Arken

My mother and I got into a very interesting discussion regarding the definition of prostitution this evening when I went to my parents' house for dinner (no Oedipus jokes please, it was purely intellectual in nature).

While discussing eBay, I mentioned that there is a 'mature' section of the site where people have been known to sell used socks, shoes, stockings, underwear, etc. 'used' definitely being part of the sell as it would appeal to fetishists.

My mother is of the opinion that this is a form of prostitution. I am not.

Please be aware before reading farther that we are talking about the societal definition of prostitution, not the legal one.

My argument is that it (generally) is only prostitution when there is physical contact for sexual pleasure involved.

Essentially, her argument with selling of used underwear on eBay being prostitution is this:

The underwear was formerly worn, therefore it contains (for lack of a more tasteful word) remnants of that person's body... i.e. a former part of them.

When a part or former part of someone is sold for sexual gratification, my mother believes that it is then prostitution. She also believes that any sort of one-on-one contact where money exchanges hands for sexual gratification is a form of prostitution... i.e. private stripping, phone sex, etc. I think that makes the definition of prostitution far too broad.

Anyway, I told her I'd ask the good people of the IIDB their opinion as to whether or not such an ebay transaction would be defined as prostitution so here I am. What do you think?

Daleth

Not even marginally. If I walked into the bedroom and found my partner masturbating with a pair of my used stockings, would your mother call it rape?

Prostitution requires 2 people to be present. It is the exchange of money for sexual contact. And even then, I just don't care.

meritocrat

No offence, but I think your mother is misguided.

I think prostitution is the provision of a sexual service in exchange for money. And I don't believe it's inherently immoral either.

Arken

Okay, but... *puts on Devil's Advocate hat* selling 'used panties' in a 'mature' section of eBay is obviously sexual, so isn't that a sexual service?

meritocrat

True, but a person might buy used panties in order to fantasise about someone.

A prostitute sells a sexual act as a service.

Loren Pechtel

She wears them, she throws them in the wash. She wears them, she sells them. What's the difference in her contact with them? *NONE* The only action we have that she would not have otherwise done is put them in a box and mail it. Is that sexual? No. Therefore there is no sexual act involved. How can it possibly be prostitution?

fatherphil

why stretch the definition of prostitution to a point? just leave it as perverted.

Arken

Hi--I'm Arken's mother and I've never done this before.
Anyway, thanks for being nice.

My point is not a moral one--just that I define "prostitution" as an exchange of money for a sexual service. So paid telephone sex is a form of prostitution, although I suppose there is a continuum from no touch prostitution to contact prostitution.

When Arken and I were discussing this, the example that confounded us was that of a stripper who takes money for stripping without touching her client, on the one hand, and a stripper who strips while putting her pinkie on her client's ear, on the other, and then one who touches her client's genitals--the last surely a form of prostitution--the other two more debateable, says Arken.

So if someone receives money from an ebay "client" for underpants, presumably for the purpose of sexual arousal, isn't this the same thing?

Thanks,
Mom

AquaVita

Two people having consensual sex is perverted?

Loren Pechtel

I don't think there is such a thing as non-contact prostitution.