The Future Legislation on Prostitution

I think it’s fascinating how technology affects behavior and morals, and vice versa. Technology on family planning, condoms and anticonceptional pills, have changed some sexual behavioral patterns and even what sorts of relations we have to each other. This had me thinking about if there in the future will be a 100 per cent reliable anticonceptional pill or alike, that can be used by both men and women. In addition, will there be cures for all STD:s? Personally, I have no idea if that will be possible to achieve, but if it will, I’m sure it will have some effects on our behavior and sexual moral.


"How is everything in the pimp business?" - quote from Travis Bickle, the protagonist in Taxi Driver.

Legislation is seldom logic, but coming to think about it, I think it is kind of peculiar that strip clubs, telephone sex lines and pornographic movie producers are allowed on the free market (in Sweden), but not prostitutes. Don’t get me wrong – I am not suggesting that we should legalize prostitution! (I actually despise all those creepy people who want to legalize it, if you want to know the truth. To me, neo-liberalism is nothing but a slightly different form of Satanism). But I’m also saying there isn’t that much of a difference in a philosophical sense on these different areas of the sex industry. I would argue that the reason why some parts of the sex industry are legal and some are not has to do – not with logic or morality – but with filth. Prostitution is not that much more immoral than the other parts of the sex industry, but it is filthier. If there weren’t any STD:s or any unplanned, unwanted pregnancies, maybe prostitution and the way we look at prostitutes, would change. Likewise, if there weren’t any incurable venereal diseases among drug addicts’ injection needles, maybe our tolerance and respect for these people would improve as well.

With this new technology, as our society strives to be cleaner and free from filth, I think one strategy, that would imply an even more liberal legislation on the sex industry, would be to accept what one thinks one cannot change. Redefining, let’s say, prostitution into something a little more socially acceptable, such as strip clubs or pornographic movies, would make the society appear a little less filthy. It all seems a bit dystopian again, but tragically; I think this development is pretty likely to occur.

The other scenario, which I am hoping for, is that the technology will change our behavior on these matters. If our technology becomes more sophisticated, one could hope that we would be as well. Truly, that development would be really, really awesome to experience!