Prostitution: Double standard?

its Fundie territory where I live, probably the closest prostitute would be in Detroit (The Paris of the Midwest), no idea what it would cost

I’d be afraid to ask one.
That doesn’t make sense anymore.
I don’t see anything wrong with it morally, but I would never go to a prostitue personally.

$5 for me to change my mind, $10 to get punched in the face by her pimp. But that was in New York city so I guess I got a bargain.

Edit: now that the question has been changed, my original answer doesn’t make any sense. But I think that there is less a double standard than there is a lack of female clientele in the business of prostitution. Women just aren’t as interested.

I would hire a male prostitute if he was Thomas Jane.

Being serious now: I have nothing against prostitutes or prostitution but I can’t see myself feeling the need to avail myself of such services. If I ever needed to satisfy my sex drive, desire for human closeness, and impulse to step outside the boundaries of the acceptable that badly, I would be feeling things I’m pretty sure I’m not capable of feeling.

Edits to match revamped question: As far as the double-standard, I think it depends more on the class of the prostitute and the john than the male-female thing. Seems like it’s equally looked down upon for males and females if the john in question is picking a ho up by cruising the bad part of town. But calling for an escort from a high-end service is, I think, looked upon with less distaste.

We know there are lurve whores here, and there’s cyber-sex; are there cyber-whores?

i would never call a prostitute because most of them look like pizzas.

@NewZen Actually, yes. There are people who will interact via webcam or IM in exchange for money.

I have no problem with some of the ladies on this site visiting me. (some)
No, this monkey isn’t a male prostitute. never. this monkey is a “handsome companion”.

I think the issue is less about the double standard of paying for sex as it is who’s getting sex. As a female, if I don’t want sex and I’m not having sex regularly, I feel like that’s not nearly as bad as a man who doesn’t want sex and isn’t getting it regularly. AS for paying for it, I know that a common insult I’ve heard and used several times is that the only way someone could get laid is if he pays for it. I say “he” because I have never heard of this insult used towards a woman. I think men are just expected to want sex more and thus are believed to be more desperate to get it.

@KatawaGrey I’m not so sure about that – what you’re describing is the thought-structure we’ve all grown up with. This in itself makes it suspect, because such structures promote concepts that line up with the way it “takes the world,” and discourages alternative points of view. I think it’s begun to become apparent that female sexuality is just as powerful a phenomenon as male sexuality. And that such a generalization as the ones you make above and the one I just made is increasingly incorrect, simply because it is a generalization and sexuality is individualized – or as I would prefer to put it, doesn’t exist apart from the individuals who experience it.

In conclusion, to respond to your contention that men really do wants sex more: men and women in general seem to both want sex a lot, and those individuals who want it most seem to occur in about the same proportion among men and women. To respond to your point about what society in general expects: while men may be expected to want sex more if we stay in our inherited sexual worldview, it doesn’t seem to me that this expectation would govern the way that people would enact such a double standard as NewZen proposes. And after all, he asked about a double standard in action, not in expectation of action. At least that’s the way I read it.

My opinion for what it’s worth.

The outrage at prostitution is a vestigal argument of pre-feminist thinking. It boils down to “Women are weak and must be protected.”

What are the arguments made against prostitution?

“Prostitution causes emotional harm to the women involved in it.” Well so does police work, trauma counseling, and professional sports. We don’t outlaw those because the people who enter those professions willingly undertake the risks because they either have a cause or are adequately compensated for taking on the risk.

“It exposes women to danger.” Are you outlawing motorcycle riding, garbage collection, and freeway maintenance, too?

“It is a job that falls most heavily on the poor and uneducated.” You forbidding women from working in fast food restaurants?

“My religion forbids it.” Then don’t do it. Whatever your religion, you know that people of other faiths (and no faith) aren’t bound by your beliefs. Would you want to be bound by theirs? Of course not.

“It commercializes what should be a natural, consensual activity.” Well, let’s outlaw therapists then. And let’s outlaw life coaches. Actually, I like that idea.

“The environment it occurs in is full of drugs, violence, racism, and other things we don’t like.” Public high schools anyone?

“It contributes to the spread of disease.” And so does any place people congregate, starting with colleges, and grade schools. You want to get rid of them?

“It reduces women to objects.” How about professional athletes, models, celebrities? You think CPA’s are behaving naturally [cringe]. And if you want to see where people are treated like objects, let’s go back to fast food.

“They get into prostitution without knowing what they are facing.” Hm. Know any public school teachers?

