Comment by rndgermandude | Hacker News Reader

Comment by rndgermandude | Hacker News Reader

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>Would you consider cleaning toilets and prostitution for supporting yourself as "no different"?

If entered voluntarily, I do not see a moral difference.

I do however recognize that there still is a societal stigmatization when it comes to sex work (there is also stigmatization when it comes to "menial" jobs such as cleaning toilets, but less so). This stigmatization to me doesn't appear to have a rational footing, but either comes from "traditional" and/or "religious" values (same as opposition to homosexuality), or from confusing voluntary sex work with involuntary sex work (as I often see in self-proclaimed "feminist" perspectives).

All in all, a lot of societies seem to be in a state of cognitive dissonance, where voluntarily selling your body for sexual gratification of others is illegal... unless you make a movie out of it, or do not actually perform outright sexual intercourse (strippers, dominatrixes).

I suppose according to the article that'd be if entered involuntary there's no difference (ref comments about not affording rent, food, wage slavery).

But that wasn't really what I asked. I asked if you consider prostituting yourself to be equivalent to taking a cleaning job?

Yes.

If I was in a situation where I could either prostitute myself (legally, in a safe-enough environment like a legal club with a bouncer) or clean toilets (legally, in a safe-enough enviroment), I'd probably end up with prostitution.

Then again, I live in a country where the welfare system is good enough that I always have a third option...

PS: Let me explain this a little further. I know only one prostitute loosely (old friend; I did not ever use her services; or the services of any prostitute for that matter) and while I am sure she did not tell me all the shit she encounters in her current job, she actually worked as a "cleaning lady" in a hospital before becoming a prostitute full time. She says she will never go back to being a cleaner. She'd like to get a better accepted job with better job security that she can still work when she gets older, so when we last spoke she was looking into taking classes to become an accountant, but for now she says she is happy with the life prostitution affords her relatively easily. "It's better than begging the state for money, and I can still afford nice things and go on vacations"

I actually know a lot more such "cleaning ladies" from the same hospital (who probably still work there). Every cleaner ranted about how the job ruins their backs, their joints, etc, and that old age will not be fun for them and that they saw a ton of co-workers retire early because their bodies gave out and they ended up on welfare because their early-retirement money was not sufficient.

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