Sometimes it seems like I cannot escape prostitution. I encounter it everywhere.
Atlanta:
My parents and nephew spent a sleepless night in an Atlanta motel once, terrified while a whirlwind of illegal sexual activity took place all around them. A pimp stood outside their door in the walkway. The phone rang asking for someone with a strange nickname. Someone pounded on their door. The women were coming and going with their Johns to neighboring rooms. This went on all night long while my nephew, who was twelve at the time, sat wide-eyed by the window, peaking through the curtains. Finally, at daybreak, the riffraff departed and my parents felt safe enough to escape, glad to stay in my spare room the next night.
Another time I went to pick up a visiting friend of mine from a luxury hotel, and the people in the lobby looked at me strange as we came and went. My friend said that the man across the hall from him had just had a prostitute show up, and the people in the lobby probably figured I was one as well. Great. Just great.
On yet another occasion I went with a friend to collect rent money from one of his rental properties, and I commented that the tenant (in her 50's) looked like a prostitute. How did you know? my friend asked, explaining the tenant was a prostitute when she was younger. Well, gee, I could tell by the way she walked, because years ago I lived on Peachtree Street intown and the prostitutes would walk back and forth past my residence all night. You kinda get familiar with the whole posture, expression and movement.
Vacations:
While flying to Costa Rica, a real estate investor told me how he was going to meet up with some business colleagues to buy land on which to build a resort. He had traveled separately from them, because he said they wanted to spend all their time locked up in hotel rooms with prostitutes. He said they were all married, yet they made frequent trips to Costa Rica under the guise of going on "fishing trips." Although he was single, his friends' morals and infidelity disgusted him, so he traveled separately.
In Indonesia, I watched while a local prostitute rubbed the jean-clad butt cheeks of an American man in front of me. After a few minutes of cuddling they headed out the door to find a more private location to continue. I couldn't help but notice the man was wearing a shiny gold wedding band.
Friends:
Male friends tell me routinely about their married buddies who go once a week (once a week!) to visit prostitutes on their boys' night out, and how they travel to Las Vegas and elsewhere to spend entire weekends with prostitutes. And it was easy for me to find an actual John to talk to about a former red light district when I did a research paper on the subject as an undergraduate.
Celebrities:
Then of course, there is Hollywood, which continually generates news about male movie stars caught with prostitutes. And let's not forget about the politicians. And the preachers!
Stock Market:
Yes, you can even buy stock in a brothel! An Australian brothel called the Daily Planet was the first prostitution business to go public. You can buy stock and hedge your bets on whether the industry will be profitable or not. You could even guarantee profitability by frequenting the business yourself, or taking all your buddies on a regular "fishing trip" to Australia. And you can add "pimp" to your resume, as every shareholder is basically a pimp of sorts, profiting from the activity.
Conclusion: prostitution is ubiquitous. What can we do about it? What should we do about it?
The latest trend in law enforcement has cities across the U.S. trying to put a dent in those very profits by curbing the demand for prostitution. They are sending all the lascivious men who get caught to "John schools" where they learn about the evils of prostitution, and why they should stop paying for sex. About 50 cities are using John schools, with another 40 communities considering them.
At the John schools the men learn that prostitutes are desperate people, often sexually abused as children and drug-addicted. They learn that the women are "victims" who are someone's daughter. Would they want their own daughter (or sister, etc.) to wind up in the same circumstances? They also learn about the dangers of STD's, and the harm prostitution causes society.
If the appeal to the heart fails, then the schools also provide some more stringent incentives for the men to get their johnsons under control and stop purchasing sexual favors: the threat of increased punishment! Adding a jail sentence is one tactic that some cities are trying, especially for repeat offenders. Other cities are doing even more, like posting mug shots of the guilty on a special website, or adding their names to sex offender registrations.
The idea is that if the demand for paid sex goes down, then so will the supply.
If the plan is successful, then selling sex will no longer be profitable because there won't be anyone to buy it, and the estimated two million prostitutes in the U.S. will then turn to _____________________ for fast cash. All optimists can fill in the blank with something legal, while the pessimists (realists?) can fill in the blank with yet another illegal activity. Or perhaps the prostitutes and Johns will just flee to Australia or Amsterdam or some other place where the laws are more accommodating.
