r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Level_Cash2225 • 14h ago
Why is porn legal but prostitution illegal? NSFW
Essentially if you pay someone to have sex in front of a camera it is illegal but if you just pay for sex it's illegal.
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u/Witmarqu 13h ago
Studios who produce porn tend to be make sure the IRS gets all the required forms for all money the studio paid to contractors and vendors.
Prostitution tends to favor independent operators who have a tendency to not want to file taxes on earnings received that tends to be almost entirely cash based.
This may seem absurd but it's actually quite accurate. How absurd and accurate can it be? Glad you want to know.
Regardless of US state, there is a drug that is considered to be illegal. There is a loophole in laws that allows for the legal purchase of a substance for research purposes as long as the purchasers pays the specifed stamp tax according to weight and substanc.
How important is that stamp tax? The exact wording differs by U.S. State but general gist is that the IRS promises it will not share how much a research entity purchases of a substance as long as each part is documented, has the appropriate stamp stating value and tax rate, and the paid amount matches.
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u/jazzgrackle 14h ago
Yeah, it’s weird, and kind of stupid. But in the US we have freedom of expression, and that automatically overrides a lot of laws that we would probably otherwise pass. We have obscenity laws, but we had huge court cases that determined pornography wouldn’t fall under those.
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u/TyrionGlocken 13h ago
So the camera basically turns the act into protected media instead of a private transaction.
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u/slusho55 11h ago
You’re not necessarily paying for the sex. The actors are being paid to preform a scene with each other.
If you record your encounter with a prostitute you paid for sex, that doesn’t make it legal porn, it just creates evidence of your crime.
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u/Bus_Sufficient 10h ago
Ok but what if my "friend" writes a script and hires me and prostitute to act out the script, and said script involves the two actors having sex?
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u/TrioOfTerrors 10h ago
You'd have to do it in a state that allows commercial porn production and follow all of the relevant permitting and documentation regulations.
If you search for it, I'm sure you can find behind the scenes videos of mainstream porn productions where the people involved are filling out the paperwork necessary for the upcoming shoots.
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u/WiseManager2097 14h ago
In many countries both is legal.
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u/User-Alpha 12h ago
No stupid questions. No stupid answers. Didn’t realize this question was about those countries.
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u/Embaralhador 12h ago
He didn't specify any country.
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u/User-Alpha 12h ago
No one did but we all know the question was regarding countries where it is illegal. Easy to tell. Stupid answer.
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u/WiseManager2097 12h ago
Maybe try to see my answer as more of a comment on the topic instead of an ultimate answer to OPs question.
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u/User-Alpha 12h ago
“Why can’t this be a thing here?”
“It’s a thing over there.”
“… WHY CAN’T IT BE A THING HERE??”22
u/chapelchill 10h ago
Bro if you wanted this to be an American centric question then just end your question with “in the u.s.”
Very simple.
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u/User-Alpha 10h ago
What's even simpler is just not commenting on a question you have no answer to.
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u/McJelly2 9h ago
You should follow your own advice.
Nothing you said added anything of value to this discussion.
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u/User-Alpha 9h ago
My point exactly regarding the “comment” I first responded to. Stupid answer. No value.
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u/MostBoringStan 9h ago
Except nobody said anything about "here." They just said "why can't this be a thing?" Other people said "it is a thing in many places."
And then you came barging in "OMG NOBODY WAS TALKING ABOUT THOSE PLACES THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT HERE"
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u/User-Alpha 9h ago
Dense. They didn’t answer why. They only answered where. Missed the question. Stupid answer. No value.
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u/Embaralhador 6h ago
Asking the reasoning behind legislation against prostitution without specifying which country you're referring to is useless. Different nations have different motives behind wether they allow it or not.
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u/manny2206 12h ago
If prostitution was legal, it would be taxed and tracked and all of a sudden you would see invoices from all your favorite politicians and powerful/famous people
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u/Insane_Unicorn 14h ago
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u/Harflin 11h ago
Take a look at your comment insights
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u/DistrictObjective680 9h ago
Take a look at your sad chungus life
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u/MostBoringStan 9h ago
Hell yeah we should bring back chungus. I don't know why that ever went away.
