Porn Versus Prostitution

I was flipping through the channels recently and came across one of those "Cops" shows. In this particular episode, vice was pulling prostitution stings in Las Vegas by posing as "Johns". One of the girls arrested in the show was an 18 year old fresh out of high school from San Diego. She said she was raped 14 times so far in her young life. She also went on to say that all of the men who raped her wore condoms except for one, who is now the father of her 3 year old baby. By doing the math, she was raped by an adult at age 14 or 15.

This is the sad state of affairs for so many young girls.

Obviously, we need to do more to prosecute adults who engage in having sex with children. However, this particular episode sparked a mild debate between me and my girlfriend. 

The girl in question also claimed to have been arrested a few times prior for prostitution and she adamantly expressed that she intends to quit when she earns/saves up about $100,000 dollars. Her comment sparked the debate. I turned to my girlfriend and asked, "If she wants to earn $100,000 dollars, then why doesn't she just go back to California and work in the porn industry? 

With the big boom in the porn business, especially due to the internet, I would think going on auditions for the adult film industry would be a bit more lucrative than walking the streets of Vegas and trading a sexual encounter for a mere $60.00. (Which was the price she gave to the undercover officer in the show.)

I mean, think about it, if I were a female and I was going to trade sexual favors for money to make a living, then I would probably do it the legal way. I would become a porn actress. At 18 years old, i would think I would be something of a hot commodity. Provided I had fairly good looks, which this girl in question was. She could have used a shampoo, but other than that, she was quite attractive. 

So why do girls prefer "street walking" for chump change over starring in her own adult movie? I hear the work for the adult entertainment business is rampant. Or even perhaps start dancing at mens clubs? Exotic dancing can be a lucrative option too. 

My girlfriend had a different take on the subject matter. She looked at me confusingly. "That's what you got from watching this show?"

Now I became confused. "What?"

She shook her head. "The bigger question here," she said, "is why has this 18 year old girl chosen prostitution to begin with?"

It would seem my girlfriend was more focused on the fact that a girl who just started her adult life has started it by going into the sex for money business. And she raised the even bigger question, "Why isn't anyone in law enforcement concerned enough to go after the man who raped her when she was a child? Or any of the rapists for that matter?"

Very good questions indeed.

Prostitution has been around since the beginning of man, I'm sure. I can picture it now, our early ancestors gathered in their caves and squatting near a fire trying to add up all their Wooly Mammoth bones to see if they had enough to purchase a sexual favor from "Utonga" (Grunts) who happens to be the prettiest cave girl in the clan and still single. Perhaps her asking price was a femur, a tusk and two ribs bones for an extended reach-around and slap happy gang bang. (Who knows?)

Still, here in America, it is sad to know that young girls across the nation are being neglected and raped and feel that the only way to earn a living is to have sex with strange men for money. We can do better than this people. Can't we?

Okay, I get it that for some of these girls, sex for money is something they might want to do. In my opinion, I actually think prostitution should be legalized on a federal level. It should be federally regulated like alcohol and tobacco maybe, or take the blue print from legalized prostitution in parts of Nevada. This could actually help out our struggling economy where taxes would come into play. Same goes for marijuana. I think it should be legalized too. Beer is and it's a drug. When was the last time you read about someone being charged with "DWH"? (Driving While High) Now compare that to how many times people are getting charged with "DWI". (Driving While Intoxicated)

Now do your own math. 

But an 18 year old girl? Who has already been raped 14 times? And is working the streets as a prostitute? How about instead of arresting her and building up her rap sheet, we, as a society, help this young lady to get out of that vicious cycle she is establishing for herself in her young life? How about we work to get her trained for employment? Teach her some skills that she can use towards gainful employment the legal way? How about we work to help her rebuild her self esteem and self worth? Because she has a young 3 year old child, if we keep processing her through the legal system, how long before her daughter takes up the sex trade? 

I look at this young adult and see potential being wasted and thrown away. I see our system discarding a perfect opportunity to catch this girl now, while she is still in her adult infancy, and get her to the point where she can be a productive member of society rather than a career criminal that she has already begun to establish for herself. 

There lies the problem with our society.

The "no child left behind" program is exactly what I thought it was when it first started up in the early 1990's, nothing but garbage. This child somehow got left behind, and now, we are leaving her behind again! There's also a pretty good chance that her 3 year old will grow up and fall in between the cracks as well. Talk about a job well done America. 

Since this girl appears to have conceded to her lack of employment skills on a legal level, she has concluded that her best bet (and only gainful skill) is street prostitution. This only showcases how lost and confused this young lady really is. We all know that she's never going to get rich by being a "street-walker". Her best bet to get rich in the sex trade is to work legally in the adult entertainment business either as an actress and or exotic dancer. Not that this is any better, but it beats the path she is currently traveling. Correct? 

Or maybe we could do a better job of catching those who fall through the cracks and invest in turning them around. Especially if they have yet to get started on addictive drugs. This girl in question has yet to go into that scene. If we don't do something to reach out to this young lady, within the next few years, she's going to have a bigger problem than just prostitution. And so will we as a society. And let's face it, we need to do a much better job as human beings to prevent these young girls from thinking that sex for money is their best contribution to the world. We need to build their self esteem. 

I know times are hard for many people in this country given the current condition of our corrupted political system, but this is supposed to be America God-damn it. We can do better. Much better!

Can't we?

I'm Carroll Bryant .... and this is The Looking Glass.

Things We Learned Today:

* Too many kids are falling through the cracks

* No child left behind program is and always has been, a joke

* Even America needs to do a better job protecting girls from rape

* We need to build girls self esteem up when they're young

* We need to work on breaking the trend of career criminals when the opportunity presents itaself

* Being a porn star is better than being a street prostitute

* America should be better than this