this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2025
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Has it ever occured to you that those abuses happen because of people's attempts to delegitimize it? Despite attempts to make it illegal or to otherwise shame those who participate in it, it hasn't ceased to exist for as long as humanity has existed. Prohibition didn't make people stop drinking alcohol, it just created more crime and unsafe scenarios. Drug use being illegal doesn't stop overdose. The fentanyl crisis is a direct result of drugs only being available from non-legitimate sources. Onlyfans has created a very safe space for sex work. It's not perfect but it is leaps and bounds better than an alternative where it is illegal.
I believe your experience that everyone you met on the streets found it to be degrading. Have you ever thought that was because of the environment that you were in? Sex work performed by homeless people usually only exists because no legal alternative exists for their clients. Also it becomes a last resort for income for desperate people and as a result can put them in not safe scenarios.
As far as it being degrading, that's also attributed to the unsafe conditions that many women and men are forced to work under. It really isn't hard to find sex workers who are proud of their life style and live happy lives due to their success in the industry. Unfortunately they are in the minority because of all of my previous points listed. Most of the negatives that you talk about are a direct result of your and others shaming, not anything that is inherently wrong or immoral with sex work itself.
No, I dont believe that anyone is trying to DE-legitimize it, because its never been legitimate. Yes, prostitution has been around for a long time, but its never been an honorable way to make money, its always been looked down on because people know inherently that selling your body for money isn't good for anyone. Its soul crushing and degrading and no matter how many 'happy' OnlyFans out there, no one WANTS to continue doing it into their later adult years. There are lots of mental gymnastics people do to try and accept all the bad choices theyve made but that doesnt make them good choices, it just helps them survive.
It's literally called "the oldest profession."
There's never been an honorable way to make money. We sell ourselves to others so that we can survive. There's nothing honorable about it. You're only OK with selling certain things and not others. Selling your health, youth, time, etc. is fine in your opinion, but selling sex isn't for some reason?
It's also not always been looked down on. You just have a short and narrow view of history. Check out the wiki page for the history of prostitution. It's wide and varied. In particular, Christians and Muslims have an issue with it. I'm assuming you think that your understanding is the understanding that has always been, and that it must be innately human because you must be correct. I'd recommend you reconsider that belief. Many people, now and in the past, disagree with you, and you shouldn't do things like voting with the intent to push your view on others.
Dear lord, have you heard of this thing called democracy? Thats EXACTLY why we vote.
No, I vote to make things better for everyone, not because I think people are going against my morals. Get out of here with that. I vote to protect people's rights to do things I don't agree with, if they don't harm anyone/anything else. No one should be voting because they want to push their morals on others. That's authoritarian.
Why do you think your morals are superior to others? You can disagree with them, and that's great. To think you should remove their freedoms because you don't want to do something is wrong. Follow your moral code. Don't force others to follow it. If you want, try to convince them. Don't use force because you're an asshole with a superiority complex. If your morals actually are better then people will agree with you without the need to pass laws restricting freedoms.
Its nice that you believe that you vote to protect OTHER people's rights, but when you are up against an issue that affects you directly, you definitely dont. If you were gay and the government wanted to bring in a bill to ban gay marriage you wouldn't vote to protect the rights of the people who have a religious objection to gay marriage, you would vote against it.
ALL morals are relative. With the argument you are giving you are LITERALLY telling me that YOUR morals are superior to mine. Guess what? They're just different and no better than mine.
We have a democratic system. Everyone votes the way they choose, majority wins. Welcome to the real world.
That's literally what legalizing it is. No one is forcing you to be gay married. You can object if you want. I'm against restricting others freedoms. That means I support legalizing gay marriage, even if I don't want to be gay married, because it allows for people to choose what thay want rather than forcing a certain belief on them. I don't know anywhere that forces gay marriage, but you're perfectly fine enforcing straight-only marriage I guess. A little hypocritical, no?
Good. You aren't a moral absolutist at least. No, I'm telling you that your morals aren't absolute and shouldn't be forced on others. Follow them yourself. If others want to, they can choose to. Forcing them on people isn't about morality; it's about authority.
We have a democratic system that explicitly says someone's beliefs shouldn't be forced in others (assuming you're in the US). We literally have in our constitution that no religion shall be enforced. Sure, we have people who want to destroy that an enact authoritarian rule, because they think their beliefs are better than others, so this might not always be true, but for now it is.
We agree on morals by majority. Everyone agrees that murder is wrong so we make laws stating that and we punish those who dont follow. Do you call that 'forcing morals on others'? No, because almost everyone agrees murder is wrong. But what about physical assault? Still bad. We make laws against that. What if its just slapping someone? Likely still harmful, so there are laws against that. What if its just spitting on their shoes? Might be assault might not be. What if its just calling them a name? Highly depends on what was said and in what context but obviously not everyone who calls someone a name is charged. What if its just giving them the finger? Not likely a charge. What if its just a sneer? Highly unlikely its chargeable offence.
My point is that we ALL decide at some point when harm is done and we make laws to support that and then we FORCE others to comply with it even if its not THEIR personal standard about whats considered harmful. Yes thats authority, thats how society works.
We sure as hell don't. I don't think something is moral or not because others agree with it or not. That'd be a pretty fucked up world if many people believed that.
No, because it's protecting other people's freedom. A murderer prevents others from having their own freedom. You can hurt yourself all you want, but not others without their consent. This isn't morality, it's (negative) freedom. It's measurable, where morality isn't.
All the other stuff you listed proves it's not about morality. Most people would agree it's immoral to do most of those acts. However, it's (usually) only illegal when it effects other people's rights. Sometimes people argue things enfringe on their rights to push morality too, like requiring certain clothing for example. The argument they make is always about rights though, not morality (though they may try to sway the public with a morality argument). For example, abortion. It wasn't made illegal in a bunch of places for moral reasons. It was made illegal "to protect the rights of the zygote/fetus/baby."
Sex work doesn't effect anyone else's freedom. You can choose to not engage with it if you want. Making it illegal does effect people's freedom, and also creates a hazardous environment for sex workers. If you actually want to solve the things you're complaining about, the only solution is to legalize it and install protections. If you're arguing for making it illegal then you're the one causing the issues for these sex workers. You are responsible for them not having protections, not having mental and physical healthcare, fearing going to the police when something happens, and all the rest.