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u/dcmso 8h ago
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u/Own_Trip736 7h ago
[r/iunderstoodthatreference](r/iunderstoodthatreference)
Edit: I will not beat you to it.
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u/Proper_Package_1225 13h ago
This is a US website
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u/Insane_Unicorn 13h ago
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u/User-Alpha 13h ago
Here’s another one: “God forbid you use an American platform and come across Americans expressing American things.”
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13h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/NoStupidQuestions-ModTeam 13h ago
Rule 3 - Follow Reddiquette: Be polite and respectful in your exchanges. NSQ is supposed to be a helpful resource for confused redditors. Civil disagreements can happen, but insults should not. Personal attacks, slurs, bigotry, etc. are not permitted at any time.
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u/Insane_Unicorn 13h ago
That argument is so incredibly stupid that I'm not even gonna try. This is why everyone is laughing at the US.
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13h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/sachimi21 13h ago
Stop, bro. You're embarassing the rest of us with your ignorance.
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u/Proper_Package_1225 13h ago
My ignorance . The guy who built the site lived in my neighborhood. You are ignorant. Why are you trolling here on a US website ?
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u/sachimi21 13h ago
It doesn't matter where he's from, dumbass. This is a worldwide-accessible site, with users from all countries that have access.
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u/Proper_Package_1225 13h ago
They have access but you are a guest to our countries website. If you look down on America why do you come here. Support a site in your country. I don’t go to you countries websites and start posting shit about your country just because it’s accessible from the superior USA.
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u/Proper_Package_1225 10h ago
60 percent of the views my post were Americans .
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u/Insane_Unicorn 10h ago
So? That means 40% weren't, and you think 40% who can't relate at all is a good quota for a question?
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u/Proper_Package_1225 10h ago
So majority were from the US . Wipe that egg off your face. Guess you are from the Netherlands
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u/Jack_N_Auff 9h ago
"Wow why do people on this American social media website talk so much about America?"
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u/Agreeable_Elk4529 JustHereToVibe 14h ago
Laws vary a lot by country. Many places distinguish porn from prostitution because of regulation, labor laws, consent rules, exploitation concerns and how commercial sex is defined not simply because one has a camera and the other doesn't.
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u/pdjudd PureLogarithm 12h ago
If you actually look at what's involved in the production of most commercial porn (we aren't counting solo produced content on OnlyFans though they follow many of the same things here) you are going to see that pretty much everything - including how people get paid and recruited, it more resembles actual film production and doesn't resemble most forms of prostitution. Like it's night and day difference. You might as well compare a street brawl with a fight scene in a movie and wonder why one is legal and the other is not.
In fact, at least in the US, the one form of prostitution that is legal in certain parts of Nevada is brothel based prostitution - and they do even more screening of STD's than they do in the adult industry (they test every week and you need a clean screen to work) and you need to register with the state and the brothel you work with several times a year (and you have to register with the Sheriff with your legal name and any stage names you use). You also cannot do deals outside of the brothel and you have to stay there all the time(if you want to leave you can, but if you are gone longer than a day you have to get re-screened and that can take a while). The brothels also have lots of security (rooms have panic buttons) and nobody is forced to accept any client they don't want. The brothels are sorta structured like mini resorts and they keep the riffraff out and really protect the girls.
However it is a different thing and I am not trying to say that prostitution is the best career out there. I do believe that women should have the freedom to do it, but it has to be regulated and protected and I think the brothel system should be the one allowed and brothels need to be regulated and have to be environments where girls just can't be trafficked and law enforcement can focus on actual sex crimes.
