adult section and look what our Senator Kirk had to say.

do you think it will be before they target other advertising sites. They may or may not succeed, but think of the disruption it will cause to our peaceful and pleasureable activities.

It rather pisses me off that the article keeps mentioning underage trafficing.  I can't stand pedos, to me they are the lowest form of life on earth!

Just because I'm taking my first steps into this hobby, I like to look through the listings, and I have my idea of a short list, doesn't mean I'm looking for little girls.  Makes me mad that some idiot would toss responsible hobbyist into the same catagory.

If the lady isn't old enough to freely go into local establishments to enjoy a drink, doesn't have the curves of a women, can't relate to me and my age range without studying wikipedia for what was popular in my HS years, I don't want nothing to do with her!!!  I can't speak for everyone else, but I look for WOMEN!

the term "underage" to get the public riled up and increase vice squad budgets. Of all the money and time spent by LE on this issue they have not found any widespread underage prostitution in the US.

If you look at polls on this, the majority of Americans do not support spending LE dollars on policing whether or not two consenting adults exchange dollars in return for sexual favors (which is not the same as supporting legalization, it just means they do not see enforcing those laws as being a high priority unless...), so the only way to drum up support for anti-prostitution efforts is to play the trafficking and underage cards. The irony is that there is actually very little being done to control trafficking and underage sex work because targeting them is very hard. So they cast a wide net and hope they will catch something beyond the run of the mill hookers and johns.

As for this self-righteous posing, even if they were successful in taking down BP, it will have no more effect than when CL exited the business - which is none. Eventually that side of the ad business will be hosted off shore by companies like TER that have minimal US presence and so are beyond whatever pressure the US public's disapproval might bring to bear.

As for Kirk, he is looking for some PR to show he is back on the job after his physical issues, and what better way than to sponsort a purely symbolic bill that shows he is still working on supporting family values by telling others how they should live their lives? Okay, I could make a few suggestions, like actually doing something worthwhile about the many real issues the government faces, but that would take some real effort and inevitably piss someone off.

OTOH, I feel strangely optimistic that what is happening with same sex marriage and marijuana may mean that some sensible decriminilization of p4p is no longer as impossible as it seemed. Not holding my breath, but it feels like real change is happening and the impossible is not quite so impossible.

zig

There is an overall cultural acceptance of sex work that is growing up around more relaxed views of peoples' personal lives. The fact that  there are shows like Satisfaction which accurately & compassionately portray the lives of escorts is significantly helping to humanize the trade. Folks who desire to suppress adults' rights to engage in empowering adult activities are getting desperate.

Change is a'coming, tho it'll likely get more turbulent before it calms down for good...

I hope so too that sex work is legalized. But that may not be very good for ladies businesswise as it will increase the supply of girls and supress prices.
On a recent trip to Germany I visited an FKK club where they charge 50 Euro for every 30 minutes. Many girls there want to come to the US given the prices here but hesitate as escorting is not legal. Legalizing sex work will a flood of East European girls here and prices will surely drop.
There are of course many ladies here who hesitate to take up sex work due to the legality. they too will enter the profession.

Normal people can tell the difference between pedophilia and the legitimate desire to spend time with a mature, sophisticated, well-rounded adult companion.  (It's just such a shame that the Senate resolution didn't make the distinction.)

You are the second one to make that argument to me lately, the other being a provider. I do not get it at all. Legality has its own problems, but they are much more manageable than being arrested, permanently stigmatized (say with a felony conviction) and marginalized with all the other problems that brings.

Yes, prices for alcohol did come down when prohibition ended, but a lot fewer people got killed selling alcohol and no one went to jail for it any more so I expect most people in the business viewed it as a big net positive. As I think most sex workers would. There were some bootleggers who had to find other ways to make money being thugs, just as there are some pimps who would need to find other things to do. There would still be opportunities for trafficking, of course, and satisfying the demand that would remain illegal. That is how it has worked in Europe.

