Should brothels be banned?

[Tywin Manderly]

If brothels are so important to the well being of society, than the noble houses should do their part and contribute one daughter each. No? I thought not.

Wht didn't Walder think of this? ;)

[Maid So Fair]

Wht didn't Walder think of this? ;)

Gatehouse Ami? :ph34r:

[mankytoes]

Banning prostitution doesn't make it go away, it just subjects prostitutes to police harassment and imprisonment on top of all the other miseries they have to put up with. So if you think that banning prostitution would benefit the prostitutes, you are wrong.

Exactly, this is true in modern countries, so it's way more true in Westeros.

[Deicida]

If you look at HIV/AIDS prevalence, it's 0.2% in Sweden where prostitution is legal and 0.6% in America where it's banned. It's 0.3% in Costa Rica where it's legal, and 0.7% in Honduras where it's not.

Correlation does not equal causation. Honduras has an HDI of 0.617 - Costa Rica's is 0.763. The US is the cesspool of the western world. Scandinavia has unparalleled healthcare. I think you're jumping to conclusions a bit too quickly.

[Deicida]

However in Nevada, the woman are tested weekly, make 6 figure salaries, and are often sexy happy women.

Sexy, happy women? Any woman who is happy about being a prostitute must have some serious psychological issues.

There are even married women working as prostitutes in Nevada and if you ask them if they feel degraded, they ask if it is more degrading to work 4 hours a day 26 weeks a year making over 100k than it is to scrub toilets or flip burgers just to be poor.

It is far more degrading if you spend the 4 hours fucking strangers for money. And what do they do once they get into their 40's? Probably scrub toilets and flip burgers. It's not like shit jobs and prostitution are the only options for them, especially since you're talking about the US. Why not put some effort into it and get a real job that pays 100k a year?

[JonSnow4President]

Sexy, happy women? Any woman who is happy about being a prostitute must have some serious psychological issues.

It is far more degrading if you spend the 4 hours fucking strangers for money. And what do they do once they get into their 40's? Probably scrub toilets and flip burgers. It's not like shit jobs and prostitution are the only options for them, especially since you're talking about the US. Why not put some effort into it and get a real job that pays 100k a year?

I'm in my first year out of college, and I make more than the average HOUSEHOLD in the US. I only make 53,000 a year, and I have a Master's degree from a top 10 ranked graduate program in my field, in a booming economic market where there is a shortage of people in my field. Putting "some effort into it and [getting] a real job that pays 100k a year" is not an option for the vast majority of people.

[Bryanfury]

There ARE women out there happy with what they do. Often they'll call themselves escorts but we, and they, know that they primarily have sex for money.

I don't think brothels and prostitution should be illegal in real life, let alone a fictional world. People want what they want and people give what they want to give. Better we regulate it and make it safer for all involved rather than push it underground and make things unsafe. In my hometown and country, the decriminalization and legalization of prostitution lead to a decrease in street hookers and the local response has been quite positive.

Also lol @ "put some effort get 100k job". Thats hilarious, go find me several thousand open and noncompetitive 6 figure salary jobs so we can hand them out to these lazy sex workers who are clearly just not even trying /sarcasm

[Roose on the Loose]

Correlation does not equal causation. Honduras has an HDI of 0.617 - Costa Rica's is 0.763. The US is the cesspool of the western world. Scandinavia has unparalleled healthcare. I think you're jumping to conclusions a bit too quickly.

All I meant to prove is that criminalization isn't a cure for the perceived ills of prostitution. What the best public policies are is a more complicated question.

Scandanavia has unparalleled healthcare because they're serious about dealing with social problems. So, yea cause and effect are hard to separate. But shutting down the brothels because they give you a squirmy feeling doesn't strike me as being serious about dealing with social problems.

[Deicida]

I'm in my first year out of college, and I make more than the average HOUSEHOLD in the US. I only make 53,000 a year, and I have a Master's degree from a top 10 ranked graduate program in my field, in a booming economic market where there is a shortage of people in my field. Putting "some effort into it and [getting] a real job that pays 100k a year" is not an option for the vast majority of people.

It's going to take time to get a job that good in any field. aryagonnakill#2 was making it sound like the only options are prostitution and Burger King. If people are that desperate for money, there are opportunities outside of work: playing the stock market, starting a website, even flipping items on ebay. The point I was trying to prove is that you don't have to be a whore to make a decent amount of money.

I don't think brothels and prostitution should be illegal in real life, let alone a fictional world. People want what they want and people give what they want to give. Better we regulate it and make it safer for all involved rather than push it underground and make things unsafe. In my hometown and country, the decriminalization and legalization of prostitution lead to a decrease in street hookers and the local response has been quite positive.

Also lol @ "put some effort get 100k job". Thats hilarious, go find me several thousand open and noncompetitive 6 figure salary jobs so we can hand them out to these lazy sex workers who are clearly just not even trying /sarcasm

I don't understand how that's funny. Do you know what the word 'effort' means? I never said a word about handing out 6 figure jobs to lazy whores. My point was that they should quit being lazy, get an education, and work to get a real job that pays 100k. Clearly you misunderstood.

Scandanavia has unparalleled healthcare because they're serious about dealing with social problems. So, yea cause and effect are hard to separate. But shutting down the brothels because they give you a squirmy feeling doesn't strike me as being serious about dealing with social problems.

Agreed

[Bryanfury]

I don't consider it a misunderstanding when you repeat the same inane slander

[JonSnow4President]

It's going to take time to get a job that good in any field. aryagonnakill#2 was making it sound like the only options are prostitution and Burger King. If people are that desperate for money, there are opportunities outside of work: playing the stock market, starting a website, even flipping items on ebay. The point I was trying to prove is that you don't have to be a whore to make a decent amount of money.

