Stickman Readers' Submissions January 25th, 2010

Stickman Confused


Stick's weekly column shows tremendous misunderstanding about the world we live in. Stick
takes a romantic view of the girls in the industry, feeling they are victims of the grinding poverty of the northern regions. He then make the point that these good girls, out of necessity are thrown into a profession that destroys them.

First off, let's please separate the two different issues of this discussion: poverty and sex work. Let's discuss poverty first.

He Clinic Bangkok

Alright, poverty fucks people up. It makes people do shit they would not otherwise do. If you are knee deep in shit, you get hard. Take your pick: Theft, robbery, kidnap, drugs, toxic waste, pimping, prostitution, porn, extortion, on and
on. But that is a separate discussion. That discussion is "What the fuck is this world going to do to address the half of the world that is starving and no one seems to give a shit about". It is a good discussion that we all better start
becoming aware of because that monster is a threat to all of us.

But that is a different discussion, and should be addressed as follows "What are we going to do to deal with the grinding poverty all over this planet." But I don't think that is the discussion here. So if we put the poverty
discussion aside, let's address the sex worker.

You now say that working a regular job in Thailand is available to women and an acceptable way to make a living. So why do women go into sex work. So why haven't the sex workers poured out of the sex bar and left the losers there to
jerk off by themselves. Why? Because there is a true and honest NEED for sex workers.

CBD bangkok

Yes, many guys may be fucked up losers, but even fucked up losers need a woman to give them a little tenderness, attention and sex. Many of them are very grateful for any tenderness any woman will show them. You seem to lump all men who need
a little female attention, with a small group of mean fuckers that exist on the planet. Most men, even old fat men, are decent people. That is obvious from reading your website. There will always be shitheads, but most of the guys on your website
are not monsters. They are just men and men like sex.

Sex workers provide a marketable service. It is a profession where they are truly appreciated and valued. Yes, it is true, in a miserably poor country, cute girls are forced into an industry that, in a richer country, only the loser girls
would end up doing that job. But, even the less good looking girls are appreciated that they will provide a much needed service. If you think some girls don't deserve the lot they get, don't blame the fact that loser men need sex workers.
Blame the poverty.

And don't tell me the girls are just too young and end up getting screwed. The other side of that argument is that women mature much more quickly than men emotionally and sexually, and take advantage of men and screw them over time and
time again. Believe me, as any divorced man in US can tell you, every woman in this world can take care of herself.

Now most feminazis in my country have come to the same conclusion that you have that the world would be a better place without sex workers. And what did they do in my country. They get the government involved. Now I do not use my real name
on your website, and Chiang Mai Kelly commented men who don't use their own names on this website are cowards. <I would suggest they are prudentStick> But it just so happens that, because of reasoning like
you put in your weekly column, prostitution is illegal in America. That means that if I want to go and contract with a woman to provide me a little tenderness and attention and sex, I have to pay an exorbitant price and at any time a team of police
could descend upon me and make my life miserable.

wonderland clinic

You say that the industry is harmful on the girls and that if the industry was shut down Thailand would be a better place. It might more accurate to say that the type of woman attracted to the work lacks character and therefore usually ends up in worse
shape. It is not the industry that makes the girl. If the girl controls her own destiny then the girl's character makes the girl. If it is not poverty and they have options to choose otherwise, when you object to people making their own decision
to fuck up their life, you are taking a moral stance. It is a judgement. And it is the difference between respecting a person's freedom, and letting them be, or thinking you know best and need to regulate them. And it is this thinking that
has fucked my country to no end. It is a question of personal responsibility. Don't blame the industry on what happens to the girls. If it is their choice, then blame their character and let them be.

So if you want to be more accurate, you could say "Gee I wish that poverty wasn't so prevalent in the world" , or "I am glad Asians are getting richer so twenty something Thai girls can tell old losers to go to hell."

Fine. Any monger worth his salt prefers an older more experienced sex worker anyway. But please, don't tell me I would be better off without sex workers. If I want to hear that, I will talk to any woman in the old US of A.


Stickman's thoughts:

The main point of my article was that women enter the industry in the hope of improving their lives but often leave the industry in a worse, sometimes significantly worse situation than when they started. I've had a *truckload* of email since publishing but no-one has refuted this point which yet – was the basic premise of the article.

Surely you can accept that those of us who have lived in Thailand for some time have developed an affection for the country and its people away from the bar industry and we want the best for them – and I don't necessarily see that working as a bargirl helps these people as some suggest it does.

I never said men would be better off without sex workers and I acknowledge that there is demand for the services they offer. I have no problem with prostitution and commercial sex transactions between consenting adults. I am totally fine with it. I just see that what is happening in Thailand messes many women up big time.

On the issue of personal responsibility, there is a very strong argument that Thais do not have the same freedoms to make decisions as an individual as say a Westerner does. This is a topic I have been playing with for a column opener, prompted by discussion with my pal, Caveman. I will try and get it done and up in the next few weeks.

nana plaza