Capital of Sin: The State of Prostitution in Buenos Aires

[Cornoir]

I agree with Doggboy and Stan Da Man's observations on how skewed the article is. The article is biased toward street girls and does not take into account that there are working guys in BA as well or that there are more girls working in privados / clubs / cafes than are working the streets.

The situations and conditions they are mentioning are more prevalent in the poorer sections on the outskirts of the city I am sure, but instead of dealing with the real issues there (crime, high cost of goods, no real job prospects) they instead focus on a symptom of those who live there.

"Prostitution is a relative of hunger. Being whores, sex workers, escorts, sexual servants or whatever you want to label it, we are inhabiting an identity imposed by the fact that we have lost everything." Sonia Sánchez, founder of AMMAR-Capital, in an excerpt from 'Ninguna mujer nace para puta' (No Woman is Born to be a *****)"

I don't know about you guys but the high end escorts in NYC are billing at $400/ hour (can anyone say Spitzer? Or more, I would love to ***** myself out at that rate (easier than going to law school) And yes no woman is born a *****, it requires training and skills, so why not offer ***** training, maybe even a certification system. Get those old whores off the streets and into the classroom teaching the younger generation.

Cornoir

[El Perro]

What do you mean "unskilled"? In my experience, most of them are quite skilled. (Yes, I'm kidding a bit; I know what you mean.

Then again, you're probably right: It's the unskilled ones who are doing the bitching. If they had any skills, they'd be too busy working. Note the reference in the article to the 60-year old former pro.

From 20 years old to 40 years old, she probably did quite well and didn't utter a peep. It's only after her skills went away that she started to try to "reform" the system.

There's another reference in the article to a younger pro who's at the prostitute union hall with a low cut bra and her cleavage hanging out. If she really hates it that much, why is she advertising when she's off duty? Turn off the neon lights when the store's closed, sister.;-)

OK, I'll give you another example of how this particular mindset works. Subject: the horrendous sport of boxing! Yes, yes, the semi-incessant drumbeat of holier than thous that want boxing banned. They come to the debate with their stats of boxers killed, etc and etc. The next time you are confronted by one of these assholes, just point out to them that there are more people killed scaling mountains than in the sport of boxing. Why the fuck aren't they screaming bloody murder about the mountain climbers dying? Why? BECAUSE THEY DON'T LIKE BOXING! It has zilch to do with deaths in boxing.

These anti-prostitution, anti-boxing types, and you can add in a bunch of other "anti" jackasses as well, are nothing more than a pack of controlling fascists who have nothing better to do with themselves. My prescription for them-go out and get laid and get in a fight somewhere. You'll feel better.

[Stan Da Man]

Just another lame article bemoaning the life of the working girl. Their main problem is the problem we all have, and wish we didn't- we have to work to make a living. You don't have decent skills, you get an unskilled job. Very few people like bottom of the barrel, unskilled jobs, men or women. The reason prostitution is frequently singled out (mostly by women) is that those that single it out DON'T LIKE AND APPROVE OF SEX, AND GENERALLY SPEAKING, DON'T LIKE MEN. Period. The focus on prostitution is a convenient way for them to vent their spleen about their hatred of sex and men without fear of being told to shut the fuck up. They figure prostitution is perceived as an onerous enough activity that no one will question their motives for all their bellyaching. Of course most of them have the insight of a bag of hammers and if you accuse them of hating sex and men they will go through the roof.

The ladies doth protest too much methinks.

What do you mean "unskilled"? In my experience, most of them are quite skilled. (Yes, I'm kidding a bit; I know what you mean.

Then again, you're probably right: It's the unskilled ones who are doing the bitching. If they had any skills, they'd be too busy working. Note the reference in the article to the 60-year old former pro.

From 20 years old to 40 years old, she probably did quite well and didn't utter a peep. It's only after her skills went away that she started to try to "reform" the system.

There's another reference in the article to a younger pro who's at the prostitute union hall with a low cut bra and her cleavage hanging out. If she really hates it that much, why is she advertising when she's off duty? Turn off the neon lights when the store's closed, sister.;-)

[El Perro]

My ALL TIME FAVORITA. My high school girlfriend in Houston found me on the AP site and sent me this in an e-mail!

Shit!

http://www.argentinaindependent.com/...buenos-aires-/

Oh yeah, Allow me to clarify:

She was in high school but I was not!

TL.

