2001-12-31 19:51:49+00 by TC 12 comments
Progressive set of photographs showing the mummification of a hollywood prostitute. I think this reflects the choices of an unhealthy life style over 10 years. Would this happen if prostitution was legal? If she had access to healthcare? Drug rehab? Maybe but maybe other choices could be made.
[ related topics: Drugs Interactive Drama Photography Sexual Culture Health ]
comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):
#Comment made: 2002-02-21 05:34:04+00 by: Shawn
My general contention on this topic is that drug [ab]use - and other destructive habits - are not directly linked to sex-work, but rather that they are linked to the fact that we shove such activities into a dark corner where we can't see them.
I hear a lot of talk about the secondary effects of strip clubs and adult businesses. People like to wring their hands over the crime and drug use they say accompanies such establishments. My response to them is to point out that crime takes place anywhere there is lack of interest and observation. By zoning such businesses into the dark, seedy corners of the world these people are the ones who are creating the breeding ground they so loathe. And then they point and exclaim loudly; "See!? See how aweful it is!?"
It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Bring these businesses into the light. Give them the same basic rights that other owners and workers enjoy. Remove the stigma associated with such work and I promise you that conditions will improve.
#Comment made: 2002-02-21 05:34:04+00 by: Larry Burton
My personal take on this is that if prostitution was legalized you would see fewer drug abusers in the mainstream of the industry for the simple reason that legitimate businesses do not tolerate self-destructive employees for very long. Women who are drug abusers turn to prostitution because they can't hold down a legitimate job. If prostitution was legitimate these drug abusers couldn't maintain jobs as prostitutes, either.
#Comment made: 2002-02-21 05:34:04+00 by: Dan Lyke
My first thought was "wait, Bette Midler didn't start out looking like that!"
I'm with Larry and Shawn. Correlation is the real issue, there are women and men doing sex work who don't have drug and diet problems, it's just that prostitution can be a high paying high risk low capital investment job, perfect for someone who isn't thinking career aspirations.
#Comment made: 2002-02-21 05:34:04+00 by: ebradway
High paying, high risk, low capital investment - sounds like a dot-com!
Maybe I should be looking for work more along these lines...
#Comment made: 2002-02-21 05:34:05+00 by: petej
It's amazing what the effects of prostitution were on this drug-user.
#Comment Re: Effects Of Drugs and Prostitution made: 2003-07-21 04:07:08.887016+00 by: jalil
not all prostitutes are drug user.
#Comment Re: [Entry #4409] Re: Effects Of Drugs and Prostitution made: 2003-07-21 16:16:03.396667+00 by: Dan Lyke
And vice-versa.
#Comment Re: [Entry #4409] Re: Effects Of Drugs and Prostitution made: 2003-07-21 22:56:03.42422+00 by: Dan Lyke
I think it should also be pointed out that not all drug using prostitutes end up lookiung pickled. Just the extreme cases. Or maybe it's just the ones in Vegas, and the common factor is really that soul-sucking that happens when you expose yourself to life on "the strip".
#Comment Re: Effects Of Drugs and Prostitution made: 2003-07-22 00:20:32.126645+00 by: meuon [edit history]
the grits and gravy keeps em hefty in the south:
http://www.downloadalife.com/a...treetwhores&sheet=1&scheme=light
Note: It's been quiet lately.. Not many hookers left in the 'hood.
#Comment Re: Effects Of Drugs and Prostitution made: 2003-07-22 19:24:21.148655+00 by: Johnny
There are different types of prostitutes. The ones who end up pickled are the streetwalkers, who are usually junkies, do tricks on the cheap, and are desperate enough to take the risks associated with the types who will pick them up. Drug abuse is what makes them go into prostitution, the drugs are what helps them to cope with the work, and in the end the drugs and associated diseases them do them in. There are also plenty of escorts working off the street, who are not necessarily junkies, and who do not end up damaged this way. Any sort of legalization of prostitution should be regulated so that it is done in safe conditions (with access to health care, police protection, etc...), and that the women (and men) who go into it really do it as "lifestyle choice", not after being forced into it by coke or heroin abuse.
#Comment Re: [Entry #4409] Re: Effects Of Drugs and Prostitution made: 2003-07-22 20:21:03.465964+00 by: Larry Burton
Johnny wrote:
> do not end up damaged this way. Any sort of legalization of > prostitution should be regulated so that it is done in safe > conditions (with access to health care, police protection, etc...), > and that the women (and men) who go into it really do it as > "lifestyle choice", not after being forced into it by coke or heroin > abuse.
And you will still have your street walkers who self destruct just as yu do now. Prostitution is heavily regulated now to the point that it is illegal. The women that are "forced" into prostitution by their self-destructive habits are doing so illegally now and will be doing so illegally under your proposal. The legality of it hasn't dissuaded them from entering the business.
Legalizing prostitution is a sensable route to take but we shouldn't kid ourselves into believing that it will solve the problem of streetwalkers.
Just my thoughts.
-- Regards, Larry Burton
#Comment Re: Effects Of Drugs and Prostitution made: 2003-07-23 16:30:32.131815+00 by: Johnny
It is illegal theoretically, but this is enforced so loosely that the bottom line is a sort of uneasy tolerance. This is why you see streetwalkers; if prostitution was really treated as illegal you wouldn't, the way you never see people smoking joints openly in the streets, for instance. So because it is tolerated, it is seen as a viable activity for the people who need it bad enough. Legalization associated with regulation (like it is done in certain dutch cities, with restriction of prostitution to certain designated areas, id cards for prostitutes, health controls, etc...) would have to be combined with strict enforcement, so that prostitution remains confined to those guidelines. Help the prostitutes who abide by the rules, arrest the ones who don't and direct them to social services (detox, etc...). No system is perfect, but it's a lot better than what we have now, with prostitutes rotting in the streets, hassled by pimps, clients and cops alike.