Preface
This is a plea for liberty, dignity and for critical thinking. This plea
presents an aspect of personal freedom, and then offers ten theses along
various lines, with an aim to encourage disinterested ones to take a position,
and to persuade those opposing that particular freedom to reexamine their
convictions.
One aspect of human societies that is the focus of recent debate is
prostitution. Quite independent of the opinions one may have regarding
prostitution, much of the debate around it appears not to have the hallmark of
sophistication and critical thinking. Let us now investigate ten aspects of,
and issues associated with, prostitution and the debate around it, touching on
themes of personal liberty, human dignity, art, ethics and health.
First thesis, the "Vague, extensible boundary" thesis
Second thesis, the "Thin edge of the wedge" thesis
Third thesis, the "Fight slavery, not liberty" thesis
Fourth thesis, the "Basic need for human intimacy" thesis
Fifth thesis, the "Denial of a fundamental pleasure" thesis
Sixth thesis, the "It depends upon the hourly rate" thesis
Seventh thesis, the "Petty jealousy of the wretched" thesis
Eighth thesis, the "Restriction on art" thesis
Ninth thesis, the "Sub-optimal trading terms" thesis
Tenth thesis, the "Healthier, freer, happier society" thesis
First thesis, the
"Vague, extensible boundary" thesis
The term “prostitution” is open to broad interpretation; therefore, the
implementation of a ban on prostitution, can, and probably will, trample upon
other fundamental freedoms, even if a given society may have chosen to ban only
prostitution.
Let us consider a working
definition: “Prostitution, mass noun: the
practice or occupation of engaging in sexual activity with someone for payment.”
This definition from the Oxford English Dictionary suggests that said paid
sexual activity needs to happen regularly for it to be considered prostitution.
Therefore, a one-time, or perhaps even four-time, exchange of sexual favors for
payment, would not qualify as prostitution.
Other philosophers are stricter:
"the act or practice of engaging in
sexual intercourse for money". This definition from dictionary.com would mean that even a
one-time exchange would qualify as prostitution. Note, however, that “money”
has replaced the more general "payment". Therefore, exchanging sexual
favors for a promotion at work, or the awarding of a contract or rental
accommodation, would or would not
constitute prostitution, depending upon which definition one picked. On the
other hand, note also that “activity” has been replaced by “intercourse”,
therefore, sexual-foreplay-for-money would appear to not be prostitution!
Must one, both or all parties need
to be in a state of complete undress for an accusation of prostitution to be
brought? Are there certain parts of the male and female bodies that must be
uncovered for the charge to hold? What if there is no physical contact of skin,
hair, teeth, or any other part of the human body between the parties? What if
no sexual climax is achieved? Would that still be prostitution? Would paying
someone for the right to gaze upon their visage for twenty minutes in a closed
hotel room constitute prostitution? Or ought suchlike to be banned as perversions
that no good Christian could possibly countenance? Remember, it was not so long
ago that pre-marital sex was considered a perversion, as was the holding of
opinions that went against Rome.
What of strangers who meet in a bar,
have a few drinks, one mentions the ability to invite the other to a private
party in a grand mansion, and that invitation in return for sexual favors –
would that be prostitution? What if one hands over cash at the end of the
evening, perhaps calling it taxi-fare – would that be prostitution? Remember,
products, services and even monies have been exchanged for the sexual act in
this hypothetical example. Or are we now in danger of outlawing casual sex
between adults who have met on the day, or general frolicking? This example
should help to refute any charge of ostensible pedantry.
Second thesis, the "Thin
edge of the wedge" thesis
Even apparently distinct personal freedoms tend to be interrelated in
practice; attempts to remove them often proceed by degrees, in order that it
may be palatable till it is too late; making prostitution illegal might lead to
other freedoms being dismantled.
It would be so much simpler if we
all had the same taste, the same ideas on how humankind ought to live, and the
ability to produce only similar ideas. Such a society would be the dream of
Koestler's commissar. Koestler suggests that human societies continuously
alternate between free ("yogi")
and rigid ("commissar")
systems, as a pendulum swinging between extremes. From our knowledge of world history,
we ought to be able to place various societies along the pendulum's arc. We might
find that societies that segregate public washrooms based upon ethnic origin,
or persecute homosexuals, also tend to have limits on freedom of speech, and
are generally removed from those societies which allow individuals to choose
and propitiate any God. The same retrospective might suggest that freedoms are
typically stripped away in stages, either by decrees that are initially only
temporary, or apply at first to only certain trades, political ideologies or
races. The banning of prostitution, and the attendant persecution of those who
seek to satisfy a human instinct, those who seek a fundamental human pleasure,
those who seek human intimacy, those who wish to improve their lot, and those
who seek to improve society’s, may be lamentable in itself, but, worse still,
it might be the starting point for the removal of other personal freedoms. The
secret police’s functionaries rummage through all epistles, ostensibly because the
ones with references to piracy might otherwise escape them.