Honestly, I think the John schools are a step in the right direction toward educating society, and I think increased punishments are a step in the right direction toward justice and fairness. No point in continuing to send the prostitutes away to prison while their customers get a slap on the wrist and a fine. Now, in participating cities, they get a slap on the wrist and a few hours of lectures. Okay, so maybe it's only half a step in the right direction, but I applaud the effort anyway. What they also need to do is go after the pimps more, and shareholders, too.
Nothing has sickened me more on vacations than encountering married men who travel alone or with their buddies on "business trips," "fishing trips," "gambling trips," and other excuses for trips to go places where their ulterior motive is to spend a few nights with prostitutes. Or hearing about men who routinely visit prostitutes on their weekly "boys night out." Or reading about "celibate wives" who never get any because their husbands are already satiated. Or having my friends and relatives stay in hotels where they can't even get a decent night of sleep because of all the craziness going on around them. Or living some place where I can't even look out my window at night without seeing a sultry woman slink by.
Sadly though, I believe there is a certain "element" out there that cannot be educated out of using prostitutes. I believe some men simply want to pay for it, even if they can get it free from a wife or a girlfriend or a pick-up in a bar. They want sex on demand. They want as much control over that part of their lives as when they are sitting on a couch flipping channels with the remote. Next, next, next....
While I'm sure some men seek out prostitutes privately with a measure of guilt, I believe that many do so with great openness among other men, even boasting about their exploits, and going after prostitutes jointly with their buddies. It's a macho thing. They feel great about it, and proud. Until the male culture changes to where their peers disapprove and stop joining and enabling -- covering for them in their lies to their significant others -- then the demand for prostitutes will never go down.
So the forces of good will continue with their John schools and other education and punishment campaigns, and the forces of evil will continue to legalize and normalize sex for hire.
Atlanta:
My parents and nephew spent a sleepless night in an Atlanta motel once, terrified while a whirlwind of illegal sexual activity took place all around them. A pimp stood outside their door in the walkway. The phone rang asking for someone with a strange nickname. Someone pounded on their door. The women were coming and going with their Johns to neighboring rooms. This went on all night long while my nephew, who was twelve at the time, sat wide-eyed by the window, peaking through the curtains. Finally, at daybreak, the riffraff departed and my parents felt safe enough to escape, glad to stay in my spare room the next night.
Another time I went to pick up a visiting friend of mine from a luxury hotel, and the people in the lobby looked at me strange as we came and went. My friend said that the man across the hall from him had just had a prostitute show up, and the people in the lobby probably figured I was one as well. Great. Just great.
On yet another occasion I went with a friend to collect rent money from one of his rental properties, and I commented that the tenant (in her 50's) looked like a prostitute. How did you know? my friend asked, explaining the tenant was a prostitute when she was younger. Well, gee, I could tell by the way she walked, because years ago I lived on Peachtree Street intown and the prostitutes would walk back and forth past my residence all night. You kinda get familiar with the whole posture, expression and movement.
Vacations:
While flying to Costa Rica, a real estate investor told me how he was going to meet up with some business colleagues to buy land on which to build a resort. He had traveled separately from them, because he said they wanted to spend all their time locked up in hotel rooms with prostitutes. He said they were all married, yet they made frequent trips to Costa Rica under the guise of going on "fishing trips." Although he was single, his friends' morals and infidelity disgusted him, so he traveled separately.
In Indonesia, I watched while a local prostitute rubbed the jean-clad butt cheeks of an American man in front of me. After a few minutes of cuddling they headed out the door to find a more private location to continue. I couldn't help but notice the man was wearing a shiny gold wedding band.
Friends:
Male friends tell me routinely about their married buddies who go once a week (once a week!) to visit prostitutes on their boys' night out, and how they travel to Las Vegas and elsewhere to spend entire weekends with prostitutes. And it was easy for me to find an actual John to talk to about a former red light district when I did a research paper on the subject as an undergraduate.
Celebrities:
Then of course, there is Hollywood, which continually generates news about male movie stars caught with prostitutes. And let's not forget about the politicians. And the preachers!
Stock Market:
Yes, you can even buy stock in a brothel! An Australian brothel called the Daily Planet was the first prostitution business to go public. You can buy stock and hedge your bets on whether the industry will be profitable or not. You could even guarantee profitability by frequenting the business yourself, or taking all your buddies on a regular "fishing trip" to Australia. And you can add "pimp" to your resume, as every shareholder is basically a pimp of sorts, profiting from the activity.