P. S - I do have a reputation to uphold!

Just another lame article bemoaning the life of the working girl. Their main problem is the problem we all have, and wish we didn't- we have to work to make a living. You don't have decent skills, you get an unskilled job. Very few people like bottom of the barrel, unskilled jobs, men or women. The reason prostitution is frequently singled out (mostly by women) is that those that single it out DON'T LIKE AND APPROVE OF SEX, AND GENERALLY SPEAKING, DON'T LIKE MEN. Period. The focus on prostitution is a convenient way for them to vent their spleen about their hatred of sex and men without fear of being told to shut the fuck up. They figure prostitution is perceived as an onerous enough activity that no one will question their motives for all their bellyaching. Of course most of them have the insight of a bag of hammers and if you accuse them of hating sex and men they will go through the roof.

The ladies doth protest too much methinks.

[Stan Da Man]

Well, at least the article didn't QUITE blame it all on the guys.

Articles like this leave me questioning myself along the lines of "How dare I play the pay-for-play game, when women feel like that about it? And, by extension, they feel that way about me?

At the same time, I look at "Love USA Style" and I'm completely revulsed. Yeah, I'd have to pour money out of my pockets to convince some predatory woman that I'd be worth entrapping, then I "buy the cow" and give over my money, my "stuff", my happiness and my future into her keeping. Step up to the altar; put the ring on her finger, she puts a ring in my nose, and we all live crappily ever after.

This article just makes me feel sick about myself. Thanks a whole f***in' lot.

That article's not so bad. They didn't try to assert that every chica in the trade doesn't really want to be there. They just made the obvious point that the stereotype of all gatos living the high life and enjoying their craft is inaccurate. They do talk about the fact that the police in Buenos Aires used to shake down girls but they say it doesn't happen much anymore except in the provinces. Finally, they say that a bunch of the chicas in massage parlors are minors. I've never seen an obvious minor myself, but I have only been to two or three privados. I don't like them much. I would hope that folks would avoid a 13-14 year old chica -- which should be obvious to anyone's eye -- but undoubtedly that doesn't happen.

Other than the above, there isn't much by way of the typical parade of horribles that you normally see in articles like this. They do assert:

"Poverty is not the cause for the existence of prostitution, it is merely a factor assuring a constant supply to meet the male demand for buying sexual access to women's bodies, which is the primary reason that prostitution exists."

(Start soap box)

What they don't elaborate on, however, is that male demand is going to be there whether prostitution is easily accessible or not. It just is. The real issue for societies is how to deal with that fact. Viewed in that light, it's easy to understand why many societies promote marriage and monogamy, but increasingly that doesn't "sell" as well as it used to.

One can look at Buenos Aires and presume that it's backwards in this regard. Actually, I think they've got a more enlightened approach: Forbid pimping; keep the police off the girls' backs; crack down on minors entering the trade, and those responsible for putting them there (including the johns); but otherwise the chicas ought to have a right to do what they want with their bodies.

As the quote above notes, poverty is a factor. But no one will ever come up with the prescription to eliminate poverty -- it's relative, so it will always exist. "Poverty" and the laws of supply and demand will always be contributing factors when a good looking chica would rather earn 500 pesos a day as a prostitute than 40 pesos a day as a maid. That shouldn't surprise anyone, though. The article notes that the prostitute's union wants jobs so they can make 500 pesos a day (or whatever will make it easier to survive) at something other than prostitution. But, that's where the laws of supply and demand come in. Like poverty, no one will ever be able to abolish how supply and demand work.

(End of soap box)

[Westy]

Well, at least the article didn't QUITE blame it all on the guys.

Articles like this leave me questioning myself along the lines of "How dare I play the pay-for-play game, when women feel like that about it? And, by extension, they feel that way about me?

At the same time, I look at "Love USA Style" and I'm completely revulsed. Yeah, I'd have to pour money out of my pockets to convince some predatory woman that I'd be worth entrapping, then I "buy the cow" and give over my money, my "stuff", my happiness and my future into her keeping. Step up to the altar; put the ring on her finger, she puts a ring in my nose, and we all live crappily ever after.

This article just makes me feel sick about myself. Thanks a whole f***in' lot.

[TejanoLibre]

My ALL TIME FAVORITA. My high school girlfriend in Houston found me on the AP site and sent me this in an e-mail!

Shit!

http://www.argentinaindependent.com/...buenos-aires-/

Oh yeah, Allow me to clarify:

She was in high school but I was not!

TL.

P. S - I do have a reputation to uphold!