Part of this paper was written on
one of the world’s most popular mobile devices. The word-processing software
bundled with the phone suggests spelling corrections for words that do not
appear in the dictionary. However, “orostitution”, “prodtitute”, “sodpmy”, where
only a single letter was out of place, seemed to stump the software. Large,
for-profit corporations now decide which words of the language may be encouraged,
and which are inacceptable. Ah, Orwell, you would have been wealthy, if you had
gambled on horses!
One hears of unmarried Ukrainian and
Russian women being denied business travel to certain Islamic states unless
accompanied by a father or brother. This may or may not deter prostitution, but
it certainly does curtail personal liberty, gender equality and human dignity.
One is reminded of the economics textbook which suggested that even if
Pakistanis are consistently better than Jamaicans at repaying loans taken out
to start small businesses, the bank may not deny loans to Jamaicans. But
perhaps it is evident to some that the solution is to put up a sign: “Jamaicans
not welcome”. Empiricism: 1 – Liberty: 0.
Third thesis, the "Fight
slavery, not liberty" thesis
Prostitution, perhaps also due to outdated sexual prudishness and sexist
bias, has not generally seen the modern improvement in working conditions
common to many other professions; prostitution is often enmeshed with violence,
slavery and other assaults on human dignity and freedom; yet, these are not
inherent to prostitution; one observed reaction is to fight slavery by,
curiously enough, taking away freedoms, instead of defending freedoms.
Supply chains with one end in
slavery and exploitation, and the other on the high street, are not a modern
phenomenon. Voltaire told us a couple of centuries ago of the true price of
sugar in Europe: a partially eaten African man. However, that is no argument to
ban sugar; rather, it is an argument to ensure that commonly accepted standards
of safety, fairness and dignity are more stringently applied across the board.
Rumor tells us of young people from India and the Philippines who move to work
in the Arabian Gulf, driven by economic pressures. We are told of squalid living
and deadly working conditions, but perhaps not often enough, and not loudly
enough. Again, this is no argument to cease the construction of football stadia
or luxury hotels, or to disallow the flow of labor across borders.
The image of young, uneducated,
destitute women being forced into exploitation of the most disgusting kind
quite understandably shocks. The questions it raises have to do with abduction,
with a poor job market, with inadequate subsidies to education, with a high
cost of living, with the illegal avoidance of taxes, with public health
violations, with physical violence and coercion based on threats of physical
violence, with illegal imprisonment, with depressed salaries, and with gender
inequality – all these are important, urgent issues for any society, but none
are necessarily, specifically related to prostitution.
It is certainly conceivable, and
perhaps also a reasonably easy to verify fact, that an adult human engaging in
prostitution can work in an environment which is not just safe but also
comfortable, be treated with respect and friendliness on the job, be
compensated at rates much higher than the average adult worker, choose clients
on a case-by-case basis, and withdraw from the profession at any given time.
Prostitution in many cases is linked
with exploitation and slavery. But let us rather fight exploitation and slavery
– and not by taking away freedoms, but by increasing them, and defending those
freedoms. It must be possible to buy T-shirts in London without causing the
deaths of desperate Bangladeshis, surely.
Fourth thesis, the "Basic
need for human intimacy" thesis
Occasional human physical contact and proximity of the tender variety is
indispensable to the human condition; in many societies, this may only be
available to some through payment; to ban prostitution is to condemn such vulnerable
humans to a veritable hell.
Human societies have long
experimented in ways of controlling and destroying the human body and spirit.
One innovation is solitary confinement, where the human subject is deprived of
other human contact, but kept alive through the regulation of nutrients and
temperature. The pleasures that sages have seen in the face of solitude
notwithstanding, this is considered a terrible state. Innovation we have labeled
it – but it is not unrelated to millennia-old ideas of exile and ostracism.
Let us move closer to our times.
Much of art over the past couple of centuries has grappled with the ideas of
alienation within a city teeming with humans. In the urban centers of today, it
is possible to live in an apartment block and not know the neighbors; to go to
work in a pepper-spray factory or anti-establishment bookstore with a hundred
others and not have more than a cursory acquaintance with even a few; to not
understand the language of the majority; or to be native but without
companionship.