Conclusion: prostitution is ubiquitous. What can we do about it? What should we do about it?
The latest trend in law enforcement has cities across the U.S. trying to put a dent in those very profits by curbing the demand for prostitution. They are sending all the lascivious men who get caught to "John schools" where they learn about the evils of prostitution, and why they should stop paying for sex. About 50 cities are using John schools, with another 40 communities considering them.
At the John schools the men learn that prostitutes are desperate people, often sexually abused as children and drug-addicted. They learn that the women are "victims" who are someone's daughter. Would they want their own daughter (or sister, etc.) to wind up in the same circumstances? They also learn about the dangers of STD's, and the harm prostitution causes society.
If the appeal to the heart fails, then the schools also provide some more stringent incentives for the men to get their johnsons under control and stop purchasing sexual favors: the threat of increased punishment! Adding a jail sentence is one tactic that some cities are trying, especially for repeat offenders. Other cities are doing even more, like posting mug shots of the guilty on a special website, or adding their names to sex offender registrations.
The idea is that if the demand for paid sex goes down, then so will the supply.
If the plan is successful, then selling sex will no longer be profitable because there won't be anyone to buy it, and the estimated two million prostitutes in the U.S. will then turn to _____________________ for fast cash. All optimists can fill in the blank with something legal, while the pessimists (realists?) can fill in the blank with yet another illegal activity. Or perhaps the prostitutes and Johns will just flee to Australia or Amsterdam or some other place where the laws are more accommodating.
Honestly, I think the John schools are a step in the right direction toward educating society, and I think increased punishments are a step in the right direction toward justice and fairness. No point in continuing to send the prostitutes away to prison while their customers get a slap on the wrist and a fine. Now, in participating cities, they get a slap on the wrist and a few hours of lectures. Okay, so maybe it's only half a step in the right direction, but I applaud the effort anyway. What they also need to do is go after the pimps more, and shareholders, too.
Nothing has sickened me more on vacations than encountering married men who travel alone or with their buddies on "business trips," "fishing trips," "gambling trips," and other excuses for trips to go places where their ulterior motive is to spend a few nights with prostitutes. Or hearing about men who routinely visit prostitutes on their weekly "boys night out." Or reading about "celibate wives" who never get any because their husbands are already satiated. Or having my friends and relatives stay in hotels where they can't even get a decent night of sleep because of all the craziness going on around them. Or living some place where I can't even look out my window at night without seeing a sultry woman slink by.
Sadly though, I believe there is a certain "element" out there that cannot be educated out of using prostitutes. I believe some men simply want to pay for it, even if they can get it free from a wife or a girlfriend or a pick-up in a bar. They want sex on demand. They want as much control over that part of their lives as when they are sitting on a couch flipping channels with the remote. Next, next, next....
While I'm sure some men seek out prostitutes privately with a measure of guilt, I believe that many do so with great openness among other men, even boasting about their exploits, and going after prostitutes jointly with their buddies. It's a macho thing. They feel great about it, and proud. Until the male culture changes to where their peers disapprove and stop joining and enabling -- covering for them in their lies to their significant others -- then the demand for prostitutes will never go down.
So the forces of good will continue with their John schools and other education and punishment campaigns, and the forces of evil will continue to legalize and normalize sex for hire.
good will continue with their John schools and other education and
Posted by: Coach Online | 08/10/2011 at 11:03 PM
Every summer, each with the team Charles Woodson Jersey Darren Sproles Jersey Tracy Porter Jersey this offseason will be on his team's lineup for some adjustments,With a view to improve their strength,
next year make a difference,Some change is normal in some locations on reinforcement,Some contract is to be able to attract attention, sell a few more tickets, and some player
changes, is more like a gamble,Bet wins, Packers Youth Jerseys the next several years, the team can stand in the forest of strong teams, lost the bet, and then will enter the lottery every year, forever may
not stand up.So far this summer,Many teams have already made major Texans Youth Jerseys changes, but at least now appears that most of these changes are beneficial, appears to be able to enhance their strength,
but before the war in the regular season,everything is just empty talk.
Posted by: Devin Hester Jersey | 12/31/2011 at 03:19 AM