I don't understand how that's funny. Do you know what the word 'effort' means? I never said a word about handing out 6 figure jobs to lazy whores. My point was that they should quit being lazy, get an education, and work to get a real job that pays 100k. Clearly you misunderstood.

Agreed

Amazing how you suggest things that take money to get started on any sort of liveable level. Two of them have risk (the entire reason there is a return), and could wipe someone out entirely. The other requires a massive capital outlay up front that a lot of people simply don't have.

Edit: And you're right, my job does make more money after I stay around. However, my point is that good-paying jobs are not out there is such high numbers that anyone can go grab one with just a little "effort." The point of my first post was that I don't make all that much (half of the number you suggested just needed a little effort), and I make more than most households.

[Faydra]

You can't put the problem of safety in Westeros because you won't find any with their fallow medical care. Just let Stannis ban them and if someone has to do it, tell them to do it alone.

[Deicida]

I don't consider it a misunderstanding when you repeat the same inane slander

You've gone too far. Insults don't make good counterarguments. I explained my first post to you because I gave you the benefit of the doubt when I shouldn't have. Even worse, rather than prove me wrong, you have chosen to resort to ad hominem. This only confirms what I did not want to believe: that you lack intelligence and reason.

Amazing how you suggest things that take money to get started on any sort of liveable level. Two of them have risk (the entire reason there is a return), and could wipe someone out entirely. The other requires a massive capital outlay up front that a lot of people simply don't have.

Edit: And you're right, my job does make more money after I stay around. However, my point is that good-paying jobs are not out there is such high numbers that anyone can go grab one with just a little "effort." The point of my first post was that I don't make all that much (half of the number you suggested just needed a little effort), and I make more than most households.

You can take out a loan to come up with the capital. If there were no risk involved, there would be no opportunity for profit. You have to know what you're doing, but learning is free.

Alright, I admit I downplayed the effort part a bit. My argument was that anyone can make decent money without having to resort to prostitution. I understand that not everyone can make 100k. If the average household's income is less than yours, that does not necessarily mean that you earn more than 50% of households, but I see your point.

ETA: I intended the methods I suggested to complement regular income, not replace it.

[JonSnow4President]

You've gone too far. Insults don't make good counterarguments. I explained my first post to you because I gave you the benefit of the doubt when I shouldn't have. Even worse, rather than prove me wrong, you have chosen to resort to ad hominem. This only confirms what I did not want to believe: that you lack intelligence and reason.

You can take out a loan to come up with the capital. If there were no risk involved, there would be no opportunity for profit. You have to know what you're doing, but learning is free.

Alright, I admit I downplayed the effort part a bit. My argument was that anyone can make decent money without having to resort to prostitution. I understand that not everyone can make 100k. If the average household's income is less than yours, that does not necessarily mean that you earn more than 50% of households, but I see your point.

I make more than the median household, so it is actually more than 50%. The average household is actually more, but is offset by the uber-wealthy.

[Bryanfury]

You've gone too far. Insults don't make good counterarguments. I explained my first post to you because I gave you the benefit of the doubt when I shouldn't have. Even worse, rather than prove me wrong, you have chosen to resort to ad hominem. This only confirms what I did not want to believe: that you lack intelligence and reason.

I didn't make any insults, and definitely none that are personal. I simply called your slander inane; silly. You ARE slandering in a generalised attack on essentially anyone who can't "put in effort" and magically get a 6 figure salary, and I called it silly. I truly find your logic humorous. This isn't an insult, it's an opinion on your posts. You however have insulted me, purely because I don't agree with you. Perhaps you should rethink how you respond to people, maybe use some reasoning, before getting personal for no real reason.

[Deicida]

I make more than the median household, so it is actually more than 50%. The average household is actually more, but is offset by the uber-wealthy.

I'm in my first year out of college, and I make more than the average HOUSEHOLD in the US.

You can see why I thought you were talking about the mean. lol, I thought it'd be more offset by the unemployed.

[JonSnow4President]

You can see why I thought you were talking about the mean. lol, I thought it'd be more offset by the unemployed.

Yeah, I get that (and average does actually mean mean). Using average more in the "average Joe" sense rather than the mathematical mean.

[Deicida]

I didn't make any insults, and definitely none that are personal. I simply called your slander inane; silly. You ARE slandering in a generalised attack on essentially anyone who can't "put in effort" and magically get a 6 figure salary, and I called it silly. I truly find your logic humorous. This isn't an insult, it's an opinion on your posts. You however have insulted me, purely because I don't agree with you. Perhaps you should rethink how you respond to people, maybe use some reasoning, before getting personal for no real reason.

I insulted you because you replied with a one-line post that had no real content to what I believe to be a well-reasoned argument. It had nothing to do with whether we agree. All insults are opinions, aren't they? You could easily argue that me calling you an idiot was a reasonable opinion based on what information I had about you at the time. Maybe I was wrong about you, but I think you can understand why telling me I am wrong without actually backing up this claim with evidence made you appear stupid to me.

[Theon {HUNGRY WOLF} Stark]

Why are some posters behaving like Moral Hounds?

Any person, male/female should be free to do whatever job he/she finds good for her survival. Be it prostitution or anything. Not saying Prostitution isn't forced in majority of cases {mostly in developing countries, hate that term,}, but if some women want to willingly work as Ladies of Night, what the fuck is wrong with that?

IT'S THEIR BODY. IT SHOULD BE THEIR FUCKING PREROGATIVE HOW TO USE THAT BODY. IT'S NO MAN'S BUSINESS TO TELL THEM, WHAT THEY SHOULD DO WITH THEIR BODY.

[juanml82]

Gatehouse Ami? :ph34r:

She doesn't charge