Religion and art – and perhaps
religion is art – may provide succor, but perhaps not always. In such a
circumstance, and this circumstance is probably not the absolute exception, might
not a visit to a prostitute be redemption, where one may enjoy the soothing
touch of human skin, and hear words of endearment and acceptance? – and this
quite independent of sexual desire. Ah, but those sweet nothings are not true,
say those who claim to read minds? When may they be true, how can we ever know
the truth of how another feels, how long must two humans know each other before
the State will allow one to claim to love the other? Some kinds of massage parlors
might serve the purpose, but all kinds of massage parlors will be ordered shut,
mere months after prostitution is banned. To prohibit prostitution is to
potentially deny human beings the fulfillment of their basic need of a human
caress, of human warmth, of human intimacy – a grim fate indeed.
Fifth thesis, the
"Denial of a fundamental pleasure" thesis
The sexual act and concomitant activities are associated with one of the
greatest pleasures that it is generally possible for humans to experience;
prostitution is an easy and safe way to access this pleasure; for some, the
only way; to ban prostitution would be to deny many a fundamental pleasure.
Sexual pleasure, along with its
physiological acme, the orgasm, is perhaps one of the oldest and most intense
pleasures known to mankind. To impede its widespread, nay, universal, availability,
and to deny human beings this fundamental pleasure, can only be pathological
cruelty.
Furthermore, what of those who wish
to learn how to derive and give pleasure during and through sexual intercourse?
Desirable as this ability is in itself, it is also one of the crucial aspects
of many long-term adult relationships. The existence of the Kamasutra and rumors of an entire
industry that produces related video material notwithstanding, this would be
easy to acquire through recourse to prostitution. The common analogy in such
cases is the difference between reading about how to ride a bicycle, and the
practical experience of actually mounting one and moving one's legs.
Sixth thesis, the "It
depends upon the hourly rate" thesis
A part of the aversion to prostitution is linked to
the extent of monetary or non-financial compensation awarded to a prostitute
for his or her services, and is not specific to prostitution, as it applies
much more broadly, across many professions.
Consider a prostitute who earns more
than a neurosurgeon, say 0.4 million Dollars every year. She has a spacious,
modern house on the river, goes shopping on the main boulevards of Milan and
Paris, donates ten thousand to give more of the world's poor access to a decent
toilet, and enjoys solving crossword puzzles whilst exercising.
Now consider another prostitute, one
who offers his services for 0.01 Dollars an hour. This sum, incidentally, can
buy a cup of tea in some parts of the world, but would not take one very far in
Milan or Paris, at current rates of exchange.
The first case is by no means unrealistic,
if uncommon, and would place our hypothetical prostitute far above the mass of
mankind, as far as some aspects of quality of life are concerned. The second
case is unrealistic, given that one could typically earn a far higher sum even
by singing poorly in a public square, or by scouring busy boulevards for
inadvertently discarded coins. What reasons could we possibly have to stop
either our first or our second protagonist from engaging in prostitution, for,
quite obviously, neither is driven by economic pressure of the grossest kind?
That it is not good for their souls, or for those of their clients – for we
know what is good for the souls of humans, and what is not?
Consider
also that many societies insist upon a minimum wage, because they believe that human
labor must be compensated adequately, if not necessarily appropriately.
Hand-pulled rickshaws on the streets of Calcutta may scream out desperation and
exploitation – but mostly because they are poorly compensated. If paid well,
and fully accepted into society, they might well be a stylish – because quaint
– form of low-carbon transportation. Rickshaw pullers would be able to take
adequate breaks, not have to haggle over fare, be dressed appropriately for the
weather, have access to a nutritious diet, have dedicated lanes on busy
streets, trained in the best way to pull, and have access to medical check-ups
and insurance, et cetera.
Does at least part of the popular
backlash against prostitution have anything to do with the hourly rate, which
when moved upwards or downwards, but more realistically upwards, would obviate
the opposition?
Seventh thesis, the "Petty jealousy of the wretched" thesis
Some of the opposition to prostitution stems from those who are old,
ugly, unshapely, unwhole, weak, diseased or wretched, and would deny the
pleasures of intimacy and beauty to others, out of a base sense of jealousy;
some others oppose it, but oppose it only for the masses, for they themselves have
the means to access the same pleasures albeit cloaked in other guises.
