Australia's Prostitution Boom

[Ideologue]

HVC: Jesus Lord, that'd be a great job.

I think you think I hate having sex with overweight women a lot more than I actually do, or my record in fact indicates.  It's an easy mistake, though: I don't hate the sinner, I hate the sin, man.  Fat people shouldn't be fat: this is revealed moral truth.  They damage society by being so, their relationships, and themselves.  But it doesn't mean they don't have the same needs and deserve the same rights as everyone else, including affection, including sexual affection.  God didn't give us both pity and reproductive organs and not expect us to use them.

And just because one might not enjoy the labor doesn't mean one oughtn't take pride in the product.

[LaCroix]

there's a good louis theroux documentary that delves into the emotional issues resulting from sex work. twilight of the porn stars

[Ideologue]

That's kinda different.  In a recent discussion, I noted how they were kind of like stuntpeople, and I believe someone noted that they're more like athletes (professional or wannabe-professional).  I can agree with that and I reckon they have a lot of the same issues (periods of overwork alternating with unemployment, you live a fast, take-no-prisoners lifestyle, and their talent is always depreciating with age).  Plus the sex in porn is so stage-managed that it occasionally barely resembles real stuff.

I reckon the biggest problem in both prostitution and pornography is that the work represents a real, often-insuperable obstacle to functioning romantic-familial  relationships.  Like overseas military service or doc review, it's not something a body is meant to do forever.

For one thing, sex for money wonks up sex for affection.  Moreover, I expect few would marry a practicing sex worker, and those who would are not likely to be okay with her or him continuing to work.  (Plus, in the case of female sex workers, pregnancy and especially the childbirth process put one's ability to do the work at serious risk, above and beyond the usual equal opportunity stuff.)

In this case, I'd imagine pornographic performers are better off: they can seek partners in their own weird little world.  Regular sex workers don't have that option.

But, if you could get rid of the stigma and make it possible for sex workers to achieve normal life milestones, I think the psychological problems apparently inherent to working the job long-term would be far more manageable.

[jimmy olsen]

It's Slate, but hey, maybe you'll read it anyways: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/roads/2015/01/australia_s_brothel_boom_as_the_country_s_mining_industry_expands_so_does.html

Is mostly just a puff piece about a specific brothel in Darwin, with interviews with a few of the prostitutes and the madam.  Not a single interviewee that was unconnected to the brothel.  Of course they're positive about it.

Until the end, which finishes on a downer

"Langtrees is good—we see a lot of success but we also see a lot of failure," she acknowledges. "I lost a really good friend to suicide. It all was too much for her. She hung herself in a Perth Park."

Then Sue stops. She adds: "Today a 36-year-old woman came in to ask about work. Even though she was 36, we still sent her away to think about it. We always send them away. It's very important. Because, you know, each time they are sleeping with someone, they are selling part of their soul."

You know who belongs in a brothel?  A woman who thinks sleeping with someone for money is selling part of her soul.  This one's 4F, folks.  Send her back to the bomber factory.

She got out of the job eventually, now she's the madam.

[Ideologue]

See, I appreciate the sentiment, but ultimately that kind of morality is toxic.  And the hilarious part is that prostitution (properly regulated prostitution) is one of the least extrinsically harmful jobs in the world.  You don't kill animals.  You don't clearcut forests.  You don't create a demand just to sell a product.  Your carbon footprint is low.  You don't pretend to believe in an argument that you know will hurt an innocent party, just because you're paid to parrot it.  And you do more tangible, immediately perceptible good than almost any other worker would ever see.

[LaCroix]

That's kinda different.  In a recent discussion, I noted how they were kind of like stuntpeople, and I believe someone noted that they're more like athletes (professional or wannabe-professional).  I can agree with that and I reckon they have a lot of the same issues (periods of overwork alternating with unemployment, you live a fast, take-no-prisoners lifestyle, and their talent is always depreciating with age).  Plus the sex in porn is so stage-managed that it occasionally barely resembles real stuff.

I reckon the biggest problem in both prostitution and pornography is that the work represents a real, often-insuperable obstacle to functioning romantic-familial  relationships.  Like overseas military service or doc review, it's not something a body is meant to do forever.

For one thing, sex for money wonks up sex for affection.  Moreover, I expect few would marry a practicing sex worker, and those who would are not likely to be okay with her or him continuing to work.  (Plus, in the case of female sex workers, pregnancy and especially the childbirth process put one's ability to do the work at serious risk, above and beyond the usual equal opportunity stuff.)

In this case, I'd imagine pornographic performers are better off: they can seek partners in their own weird little world.  Regular sex workers don't have that option.

But, if you could get rid of the stigma and make it possible for sex workers to achieve normal life milestones, I think the psychological problems apparently inherent to working the job long-term would be far more manageable.

i assume most porn actors/actresses would prefer a partner who was uninvolved in the sex business. that's actually briefly brought up in the documentary. but, at the end of the day, sex work fucks with biology. if porn actors are less affected, it's probably more due to fewer fucks (and fewer strangers) than any other reason.

[Barrister]

Why oh why do people take Ideo's "ideology" seriously?

[Ed Anger]

Here comes Captain Square.

[Eddie Teach]

In this case, I'd imagine pornographic performers are better off: they can seek partners in their own weird little world.  Regular sex workers don't have that option.

No reason a call girl and a gigolo can't get together.

[Ideologue]

Why oh why do people take Ideo's "ideology" seriously?

That's mean.  Just because I talk about a possible future that you don't like, doesn't mean I oughtn't be taken seriously.  Indeed, if either of us is committed to frivolity, it's you.  After all, what you believe in is the status quo.

Oh, wait, Canada.  Well, there's still room for improvement.

LaCroix: that is indeed predictable.

[jimmy olsen]

Why oh why do people take Ideo's "ideology" seriously?

He seems to believe in it sincerely.

Just because someone's wrong, doesn't mean one cannot take them seriously.

[Ideologue]

[CountDeMoney]

Why oh why do people take Ideo's "ideology" seriously?

He seems to believe it in sincerely.

He's full of more shit than a Christmas goose.

[Razgovory]

Why oh why do people take Ideo's "ideology" seriously?

He seems to believe it in sincerely.

He's full of more shit than a Christmas goose.

I don't think you prepared that properly.

[Jacob]

I'll have the roast pork.