despise their clients are very bitter and hateful people overall.



It just seems bad imo, and expletive. I wouldn't want them banned in Westeros for "sexual morals" reasons, just because of the human trafficking aspect.



Any thoughts?




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In the context of Westeros? Absolutely not. Unless Stannis also planned on instituting a social net. Affordable education. Subventionned programs that favor reinsertion. And a shitload of other measures.



He might as well try to forbid people from being poor.



Even if you are of the opinion that prostitution is inherently exploitative and therefore must be eventually eradicated, there are so many steps that come before that in a feudal society that such a ban in their context is nothing short of lunacy.


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I think its a little misleading how the prostitutes are portrayed in the show and in the books. They are shown as very sexual, attractive, and "fun loving" types. However, prostitutes in the real world ( whether middle ages or today) I have heard are very unhappy, sad people. In the middle ages they were probably crawling with disease after one year or so on the job.

They are not always portrayed like that, tho... The brothel where Tyrion meets Jorah, for example, has a lot of not-very-attractive prostitutes that hate their jobs.

Littlefinger's brothels (that are seen on the show) seem to mostly cater to nobility and fairly well off people, though, so it makes sense he'd send the good looking girls there. Perhaps he moves them on to cheaper brothels closer to the water or flea bottom if they get too many STDs, or whatever.

Point is; there are a lot of different "levels" of prostitutes and brothels in Westeros and Essos. However, the ones we see are mostly for the rich and high class people, since we mostly see people from these classes.

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When Stannis was master of ships, he had the idea of banning all the brothels in Kings Landing.

Some say he did it because he was a repressed prude. Perhaps that is so, but there is another reason to ban them: to do so as a public health measure, and to stop the exploitation of people.

I think its a little misleading how the prostitutes are portrayed in the show and in the books. They are shown as very sexual, attractive, and "fun loving" types. However, prostitutes in the real world ( whether middle ages or today) I have heard are very unhappy, sad people. In the middle ages they were probably crawling with disease after one year or so on the job.

Before I was born, my father prosecuted a few prostiution cases. He told me the prostitutes generally despise their clients are very bitter and hateful people overall.

It just seems bad imo, and expletive. I wouldn't want them banned in Westeros for "sexual morals" reasons, just because of the human trafficking aspect.

Any thoughts?

Yes, prostitutes might be diseased in the Middle Ages, but they may prefer that to starving to death. Also, if people want to knock boots they can get drunk at a bar or look for hook ups on Craigslist, the law doesn't stop them, it just drives it underground.

I wouldnt be surprised if prostitutes secretly hated their clients, I hated just about every customer I had when working in client facing jobs, most customer service people hate their jobs and don't want to be there.

If your issue is with trafficking then you should prosecute trafficking, not prostitution. Bt that rationale I should throw you in jail because your shirt was likely made in a 3rd world sweatshop by trafficked labor.

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I wouldnt be surprised if prostitutes secretly hated their clients, I hated just about every customer I had when working in client facing jobs, most customer service people hate their jobs and don't want to be there.

Lol. As if the clients a hooker receives and the ones a typical customer service rep receives are even close to being alike. As a hooker you have to take anyone who comes, no matter how fat, ugly or repulsive. And you have to behave in the most intimate way, in a way most people behave only for people they are quite fond of or aroused by. Since sex is such an intimate exchange, doing time after time, for stranger after stranger, probably takes a lot of the "spice" out of the act, and makes one angry and embittered

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Agreed, the brothels in KL should be owned by the crown.

If you go on a walking tour of Old Southwark, the guide will always raise a laugh when he points out that the medieval brothels (none were allowed within the City Walls, hence located in Southwark) were owned by the Bishop of Winchester.

But, there was the point that the Church generally behaved better towards the prostitutes than the average pimp did.

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Restricting an other the use of their body is immoral. The law could not be enforced. It would negatively impact the economy. It would make criminals of women who cause no harm. It would make the profession more dangerous forcing it deeper underground and (further) into the hands of criminals.



As far as Stannis ideas go, this competes with making Renly his heir for the worst.


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