Nora Charles (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
noracharles) wrote2009-09-12 10:48 am
noracharles) wrote2009-09-12 10:48 am
Wanting =|= having the right to receive, and my thoughts on prostitution.
I was catching up on the spnkink_meme just now. This time there was a lot of noncon and dubcon, as there often is. And noncon and dubcon can be really hot and enjoyable to read. I like it a lot both when it's treated strictly as a sadomasochistic and/or D/s fantasy and when it's emoporn teasing out all the nuances of the experience. I don't like it when it's presented as not being noncon/dubcon, and the wonderful thing about kinkmemes is that the prompters and writers own their kinks and don't try to sell them as the natural or ideal way of interacting sexually and romantically.
Then there was this fic: J2 AU, happy ending massage, and much as I like noncon/dubcon sometimes, I just want to hug and squeeze this fic and tell it that I love it.
Anyone adult can read this fic, it does not depend on or refer to any canon, and it'll take you two minutes, since it's quite short. Go on.
Did you notice how Jared and Jensen have a business transaction? And how Jared, though he initially did not expect Jensen to do him any sexual favors (because of his gender), once he had his happy ending and liked it wanted Jensen sexually? And how Jensen firmly and politely let him know that he was open to further business transactions, but was not about to give Jared anything more? Did you notice how awesome that was? Just because Jared wants Jensen does not mean Jensen is obligated to give Jared any part of himself, or apologize for his refusal! :-D
Anonymous author, you rock!
Add to that, that the themes in this fic are relevant to my interests. I love massages, real and fictional, and I love empowered prostitution. I believe that an important part of ownership and authority over our own bodies and selves is the right to provide physical services for money. A session with a domme or an adult-baby nanny can be very sexual. A session with a masseur or a medical professional can be very physically intimate. But combine sexuality and physical intimacy, and suddenly we do not have the right to decide for ourselves whether we engage in it, and if we do, charge for it?
Prostitution is horrible, physically and psychologically dangerous and damaging, and demeaning because most prostitutes are not allowed the authority over their own bodies and selves. Prostitution is forced underground by laws restricting or criminalizing it, and as a result is in the control of organized crime. Prostitutes are often slaves, people abducted from their homes, lured with false promises, and held in captivity using threats of murder and violence against themselves or their families in their home countries. Or they are addicts, forced into addiction, or scouted from addicts by pimps who use their addiction to control them.
Prostitutes need the support of the law and public authorities. They need to own and operate their own facilities. They need the protection of the police, and the right to hire their own security without having to resort to thugs from the gang milieus. They need practical legal and financial help and advice from authorities, like any new business owner gets. They need access to medical help. They need public awareness campaigns about slavery, and the difference between rape and a person with authority over their own body willingly providing a service for pay.
There are far more men who engage in prostitution than women! But men get into and out of prostitution when they want to. They provide a service for pay on their terms. They are not "accused" or "suspected" of being "whores" if they dress sexily or act flirtatiously, and if they tell people that they've had sex for money they are not branded a hooker for life. When a woman gets into prostitution, it is for years, decades, even life. She often, probably usually, does not consent to prostituting herself. Even if there is not physical force compelling her, there is often an emergency or emotional pressure forcing her. Once she is in the business, she does not have a say on when to leave, because even if she could get away from the organization controlling her, how would she be able to integrate into normal society again? She is forever branded.
I am for the legalization of prostitution, because our bodies are ours. And because when something is forced into hiding from authorities and the public's awareness, it easily falls prey to organized crime.
Then there was this fic: J2 AU, happy ending massage, and much as I like noncon/dubcon sometimes, I just want to hug and squeeze this fic and tell it that I love it.
Anyone adult can read this fic, it does not depend on or refer to any canon, and it'll take you two minutes, since it's quite short. Go on.
Did you notice how Jared and Jensen have a business transaction? And how Jared, though he initially did not expect Jensen to do him any sexual favors (because of his gender), once he had his happy ending and liked it wanted Jensen sexually? And how Jensen firmly and politely let him know that he was open to further business transactions, but was not about to give Jared anything more? Did you notice how awesome that was? Just because Jared wants Jensen does not mean Jensen is obligated to give Jared any part of himself, or apologize for his refusal! :-D
Anonymous author, you rock!
Add to that, that the themes in this fic are relevant to my interests. I love massages, real and fictional, and I love empowered prostitution. I believe that an important part of ownership and authority over our own bodies and selves is the right to provide physical services for money. A session with a domme or an adult-baby nanny can be very sexual. A session with a masseur or a medical professional can be very physically intimate. But combine sexuality and physical intimacy, and suddenly we do not have the right to decide for ourselves whether we engage in it, and if we do, charge for it?
Prostitution is horrible, physically and psychologically dangerous and damaging, and demeaning because most prostitutes are not allowed the authority over their own bodies and selves. Prostitution is forced underground by laws restricting or criminalizing it, and as a result is in the control of organized crime. Prostitutes are often slaves, people abducted from their homes, lured with false promises, and held in captivity using threats of murder and violence against themselves or their families in their home countries. Or they are addicts, forced into addiction, or scouted from addicts by pimps who use their addiction to control them.
Prostitutes need the support of the law and public authorities. They need to own and operate their own facilities. They need the protection of the police, and the right to hire their own security without having to resort to thugs from the gang milieus. They need practical legal and financial help and advice from authorities, like any new business owner gets. They need access to medical help. They need public awareness campaigns about slavery, and the difference between rape and a person with authority over their own body willingly providing a service for pay.
There are far more men who engage in prostitution than women! But men get into and out of prostitution when they want to. They provide a service for pay on their terms. They are not "accused" or "suspected" of being "whores" if they dress sexily or act flirtatiously, and if they tell people that they've had sex for money they are not branded a hooker for life. When a woman gets into prostitution, it is for years, decades, even life. She often, probably usually, does not consent to prostituting herself. Even if there is not physical force compelling her, there is often an emergency or emotional pressure forcing her. Once she is in the business, she does not have a say on when to leave, because even if she could get away from the organization controlling her, how would she be able to integrate into normal society again? She is forever branded.
I am for the legalization of prostitution, because our bodies are ours. And because when something is forced into hiding from authorities and the public's awareness, it easily falls prey to organized crime.
no subject
no subject
In Denmark, prostitution is legal, though pimping is not. I have never heard of any public institution suggesting prostitution to an unemployed client (that would be rape), though if you receive unemployment benefits from the state I don't think you can refuse a job as a cleaning person, door man or secretary in a brothel if offered one in theory. In practice, the unemployment office is not likely to offer a job like that to someone who has moral objections.