Prostitution's Victims

So I've been reading a lot about the Elliot Spitzer case lately. I mean, who hasn't? And a lot of the fallout is about whether prostitution is a victimless crime.

Lots of writers, especially women, say it is not. For example: http://blog.nj.com/njv_kathleen_obrien/2008/03/prostitution_perhaps_not_a_cri.html

But seriously, most of the people writing the equivalent of "ewwww" are women. And they always denominate the wife (aka the long-suffering wife) as a victim of the crime.

I don't think so. Prostitution doesn't involve the sale of finite resources. Pussy ain't a barrel of oil. On the flip side, Elliot's dick isn't going anywhere either.

So unless the wife was horned up and wanted to get laid when Elliot was banging the pro, she's not a victim.

I'm going to say that people writing about the poor wife are more appalled at the "betrayal" of wedding vows. Fine. It is what it is.

But they never talk about the hooker's poor boyfriend/husband beind a victim. (Granted, there isn't one in the Spitzer case.) In fact, the critics usually assume that the hooker's boyfriend/husband is complicit, that he's practically a pimp. That's how you know the critics don't really care about the sex qua sex. (For a discussion of what sex workers actually tell boyfriends, go here: http://happyendingz.blogspot.com/2008/01/boyfriends-or-how-can-you-date-someone.html.)

Honestly, I think a lot of women want to feel sorry for themselves (or, by extension, other women). But women are hard on each other. Any woman who has ever had a job or gone to school knows this. They don't see themselves as hookers, ever, but they often see themselves as the wife.

So now I'll say it. Even though Dr. Laura is nuts, she makes a good point when she says that if men are happy to come home, they will. I think that's true in more than 90% of cases. When men are done working but dread going home, they find other things to do.