I think prices would probably go down some, but I am not even sure of that. First off, prices for escorts in Western Europe, as opposed to club girls, are not lower than prices here. There is really nothing like the club you mention here right now. I suppose some strip joints would evolve into that model. As for escorts, it varies with the strength of the dollar, but prices are pretty much in line when you compare escorts in major cities, with prices in Europe tending to be a little higher in the top tier cities, in my experience. Don't you think there would be an explosion in demand if this became legal? The comparison with porn is far from perfect, but demand did explode as it became increasingly easy to get.

I do not feel at all qualified to speculate on how many more ladies would be tempted to try providing, but most of them would not like it, just like now. In any case, demand and supply would soon balance out, as they always do. If prices get too low, fewer ladies will want to do the work, and if prices get quite high, the supply should increase.

As Morgan said, there will be some ugly backlash on the way just as there was on the road to general acceptance of homosexuality, but it seems possible we are on that road. How anyone can say that is a bad thing, unless it is for religious reasons, is beyond me.

zig

On the other hand, there's the issue of quality to consider.  Consider how a plentiful supply of cheap fast food does not suppress prices at high-end gourmet restaurants.  People who desire the best still pay for the best.

Those who desire high-end providers generally don't go chasing after BP specials....

Would most men date a woman who to mention she's a stripper? It's a completely legal occupation, and yet typically the answer is "no" or at least not date her in a serious take-her-home-to-mamma sort of way. Were legalization to occur in this country, it may require each lady to undergo official documentation as an escort (possibly complete with expensive licensing, as is the case in many occupations). I imagine the best excuse for this would be something along the lines of human trafficking prevention and/or perhaps disease control (even though STDs are documented as slightly lower among American escorts as compared to American civvie women), but we all know most documentations of this sort boil down to money, power, and political as well as cultural control over the populace.

Legalization does not equal social acceptance, and if I had to choose between a publicly registered and documented license/work history in companionship that an employer/family member/whoever else could dig up and discriminate on, or else continuing to operate sub rosa (or even giving the lifestyle up), you bet your cute behind that under no circumstances is my name going on those books. I may be incorrect, but I believe one or two of the Canadian provinces requires such a license. Perhaps one of our Canadian sisters can shed more light on that subject...

There is also the issue of safety for women. Screening is an issue of not just legal safety, but avoidance of physical and financial harm. Despite this, screening severity geographically varies only with the issue of legal safety; the cities/states with less of an agenda to legally pursue professional ladies and their patrons also see the least amount of screening, and vice versa (for most ladies, of course-every are has outliers in both directions). Canada and our own northern border states are excellent examples, as is Chicago in the other direction. In many of these areas, men have grown so accustomed to minimal screening, that all but a very, very few men (usually those who patronize the higher end, which tends to always rely more on full names/information and less on references) simply refuse to give more.

Of course, one could argue that in a legal system, a lady could seek out legal help in case of harm or robbery/rip off, the way a taxi driver or any other high risk contract worker might. However, we are still stuck with the issue that legalization does not equal acceptance, and in similar industries (such as stripping), help is often slow and reluctant, with victims often blamed or soon forgotten. It also doesn't really help to prevent the rape, beating, murder, or robbery in the first place, either, and in an industry that is so dependent on physical looks and the ability to remain comfortable with strangers, these violations are often career crushing. The only way to greatly minimize these risks is through heavy screening, and legalization often thwarts this without offering any alternative safety net for the ladies in question.

Personally, I remain strongly for decriminalization (for both parties involved), but prefer to leave legalization and our vagina controlling government out of it.

… is the term for this.  That said, exploitation and abuse of children is absolutely intolerable —but this Senate resolution is not about that.  As if Senate resolutions are ever really about what they are "about."

That said, Mr. Kirk, one of my elected representatives in Washington, has presumably recovered from his stroke sufficiently to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.  I wish him continued good health and would remind him that, in view of the far more serious issues facing the country and his party, he should consider focusing on them.