It is conceivable that some of those
who will disallow human beings from enjoying the joys of human intimacy and
sexual activity might do so because they themselves are condemned to a life of
chastity, dreariness and isolation, through self-imposed barriers of some
morality or taboo. It is more than conceivable that those who are old, ugly,
unshapely, unwhole, weak, diseased or wretched themselves would not care that
others enjoy the pleasures of youth and beauty. Some slaves would rather
support slavery, for they themselves are too scared or weak to break their own
chains, and resent those who make the attempt. Indeed, they invent and support
moral values that would see chains strengthened. They would ban dancing too and
every other affirmation of life, and they will do so after they manage to
pervert the language itself, to twist what is healthy into what is immoral, to
banish and revile beauty and its contemplation, and to suppress the natural
desires of adulthood. We must turn away from these deniers of flesh and health,
from these deniers of the earth with their promises of imaginary beyond-worlds,
where true believers are to find compensation for their partially self-willed
abstinence in this world.
Of course, this is not to suggest
that those who are bland and unattractive might not have an objection to
prostitution that does not stem from jealousy – for the mind of man, as that of
woman, is inviolate.
But let us go further – what of
those who enjoy the pleasures of sensuality but would deny it to others? What
of those who have the means to command informal harems through political,
corporate or religious rank, or to buy diamonds for mistresses and cars for
toy-boys, or even to tip cabin-boys and cleaning-maids heavily? They would
easily be able to sneak themselves past anti-prostitution legislation that
applies only to the less privileged of their tax-paying compatriots. Also
against such must freedoms be defended.
Eighth thesis, the
"Restriction on art" thesis
Much of visual art concerns the human form, and some deals with the
representation of romantic love – and this has been the case across millennia;
this typically involves paying men and women to pose and act out scenes of
human behavior, in various stages of undress, occasionally in contact with
others, all of which is not far from the basic idea of prostitution; to ban
prostitution would be to suppress this genre of art, a genre that is often to
be seen even in the most conservative of art galleries and temples.
Art seems to play a reasonably
important role in human societies. Although human societies have often made an
attempt to suppress and control art, these are typically societies which care
little for human freedoms. To absolutely deny prostitution would also be to
restrict artistic creativity, for one would scarcely be able to pay a gentleman
or lady to sit around on a stool naked, and turn a certain way at command, or
hold a certain pose, in a locked room, while their portrait was painted,
without opening oneself up to a charge of prostitution. Given that many oil
paintings in many art galleries of the West depict naked boys and women, this
would be a bit of an issue.
The same problem surrounds
depictions of sexual or amorous activity in photography, film or sculpture, for
there is no essential difference between paying a human to lie naked on top of
another human and simulate the sexual act, and prostitution. But perhaps we can
also ban the production of some forms of art, and all of pornography; or to
allow only those with a license for art to dabble with
people-paid-to-do-things-naked – that would do the trick. If, that is, the
trick was to live in a society increasingly bereft of freedoms. Note also that
the representation of the human form in art is by no means an esoteric niche;
neither is the representation of romantic love, of the giving and receiving of
embraces and kisses – that is, people paid to embrace and kiss other people,
which sounds at least a little similar to prostitution.
Incidentally, some artists, now much
acclaimed, would certainly approve of prostitution: Pushkin, van Gogh, Bizet,
say – and many, many more of defending prostitution. But we do not need their
approval, as Nietzsche might point out.
Ninth thesis, the "Sub-optimal
trading terms" thesis
In this world of limited resources, many people try to improve their lot
through engaging in trade; among others, the marketplace pays for the
mechanical skill of a surgeon, the creative output of a poet, and the skin tone
of a shampoo model; all of these occupations require effort, but also have an
element of chance, in terms of access to education, access to audiences, and
genetics; to ban prostitution would be to force some humans to participate in
the marketplace on sub-optimal terms, with this unfairness perhaps drastically
reducing the quality of their life.
Prostitution, as we know from its
definition, may be considered an occupation. As a prostitute, one offers
services or time, and receives compensation. Typically, possessing beauty,
youth or age, language skills, accent, a certain look, hair, polished manners,
and certain bodily dimensions, and so on, may play a role in influencing
compensation.
We live in times where some
societies pay attractive men and women to model hats and lingerie, or to
advertise slimming butter substitutes – the main qualification for which jobs
is the physical appearance of their bodies. Therefore, it would appear we have
no compunctions in the body being used to earn a living – at least, that is the
case in societies which typically enjoy more freedoms than others.
