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PaperclipPerfector  3mo ago (text post)   2549 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for August 2, 2024

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Apparently, brothels are legal in (most of) Australia—and they are, not equivalent to the paltry brothels of rural Nevada, but a real competitive market. In theory they aren't permitted to advertise, but in practice enforcement is lax, and the establishments think nothing of touting their zillions of jade-like beauties online.

I didn’t expect almost every single girl to be Asian. I guess it’s just not something Australians do much and Eastern Europe is too far away.

AFAIK in Western European countries where prostitution is legal (and many where it isn’t) native women in sex work typically run their own accounts or work through an agency rather than a ‘traditional’ pimp. Also, Australia is one of the richest countries in the world, it’s possible that the locals are just outcompeted by these immigrant women to the point that other than a few Instagram escort types it’s not really a viable business vs getting a ‘regular’ service / low skill / etc job.

It helps being a big, rich island.

I did a deep dive into Germany's handling of prostitution once. Specifically, the legendary Pasha brothel. The crux of the issue is that it becomes really, really hard to differentiate between actually self-motivated legal prostitution and coerced human trafficking without getting into constant surveillance of the prostitutes themselves. It would be impossible in the U.S. with our privacy laws.

As I remember it, German cops would come into the Pasha brothel from time to time and check on all of the compliance features (paperwork, record keeping, and STI screening etc.) Then, they'd ask each girl a series of questions along the lines of "are you here of your own accord and do you want to keep doing this?" The problem is that a scared girl being trafficked from eastern europe has no problem lying to the German cops, but a big problem telling the truth, missing a check-in with her pimp, and possibly risking not only her physical safety, but potentially repercussions to her family back home. It's that last part that kept a lot of girls from telling the cops the truth and then hoping for some level of state protection.

Cross-border arbitrage of prostitution laws give up the real situation - which is human trafficking. Australia can manage this much better because of its island status and, therefore, the upfront cost of trafficking in prostitutes is so much higher that it dissuades the activity. I also think that the Wild West situation of prostitution in the global neighborhood - Thailand etc. - creates some interesting market dynamics.

I'm anti-prostitution (legal or otherwise) but also acknowledge its impossible to eradicate without, as mentioned before, something like omni-surveilance. Still, I don't buy into the argument of harm-reduction. Exploitation of the person and the physical body is bad all the way around and I don't think you can make something immoral "diet-immoral" with some extra bureaucracy behind it.

I do take a silver lining comfort in the fact that places like Australia, Canada, and some European countries create those weird legal situations where it's illegal to buy/solicit/advertise even if its close to never enforced (I feel like that's the situation in France?). It's still a clear signal that, "hey, this isn't a great thing to do."

I think Australia did pretty well with legalisation. Tax the industry, regulate it, mandate regular STI screening. Eliminate pimps and get girls off the streets to reduce human trafficking. Pragmatic.

Special Dragon Tendon 抓龙筋 & Prostate Massage

I'm almost afraid to ask where the special dragon tendon is.

In your penis, obviously.

Last I checked they were available online. [NSFW, obviously.]

If you have to ask, you can't afford it

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