Prostitution: Is it as bad as they say?

Prostitution by many is considered to be something horrible and morally corrupt, and of course there are some merits to this way of thinking, but if you don't do it yourself how can you properly judge it. Our culture today teaches us that prostitution is wrong and is something that should be vanquished from our country completely, this however was not always the case. Prostitution has been around since the early colonial years and it got really popular during the Victorian era in the 19th century. In the Victorian era prostitution was not illegal and there were many brothels and bordellos. Prostitution during this time was the largest occupational category for women outside of the home. Prostitution wasn't viewed with the horror it is today. Prostitution then was a pretty acceptable way for women to earn money. Prostitution was not made illegal until the mid 18th century. Americans changed prostitution from something that was at one point in time a widely accepted occurrence to something that should be cast out from society. I don't believe that this should be how we view prostitution because I believe that there are some definite positives to prostitution. The biggest pro to prostitution is that it gives both women and men a chance to make money. Many people would probably say that there are better methods to making money and while they may be right sometimes these great options and opportunities aren't present for everybody. Making minimum wage at Walmart and McDonald's may be alright for a little while, but once you have bills to pay minimum wage is almost never enough, and that's just for taking care of yourself. Minimum wage is even more impossible to live off of when you have kids in the picture. Prostitution may not be what you would turn to, but for many it's a viable way of making money that doesn't involve stealing or robbing. I know that I personally would turn to prostitution before I sat there and let me or my children starve and I don't believe that people should be penalized for making that choice. This next point I make isn't necessarily a con, but it is something that supports prostitution none the less, and that is the freedom of choice. America is built off of this principle and I believe that illegalizing prostitution violates this right. Engaging in prostitution should be a choice not an automatic jail sentence. If two adults want to consent to sex and involve money who is the American government to stop that. As long as the prostitute is of legal age then the law enforcement has no business policing what goes on between two consenting adults whether it involves money or not. STD's can be easily spread through prostitution, but that is the risk that one takes when they decide to have sex with a prostitute and it is the risk that people take every time they have sex, so STD's are not isolated to only coming from prostitutes. Prostitution has been here for centuries and it certainly isn't going away any time soon, whether it's illegal or not. Instead of wasting man hours and tax dollars on preventing and catching prostitutes the government could be turning prostitution as a way to make revenue. The government could legalize prostitution, and seriously collect on the money that they make. If they legalized prostitution brothels could be built, which would give prostitutes safe places to work and help create jobs for people, who would have to build the brothels, and for the security that could be involved in protecting the prostitutes from out of control customers. This would in turn make the streets safer and cleaner while promoting the welfare of all citizens. Blogged By: Janae Clark