Buying Sex

Year: 2013

Grade: B

Country: Canada

Director: MacInnes/Nason

Review

it’s interesting where netflix takes you sometimes. you watch one movie and then it recommends another and next thing you know you’re watching a bunch of documentaries about sex. this one is about the canadian fight to legalize prostitution. it looks at policies in other nations like sweden and new zealand. it looks at cultural differences like 75% of thai men have been with a prostitute, 50% of germans have been with a prostitute and under 15% of canadian men have been with a prostitute. overall it takes a very balanced look at the world’s oldest profession. one ex-prostitute claims that he oldest profession is actually farmer, but i think she’s way wrong about that.

it’s an interesting debate and both sides make valid points. i think it’s something that is going to be around forever in one form or another. i also think that no matter what you do there are going to be people who do it illegally. just as it’s legal to be a building contractor and it’s not a shameful thing to do, there are plenty of people who do it illegally because they want to avoid the regulation or extra costs of being above board or they’re not legal citizens or whatever. the opponents of legalization seemed to latch onto the fact that there will still be prostitutes (usually poor and of color) who will be beaten or raped or whatever. to me, legalization makes the most sense because you bring the vast majority of it out in the open and subject it to regulation like screening for stds or providing a safe space for the activity, instead of driving it underground. add to that the fact that i don’t see it as necessarily morally reprehensible and legalization makes more sense than the alternative.