To ban prostitution would be to deny
a handsome, young gentleman or a mature, elegant lady the right to earn their
living through an occupation they may have chosen. How do they now earn their
livelihood? Perhaps the man works as a doctor, and the woman becomes an
advertising executive – assuming, of course, that they have the educational
qualifications, skills, access to education, aptitude, motivation, and access
to a functioning job market. If not, they can relatively easily learn the art
of grilling burgers or directing people to their seats in baseball stadia.
This, however, would probably drastically change their hourly rate, as far as
financial compensation is concerned.
In some cases, it would take away
their chances of acquiring an education, or a benefactor, that might help to
improve their quality of life. It reeks of unfairness that those who have a
comfortable existence through their degrees in medicine from the University of
Tokyo, or because they have married a Senegalese heiress, or are a Senegalese
heiress, should deny less fortunate others a way of earning their own
livelihood and improving their lot, especially if these others have been
blessed in being healthy, beautiful and charming, say, but not in some other
ways.
Tenth thesis, the
"Healthier, freer, happier society" thesis
The need for human intimacy and the desire to have sex are both
fundamental to the human condition; alienation and sexual frustration of
individuals are detrimental to the community; criminalizing prostitution will
typically make it unhealthy and dangerous, and deprive the community of its
fair share of taxes; prostitution can afford safe, pleasant and convenient
access to human intimacy and sexual pleasure; a society which allows and
encourages prostitution will be freer and boast of healthier, happier citizens.
For how much violence, pettiness and
ill-humor is sexual frustration and alienation responsible? We shall never
know, but we may guess that it can only be unhealthy. But let us move away from
the negative aspects of a ban, and focus instead on the positive aspects of a
society where prostitution is mainstream, even acceptable as urbane, adult
dinner-table conversation. Imagine a world where adult individuals have safe,
pleasant and convenient access to the basic human needs of intimacy and sexual
pleasure; a world where prostitutes are full-fledged members of society, and are
treated with respect and dignity; a world where the prostitute and his or her prospective
client together set the boundaries and price of their interaction, with both
retaining the right to reject outright any interaction at all, and safety,
dignity and transparency being the cornerstones of that interaction; a world where
adult individuals have the choice to improve the quality of their life through
participating in a relatively low-skill, high-pay trade – surely, such a world
must be freer, healthier and boast of happier denizens.
Note also that, even if prostitution
is made illegal, the various reasons that have contributed to its continued
existence over many centuries will not vanish overnight, for some are a
fundamental part of the human condition. A society where prostitution is
concealed through subterfuge and hidden behind dingy curtains in dilapidated
buildings, where victims of violence may not approach the civic authorities,
where the public purse is cheated because of unaccounted payments, where
emergency medical assistance may not be sought, where human dignity is sorely
tried – in short, this is a society where humans are forced into the darkness.
Of course, this is no objection that a large enough secret police and a network
of labor camps will not solve, but we do not wish to be too close to Koestler’s
commissar.
Conclusion
In the preceding analysis, we have avoided any recourse to statistics,
or to any survey, or to any personal narrative. Personal narratives, surveys
and statistics can all be very helpful to better understand any given
phenomenon, but they can also be seriously flawed, intentionally biased, or
relevant only for certain specific conditions – groups, locations and times.
Our ten theses stand by themselves, in the sense that they are based upon
plausible assertions, with ample use of “some”, “probably”, “perhaps” and other
devices that aid their plausibility. They do not pretend to be a comprehensive review
of that aspect of prostitution, personal freedom or critical thinking they
concern themselves with, but they are ten ideas that must be considered before
the reader chooses his or her stance.
To sum up, some of the opposition to
prostitution appears to stem from jealousy and ressentiment, some from a
false association with other social plagues, and some from repressive,
anachronistic ideas of sexual morality. The main reason to support prostitution
must be that it is a personal liberty and all personal liberties are important;
to this must be added the vital role it plays in terms of addressing the
fundamental human needs of human intimacy and sensual pleasure.
Martin Niemöller is often misquoted,
but that is surely trivial. We look the other way when they come for the labor
leaders, because we are not labor leaders, and we are not in need of their
services. We look the other way when they open everyone’s private
correspondence, because our activities are boring and we have no cousins who
work in Israel. Let us not look the other way when they take away yet another
freedom, let us not look the other way when they usurp the debate through
parodies of rhetoric and loudness of voice, let us not bow down before the
anger fuelled by base jealousy and outdated convention, let us not accept that
a better world is impossible merely because it eludes us today, let us stay
true to the ideals of liberty and human dignity.
