Most people believe that they deserve the rights they are granted by the government. A
prime example of this is the right to do what you want with your body, as long as you don’t hurt
anybody else. This is considered a basic human right and is provided for in the constitution. One
example of where you should be able to do whatever you want with your body is prostitution.
The government always has too much power over our health. It can draft us and make us go into
internment camps like the Japanese in WW2. It certainly shouldn’t say whether or not we have
the right to pay for sex with a consenting adult.
For women its all they can do in order to break themselves of being poverty stricken
sometimes. So who are we to deprive them of their right to do whatever they want with their
body? It could be the only thing that keeps them from feeding there family from a dumpster.
Nevertheless, the government doesn’t care about that, all it cares about is regulating something it
sees as supposedly “bad,” that is paying for sex. One of the benefits of legalizing prostitution
would be that the government would actually be able to regulate it. This would make it a more
supervised practice, so it wouldn’t spread AIDS and herpes and other diseases. The prostitutes
could be tested just like they are tested in places where it is legal, such as Las Vegas.
The cold hard fact is that by putting a restriction on the solicitation of sex the government
essentially is putting a restriction on ones personal freedoms. A state of being, which many
Americans expect. Not only that, the United States is known for and based upon the idea of its
individual freedoms for each citizen, yet in some forms, it still ceases to exist. Not to say that a
person should go out and put there life on the line with some government official because he
doesn’t have the right to pay for sex, just saying that it is an unjustifiable law and should some
way be brought down and changed. The way of doing so could be through protesting and
reaching the people through to its beneficial aspects as well as voting towards its legalization if
there was a law or an ordinance up for a vote. Even one city, even Corvallis could start this, and
it wouldn’t be a bad place because hey, there are a lot of frat guys around here who would spend
the extra buck or two for sex. A hard endless battle to be sure but one which is worth it to men
and to women alike.
Nevada, the one state with the most tourist attractions some of the nicest weather, and
considered by many as paradise, has already legalized this recreational activity. They have
decided the money put forth by the government would be better used in supervising prostitution
rather than fighting against it and making people’s lives miserable. One part of the process of
keeping order and safety within the industry is by controlling the prostitutes acts at work. The
prostitutes must all sign an agreement that they will report of anyone is violent towards them, and
that they will all get tested for diseases regularly so the diseases will not spread. This is just one
of the many ways prostitution works well in Vegas, and it is also one of the reasons the state does
so well as far as tourism.
U.S. News and World Report has shown the facts on prostitution, this growing global
activity. According to the magazine, 17 percent of men have partaken in this by hiring a
prostitute, and the numbers are growing. Another fact from this article is that 40 percent of
Americans think that prostitution should be legalized to reduce the spread of AIDS. To even
further prove that thought, “Not a single case of AIDS turned up in a 1991 survey of 7000 tests on
246 legal prostitutes in Nevada from 1982 to 1989. By contrast, of 700 illegal prostitutes arrested
in 1990 for soliciting in Nevada, 10 percent tested positive for HIV” (Pillard 45). This shows
solid evidence that the monitoring of prostitution, rather than making it illegal altogether, is a
good way to keep the industry safer from STD’s.
If prostitution was regulated, it could become a new industry all its own—a new way of
life across America. It could sprout new jobs as legal pimps and hoes take over cities and towns.
Republicans across the board are constantly asking Americans to spend their money within
America rather than in foreign countries. This will give tax breaks and will give money to new
and risky businesses who want to start up. The money circulated in and out of this industry will
help the nation in a plethora of ways, and could reduce unemployment as much as 15 percent
according to a study done by the Legalize Prostitution Group of Southern Florida (LPGSF).
In addition to all of the economic reasons to legalize prostitution, there is the basic issue
of fundamental rights. Sometimes you might have a man who is not doing very well. Maybe he
is poor or not good looking or had a massive surgery that left him scarred. He is probably not
going to do a very good job trying to pick a woman up in a bar—the fact is, a lot of people choose
sexual partners based on looks and little else. He can be the nicest guy in the world and still let’s
face it he is not going to get any in the most realistic sense. So if he pays for sex let’s say he gets
a night out to have sex with a beautiful woman this could totally lift his spirits, make him feel like
a new person and maybe even have the drive within him to get a job. And all this just because of
the legalizing of a simple act! See how helpful it could be?
Being a whore is something a person never wants to grow up and become. The slang
terms of this occupation, when said, are usually said towards someone in an offensive manner.
Even with the idea that women are still entering the business world daily, prostitution could help
them do this even more. When asked why women sometimes turn to prostitution, Jessica
Flemmer says, “They do it for the money.” This proves that there is an economic incentive just
like a woman who wants to be the head of Hewlett Packard. Who are we to make judgments
about people’s chosen profession? Besides, according to s study done by U.S. Consumer
Advocates for Sexual Freedom, “The economic rewards of prostitution are currently greater than
any of the other professions available to women.” Besides this, the fact that women if they are
really good prostitutes could make basically as much money as they want to make. There is no
glass ceiling their!
Finally we can see that with both men and women getting into this profession, they know
what they are getting into. They know that they are selling their bodies for sex. Being from
supporting a family to the freedom of choice, prostitution has its reasons why it should be legal
and the U.S. government should not be able to stop it. Sadly though this profession is and
probably will always be considered wrong, but for some it’s all there is to give a ray of hope and
sunshine into their otherwise bleak worlds.