The Worst Argument for Legalized Prostitution Ever Made.

Jamelle already tackled this pretty deftly, but it bears repeating how ridiculous this argument by Blackneck at Daily Mathematics is.

Last week, this dude, George Sodini, went apeshit in a Pittsburgh LA Fitness health club and shot up the joint, killing 3 women before murking himself. News of his blog rantings about his problems and planned “shoot ‘em up” spread like crazy on the internets and old media systems. The running theory is that he’s a little crazy and was pissed at women for not giving him any ass. I’m thinking the problem was that he was just plain batshit, but let’s run with the no sex angle.

The reason this dude didn’t get any of that nook-nook is sort of a chicken and egg question: -Did dude not get any ass because he was crazy? I know women have a great sense of intuition and the fact that he had the propensity to go Columbine might have set off women’s senses not to fuck with him. That was probably was the case with that Virginia Tech kid too… And the Columbine kids. -Or was he crazy because he didn’t get any ass? A dry spell of a few months might make a nigga flip out. But nineteen years would probably send the Pope on some Helter Skelter type shit. It’s just not natural. I don’t need to search the internets to know that there are of plenty psychological studies that show that sex depravation will drive a person crazy. Just think: old people and a house full of cats… or homeless people who mumble to themselves. Dudes who can’t get any on their own power should have unfettered access the world’s oldest profession. For those who have a medical case of not non-pussy-getting, like Sodini, there should be a public option.

*Sex is as important to the human species as protein and not being eaten by lions. Obviously, you can’t buy a steak from just ol’ anywhere to get your protein. The place you buy your meat is controlled by some government Health Department. The place that slaughtered the animal is controlled by Food and Drug Administration -as is the place that housed and fed the cows from the day they were born. Steak isn’t illegal, it’s regulated. And in some parts of the world, including some parts of this country, prostitution isn’t illegal, it’s regulated. Though inadvertent, don’t think the irony of comparing prostitution to the meat industry is lost on me, either. But if we take a lesson from our friends in Amsterdam who have legalized prostitution, their working girls are licensed and constantly medically screened by the government. Their industry exists in an open market so there are little to no instances of murder or physical abuse … unless that’s what you paid for. Why not get a government agency to regulate prostitution in the US? This would probably be one of the few agencies that would operate without needing funding.

How exactly does it follow that him having sex would have kept a raging misogynist from going on a homicidal rampage? This is akin to telling an anorexic that they really just need to eat; his relationship to the objects of his obsession was fundamentally out of wack, but the object isn’t the problem. Sodini, like lots of violent misogynists, would probably have been capable of having sex with women and deploring them (and being violent with them) at the same time. And there are the thousands of dudes (Blackneck sees involuntary celibacy as a problem only inasmuch as it affects dudes) who are socially maladroit to the point of being romantically isolated that still manage to not go on killing sprees. This isn’t about sex — which, of course,  no one is entitled to. This is about misogyny.

I also thought this was rich:

Though inadvertent, don’t think the irony of comparing prostitution to the meat industry is lost on me, either.

It’s ain’t really  inadvertent if you acknowledge that you’re doing it, homie.

UPDATE: Thembi points out that the post is labelled “satire” at the  bottom. Shani points to a Dan Savage column in which the sex columnist makes the same point Blackneck does, albeit in earnest.

G.D.

G.D.

Gene "G.D." Demby is the founder and editor of PostBourgie. In his day job, he blogs and reports on race and ethnicity for NPR's Code Switch team.
G.D.
  • Ok, Blacknecks post is CLEARLY labeled as satire – and is as funny as such a topic can be when taken that way, so why attempt to take it as otherwise just to argue for arguing’s sake?

  • On the original post, where it says Category: Satire.

  • Yup, I see it now. If I’d seen that, I’d have just as soon chalked it up to an ill-executed (and problematic) joke and left it alone.

    But it seems like everyone made that error in reading it as “satire”: again, peep the comment thread.

  • Well, Dan Savage basically made the same argument. But not satirically.

    http://jezebel.com/5335846/would-sex-workers-have-saved-sodinis-victims

  • I feel what you’re saying about the comments and the fact that believing that a nutcase with access to a gun and no problem killing should be ‘saved’ from his fate of celibacy-induced rampages and how misogynistic the idea is. I also find it ridiculous. However, Ive been a victim of satire taken as serious argument to have people pick apart and analyze that which is supposed to be tongue-in-cheek and it sucks for the writer. The piece was no knee-slapper for me but we need satire and comedy too.

  • Blackneck is new over at Daily Math and he’s growing on me. Whenever I’m snooping at that site or any of my other favs that are big on satire, I know beforehand that some of the people that comment are products of a product riddled with misogyny. Those ridiculous comments are usually made by dudes that spend all day on XXL message boards arguing with each other over the size of Joe Budden’s girlfriend’s ass. When the comments get ridiculous I usually fall back so I don’t lose my mind.

  • Label or not, that’s one of the most detailed “satire” piece I’ve ever read. If it is indeed meant to be complete BS (which, for the record, I don’t think it is; I think the “satire” label merely applies to the “legalize prostitution” point, of which there are plenty more not-so-satirical points made along the way (namely, the “he wouldn’t have done this had he had more sex” trope)), then the author is a terrible writer and needs to work on translating his wit to print.

  • Uh, and moreover, look at the other two “satire” posts by blackneck…the arguments aren’t exactly satirical but very valid points surrounded by tongue-in-cheek digs. The points that Jamelle and G.D. dissect are very real points blackneck makes–not the jokes thrown in to attract readership.

  • “How exactly does it follow that him having sex would have kept a raging misogynist from going on a homicidal rampage? This is akin to telling an anorexic that they really just need to eat; his relationship to the objects of his obsession was fundamentally out of wack, but the object isn’t the problem.”

    Brilliant distillation of the real issue. Internet creeps aside, some of the mainstream media coverage of this incident is just chilling. I’m about tired of the “Maybe he really WAS rejected” tack. In my eyes, the only people (besides Sodini himself) who bear any responsibility for this crime are those with prior knowledge of his plans.

    “This isn’t about sex — which, of course, no one is entitled to.”

    Thanks for pointing this out. As unbelievable as it apparently is to some folks, many happy, healthy people are asexual. Pathologizing them (as well as the sexually inclined, but voluntarily celibate) is harmful and marginalizing.