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I’ve never availed myself of such services, but then there are a lot of illegal things that I haven’t done that I don’t oppose. For that matter, there are a lot of legal ones that I would do but haven’t.

Would I ever? Life is long…

@ragingloli, even if he/ she looked like this?

http://www.otakuphone.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/death_note_amane_misa_cosplay.jpg

Is prostitution a dying occupation?

In an age of casual hook-ups and booty call relationships, I wonder if the need for prostitutes has been replaced by women willing to have casual sex. From the exposure I have to middle-aged dating habits through my friends, it seems to go like this: Woman meets man via online dating/match making service, exchanges e-mails. They meet for coffee. Shortly after meeting her, man asks woman if she’s amenable to casually hooking up. She says no, she is looking for a relationship first, and she never hears from guy again.

I’m not sure if there’s a double standard. I would have the same disgusted reaction to anyone seeing a prostitute.
I think, as a generalization, women have the tendency to seek more of an emotional connection with their partners than men do, which could explain why women are less likely to seek out a prostitute.

the difference is that women don’t need a prostitute.. there are always plenty of men who want to screw them… to pay would be retarded

@Endeavor, Now that is some chauvanist shit!

@proXXi are you saying it isn’t true? or are you just blindly calling me names?

Im saying it isnt true. Thanks to the internet and the likes of Craislist more specifically the following has finally been proven:

Men and women have similar needs and desires, the difference being that traditionally men have just been much more willing to let those desires be known.

Thanks to Craigslist and similar, women now have a way to get what they want too: Sexual release and discretion.

@proXXi That’s sort of naive.

No, @Endeavor, just more contemporary.

@proXXi How very sad that being pathetic is now an equal opportunity adventure. Prostitution is for the weak. Diseases run rampant because of society’s lack of self control. If you’re up for prostitution in any form, I hope you reap the “benefits” of such a lifestyle. It doesn’t really matter if you are male or female.

Wait, I wan’t actually defending prostitution was I?

However people use their bodies for pay all the time.

Prostitution is in a way quite civilised: Animals don’t do it do they?

@proXXi
they do
penguin women have sex with many penguin men in exchange for stones for their nests.

Damn! I knew someone would bring that up….

No but that is not because of a double standard it is because of my personal beliefs and the fact I am quite educated on the numerous amount of diseases one can get by engaging in such acts.

My ego will not allow me to pay for sex, but I’m enlightened enough to not judge others regarding prostitution.

I will have a problem with it on a technical level as long as it’s an illegal activity.

i think most women, if they just wanted sex, could call a friend and say “hey, i just want to get laid, no strings attached,” and they would not have a problem finding a taker. i think this is regardless of the woman’s looks, intelligence, body, etc. i am a woman, and although i have never done that, i know if i wanted sex i could make a few calls and find a friend. would it be good sex? who knows. might sex from a male prostitute be good sex? it would probably have to be for him to stay in business.

now if i wanted anonymous sex, or some kind of sex outside the norm, i think i could find a taker via the internet. i think there might be women that would utilize the services of a male prostitute.

When a man sees a prostitute, what he’s paying for is sex without attachment. Wham, bam, thank ya ma’am, here’s the money, bye. Women generally aren’t into that, though, and if for some reason that sounds good, we can get it for free and call it a “one night stand with someone we met at a bar.”

Years ago, though, when I had a personals ad out in the local paper, I got a letter from a guy named “Brent.” Brent told me how he would love to pick me up, take me out to dinner, bring me flowers, be a gorgeous arm trophy if I needed to impress my friends, go home, have a luxurious massage, and if I wanted more, he was “well-endowed” and “able to please,” and all this could be mine for a financial gift and paying the tab. The letter reeked of aftershave. And this is when I realized that “Brent” was basically a prostitute that catered to lonely women. No, I did not answer his letter, but I did mock it to a few friends.

So, if a woman were to exchange money for a sexual encounter, she’d want to get something that pleased her the way a hot hour of semi-anonymous sex pleases a man. What she’d probably want is something like what “Brent” offers – the illusion of romance and caring, whereas men want the illusion of a horny chick ready to spread.

@wildpotato: I think you misunderstand what I meant. I was saying that it is perceived that men want sex more than women. Men are expected to want sex more which fuels the perception of a double standard. Women are not expected to want sex more. i was saying that I think there is not necessarily a double standard because men are looked upon with disgust if they pay for sex. In truth, we do not hear about many women who pay for sex but I imagine the disgust would be just as great.

Now I will go back and read all the answers. I just had to get that out…