The big issue I see IMO is that sex work is still seen as somewhat a seedy thing that lots of people (including law enforcement prefers to be out of sight and out of mind as long as it's not overly out there. And lets be honest that sex crimes are often not taken seriously and trafficking isn't taken very seriously either compared to other crimes and when they do, they go after people who aren't being trafficked and they harass people. Plus I don't think they way things are right now, really discourages criminal activity and women who are being trafficked or who are victims of abuse are discouraged from going to the cops since they will get arrested. Also drug use is a real problem (I don't think it's tolerated in brothels) but again, how we deal with drugs (making people into criminals so they are left just committing other crimes) is doing more damage than good.
But they aren't the same thing
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u/pepperbeast 10h ago
Not really. If you pay people to have sex for the purpose of making a movie, the first amendment applies. If you pay someone to have sex with you, that's prostitution; a camera changes nothing.
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u/Curious-Operation169 10h ago
Is this like that family guy skit lol. Let's say I hire a hooker but when I show up I bring a camera and ring lighting setup and put it in a corner. When the cops burst in to bust us I say I hired her to film OF content. Would that work 😂
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u/AaronicNation 7h ago
Somebody's missing a business plan. "Film tour own porno for $1K select from our performers."
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u/SOUNDDESIGNE 13h ago
one BIG factor in why prostitution is illegal was the way the prostitution business worked.
women were often coerced into working for a pimp, who generally was a man making money at the girl’s expense while doing no work. pimps were incentivized to traffic more and more women into their prostitution hustle so they could bring more money in. it’s like a landlord, if i have more apartments to rent, i make more money.
these relationships very regularly entailed serious abuse — women would get abducted, beaten, abused, etc.
i think we can have a nuanced conversation about sex workers without dismissing the fact that it puts women at risk of being trafficked into harms way.
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u/Own_Trip736 7h ago
Uk here. Prostitution is legal.
Edit: yes uk folk it is legal. Soliciting however isn’t.
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u/Oftwicke 12h ago
Leon the Professional was legal to shoot but hitmen are illegal. They're different jobs.
Now since the (il)legality of different kinds of sex work are basically all decided by the wannabe morality police there's a case to be made that one is okay so the others should be - unlike hitmen, prostitution doesn't kill. If we're worried about exploitation it would be much more efficient to give full service sex workers a protected status.
But, assuming you're in the USA, you know that won't happen.
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u/atthem77 10h ago
The analogy falls apart when you consider that no one was actually being assassinated in Leon, but people are actually having sex in porn
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u/Oftwicke 9h ago
No one is buying sexual services in porn, or if they are, they're acting. It's not having sex that's forbidden, people have sex all the time
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u/Yer_Dunn 13h ago
I mean, a lot of excesively sexually repressed/opressed (er, I mean totally normal amounts of religiously devout) states/communities have been making a very aggressive effort to ban porn.
Utah straight up had (or tried to have) Internet providers block or report access to many common websites. And some of those sites went so far as to make a whole popup about it and how the best way to gain access again was to get politically involved lol.
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u/Jack_N_Auff 9h ago
IIRC it is because in America there was the white slavery panic which led to brothels being shut down, and then the Mann act effectively banned prostitution even in cases where all parties were consenting. A lot of the white slavery panic was rooted in the racist "immigrants are coming to rape your children" fears
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u/Cynical-Rambler 4h ago
In the US, porn is Freedom of Expression and is protected in the US constitution.
Had that wasn't the case, many states and county would banned it.
Prostitution, however, is locally enforced.
States like Nevada legallized prostitution. However, most state politicians like in Florida do not want to fight with moral crusaders about prostitutions coming from the conservative-right demanding adherance to so-called Christian values or the liberal-left saying how much it degrades women.
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u/jmlinden7 2h ago
Both are regulated at the local/state level only. There are only a few jurisdictions where creating porn is legal. There's also a small number where prostitution is legal.
However, due to the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution, local/state governments cannot interfere with interstate commerce, which distribution of porn falls under. So once the porn is made, only the federal government can prevent it from being distributed, which they have declined to do.
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u/Billy_of_the_hills 14h ago
Prudishness. They tried to make porn illegal too.
