'Men buy girls, not sex' and other myths of anti-prostitution moralists

[Sweet Emily J 172062]

An older article, but a great one, worthwhile of your time & attention.
â?¦

[B]'Men buy girls, not sex' and other myths of anti-prostitution moralists'[/B]
[URL="http://www.theguardian.com/profile/melissa-gira-grant"][I]By Meliisa Gira Grant[/I][/URL]

[URL="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/sep/23/prostitution-sex-trade-demand-myth?newsfeed=true"]http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/sep/23/prostitution-sex-trade-demand-myth?newsfeed=true[/URL]

[QUOTE]
[I]According to the documentaries running on near-constant repeat on CNN and MSNBC, men all around America are just waiting to buy women for sex, fuelling what is referred to as a "multibillion dollar industry". In CNN's latest sex trade special, Selling the Girl Next Door, we're told that girls are "routinely bought and sold for the pleasure of grown men". Attorneys general, mayors and sheriffs across the United States are using the same tabloid statistics and rationale to set public policy. They claim that the way to end exploitation in the sex trade is to "end demand" for the sex trade â?? that is, end men's desire for sex they can pay for. The notion that men's desire to buy actual people fuels the sex trade has gone so mainstream that when aspiring celebrity philanthropist Ashton Kutcher launched a public service campaign against prostitution this year, he called it "Real Men Don't Buy Girls".

The problem is, real people buy sex, and real people sell sex. The numbers on how many people are involved in the sex trade are notoriously hard to gather, or trust, but there is one constant: buyers are not buying people. When politicians, social service providers and celebrity philanthropists insist that sex workers are selling ourselves, they engage in the same kind of dehumanisation that they claim johns do to us. When they claim that men can buy us, they rob us of our power and our choices.

If you're someone whose understanding of the sex trade is patched together from cable specials like these, with their endless reels of women in miniskirts and fishnets and boots leaning into cars, it's probably impossible to imagine that sex workers have power or choices.

[URL="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/sep/23/prostitution-sex-trade-demand-myth?newsfeed=true"]Read More...[/URL][/I]
[/QUOTE]