by Cristin Tkachuk

Created on: January 18, 2009

Sex is legal and selling is legal, so why isn't selling sex legal? Most Americans believe that prostitutes are desperate, poor women that have some sort of drug addiction, and choose to sell their bodies. These stereotypical views are what have made the practice socially unacceptable and wrong for centuries. However, "sex work is an exceptionally lucrative market and prostitution will only continue to grow internationally" (Hickenbottom). There is no way that selling sex can be eliminated, but it can be kept illegal. A big portion of the people who want to legalize prostitution are sex workers themselves, and though they do raise very valid arguments, there are still far more reasons why it should stay illegal.

One of the biggest arguments to legalize prostitution is that it is a choice. The individual has control over their own body and gets to decide what they want to do with it. "As long as the prostitution transaction is voluntary, there is no justification for governmental interference." It would be an "infringement of the privacy and personal liberty of the individuals" (Personal Freedom and Liberty). Sex work is also a form of expression; "Imagine if the Constitution safeguarded only the most popular behavioral choices and allowed the government to restrict activities such as ice fishing, eating escargot, or keeping rats as pets" (Personal Freedom and Liberty). It wouldn't be fair to only allow the most popular and practiced social behaviors because every individual has their own way of expressing themselves; these should not be taken away from them. Also, it is really a harmless crime; "What makes prostitution a 'victimless crime' in the sense that no one is necessarily harmed by it is that there are consenting adults involved" (Top 10 Pros and Cons).

Although it may seem that prostitution is a choice, that doesn't mean it should be legalized. Not only is it unhealthy physically in that STDs are spread, but there are also psychological downfalls and it can be harmful to third parties.

"A man who frequents a prostitute dissipates financial resources which might otherwise be directed to his family; in a society which values intimate marriage, infidelity costs a man's wife or companion in terms of mistrust and suffering" (Satz).

In some cases this leads to unstable marriages and divorce. Sex is tied so much closer to our natural selves than any other capacity. To sell sex would involve a sort of alienation from ourselves and it would affect us more deeply

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