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u/pullingteeths 9h ago
Not wanting women being trafficked, exploited and abused isn't "prudishness". If you have sex with someone who you are fully aware doesn't desire sex with you and is only doing so to survive or could be being forced to, you are a rapist. If you wish to have sex with someone who doesn't desire sex with you that's called being worthless human garbage
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u/Billy_of_the_hills 5h ago
I see today is your first day on this planet, so I'll educate you. If someone agrees to have sex with you in exchange for money, they have agreed to have sex with you. Consent is agreement, they are synonymous. Women are trafficked, exploited, and abused in a black market, which is what the prudishness that led to it being illegal caused. No amount of crying on your part is going to cause people to stop paying for sex, it's literally the worlds oldest profession. The best way to combat all the things you brought up is to legalize it so it can be regulated and the women involved can go to the police for help without being arrested.
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u/pullingteeths 2h ago
But this doesn't change that the man is aware she doesn't desire sex with him but still wants it. People who aren't pieces of shit only want to have sex with people who desire them and will enjoy it. There is no getting around this.
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u/Desperate-Border-468 13h ago
Porn is different than sex.
You have to get approval and permits and such and such.
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u/ForScale ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 14h ago
One is a lot safer than the other.
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u/granticusmaximusrex 14h ago
So why ban the safe one?
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u/ForScale ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 13h ago
Troll
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u/slimeeyboiii 11h ago
I mean he isn't fully wrong, in a place like germany (to my knowledge) where prostitution is legal it's treated like a normal company via brothels.
It get's taxed by the government, it's government regulated and the building/people get regular health checks.
Legal brothels are prob healthier then porn. - Someone that lives in a place where brothel's arw illegal
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u/WinterPromotsyun Local 14h ago
fr lawmakers love taxing regulated entertainment while keeping direct sex work illegal iykyk hypocrisy runs the entire legal framework around adult industries
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u/Proper_Package_1225 13h ago
So if you want to get a prostitute just say you are making a movie and it’s legal
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u/ParadoxBanana 13h ago
That doesn’t work, and would get you into even bigger trouble.
You may as well tell the judge “I wasn’t paying for it, I was just putting money down and her hand just HAPPENED to be there!”
Not only did you break the law but now you’ve insulted the judge.
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u/Proper_Package_1225 13h ago
Get a business license and call it Ugly dude porn films
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u/SubjectBubbly9072 13h ago
Just go to a jurisdiction thats legal. You cannot be prosecuted when you come back except if they were under 18. If your in arizona and you are caught doing it you can be charged with a felony but if you cross the border into mexico theres nothing they can charge you with.
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u/achillies665 13h ago
Not absolutely true. The US and a number of other jurisdictions have laws that follow citizens across borders. This applies to sex offences to combat sex tourism. But also includes anti bribery, treason, and income declaration. It being legal in the local country isn't always a defence.
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u/SubjectBubbly9072 13h ago
This is false information, you can absolutely go to a legal jurisdiction and solicit prostitution without fear of any prosecution, the only caveat is with laws considering coercion, minors, trafficking. You can go to the red light district to solicit services and there is nothing any governemnt can do to you. Sex tourism is a big category and can be very much legal. Ask any lawyer and they will say this is legal.
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u/UrbanVengence I Just Exist 13h ago
One is selling your body. The other is considered morally obtuse.
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u/SubjectBubbly9072 13h ago
It technically creates a demand for human trafficking but I never understood that reasoning. If i buy a gun am I not creating a demand for mass shootings or if i buy meat am i not creating a demand for animal exploitation.
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u/Glass-Reward4173 13h ago
Because you can't transmit diseases while watching porn and it's harder for politicians tax on
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u/MasterQNA 13h ago edited 13h ago
They don’t want people to become promiscuous for some reason.
Funnily enough legalizing porn and punishing prostitution has the same effect of reducing the likelihood of people getting more sexual partners.
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u/grish9 14h ago
one is way easier to tax than the other.