And, she should not be banned just because her job (There are some sources say she is baned for using a transfered account), that will be discrimination. No matter what job a person has, picking trash or porn, they are still working for their living. The only people who do not deserve respect are those able bodied men/women who can find a job but depend on government instead.

Being that I’m a lousy writer, my argument is a bit disorganized but the basic point I’m trying to convey is that while sex and emotion are not identical they are closely interrelated and that making the sex industry dignified while preserving its profitability is something that probably cannot happen outside of a theoretical perfect world. Indecency and titillation are two sides of the same coin. If you were to separate sex from emotional content to the point where it could be considered generally wholesome, it would also become perfunctory.

Personally, I believe that we’re better where we stand. It’s not as if porn stars are denied respect forever and regardless of any other accomplishments or personality traits they may have. They don’t have to acquire the respect of the public through their professional activities.

And Nero–I don’t think that a comparison with Keanu Reeves is a very positive argument for the dignity of pornography.

I would like to comment on the porn is not acting remark. Are you saying that convincing people you are into having sex with someone you just met and do not have any feelings for is not acting? I don’t think I could do it and I’m pretty open minded/a pig when it comes to sex. I admit that most porn stars are not very convincing, but neither is Keanu Reeves.

Taking sex out of it entirely, there are times I would just love to scream “Keep your little apes under control!” at the parents of the shrieking brats playing tag in the aisles of the otherwise quiet bookstore. I’ve avoided doing so, however, because of the social consequences. I think the parents very much need to be told off, but the resulting confrontation would get me tossed out of the bookstore. Do I think it’s wrong to tell other people that they should require their children to behave in a civilized fashion? No … but they do, and any interference with their God-given right to let their children act like wild animals in public places would provoke far too much trouble, and have too little effect, to be worth it.

I have only rarely heard the term “cad” used outside of a literary context. Also, it doesn’t really equate. No sex is required, nor even a large number of partners; cad-ship stems from the misleading and deceptive nature of the relationship. A man who, say, goes to Burning Man and sleeps with every woman who’s looking for a one-night stand is not a cad. Neither party expects anything m A man who has an online relationship with a woman he’s never met and promises he’ll divorce his wife for her is a cad, even though they have never been in the same city, let alone in the same bed.

I think we are in agreement, though, about the actual topic of this thread: It was her actions, not her profession, that led to the reaction to Mia Rose. She wanted and sought out attention, but she wanted it only on her terms. Most people (even without recognizing it) resent unequal relationships like that, whether they’re with real-life friends or multi-national corporations. She brought her real-life business into the game, and people resent that, too. (I don’t advertise what I do, despite the number of people who clearly need it, so why should she be able to?) And she caused drama. People (with the exception of a few drama queens) play WoW to relax and have fun, not get stressed out by drama, so they resent the people who start it. If she’d been anyone else well-known — Bill Gates, Bruce Willis, Hillary Clinton, Richard Garriot, Scott Jennings — and did the same thing, the reaction would have been very much the same. The details of the attacks would have differed, as the attackers sought out the real or perceived vulnerabilities of their target, but the root causes would have remained the same.

Now here’s where I see the contradiction. Even though you say that it’s just a muscle group and it’s perfectly dignified, I would lay extremely good odds that it’s not the way you behave. You wouldn’t have sex on the sidewalk where everyone can see you. You probably don’t walk around your neighborhood naked (at least, not as a matter of course). You want, yes, privacy regarding the intimate parts of your life and you take it as a given that this is part of… decency! That’s also part of social convention. Now, one can argue that said social conventions are somewhat arbitrary, but under that argument if one social convention is invalid (because it constitutes a soft restriction on freedom) then likewise many other conventions which by and large make life more pleasant are also invalid.

That social conventions regard sex as something to be kept private has a lot to do with the fact that sex carries emotional baggage. What men hate about aforementioned studs/cads is that traditionally, they get women to “give it up” by convincing those women that they are in love, ergo, they are liars and cheats. It’s the very same thing that they hate in sleazy politicians (indeed, that word also applies to sex), sleazy lawyers, and sleazy salesmen. I’ve never heard of a bricklayer being called sleazy in connection with his job title, no matter how disgusting or morally bankrupt he is, because bricklaying just doesn’t have emotional content. You yourself brought up biological reasons for the differing reactions towards men and women engaged in the same behavior. Those reactions are at least partially hardwired into us by selection processes. It’s not going to be so easy to get rid of them. Besides, as I mentioned before, is that really what porn stars want? If sex wasn’t emotionally loaded, then how would it be different from masturbating? Why would I pay someone money for something I could easily get for free?

This line of argument is very interesting, but I also think that it’s mostly irrelevant to the original topic. I think that the most plausible interpretation is that Mia Rose didn’t get disrespect because she is a whore, she got disrespect because she showed an ugly side of herself. I downloaded a couple of the whorecraft videos way back when (because it seemed like an oddball thing), saw that they weren’t particularly interesting, and forgot about it. Hence, my opinion of her, and the opinions of all the people who don’t think about her all the time, was neutral. This whole issue came up because she wanted attention and ended up causing forum drama. And there’s nothing very respectable about that.

Sad but true, our human traditions have more in common than we would like to believe with a couple of squirrels running through the trees. Yes, the one in hot pursuit is usually a male chasing a female, because female squirrels will only mate with males who can keep up with them in follow-the-leader (after all, when you’re as tasty as a squirrel, breeding for speed is an advantage).

That’s why “stud” is a positive term and “slut” is a negative term for two people who behave exactly the same way — the difference being only in their sex. Think about it: can you think of any term at all for a woman who has multiple sexual partners which is not perjorative? Any at all? Can you think of any term for a man who has multiple sexual partners which is perjorative and is not one which is more commonly applied to a woman? If you know that someone (the stereotypical gamer) is 25 years old, living in their mom’s basement, and a virgin, does whether they’re male or female make a difference in how you view them? Honestly?

Mind you, none of this has much in common with what really happens in a male/female relationship. It probably doesn’t with the squirrels, either. It’s all about how society conventionally sees things. Human societies are extremely conservative in that regard — “conservative” in the non-political sense, meaning that they are very slow to change the actual beliefs, no matter how many people claim, and even convince themselves, that they believe differently. Change at that level takes many generations. Even though today’s young people may be the grandchildren of the hippies of the generation of Woodstock and free love, a stud is still a stud, and a slut is still a slut. A woman can still get as much sex as she wants just by being “easy”, and a man still has to do it the hard way.

Female porn stars get better billing, yes, but that doesn’t determine respect. Even a well-paid slut is still a slut. Still failed prey, even if she gets paid to fail. A stud, on the other hand, is a stud, even if the rituals are totally false and he’s only a successful predator because his prey is being paid.

Does a ditch digger have to be a great ditch digger to be respectable? Does he have to be the Madame Pompadour of ditches? Or does he (or she) just have to put in an honest day’s work?

Maybe I’m too much of a child of the 60′s myself, or maybe it comes from my lifelong outsider’s viewpoint on the human species, but I see little difference in digging ditches, stocking shelves, or having sex for money: It’s all renting out the use of your body, just different muscle groups.

Sure, the passion is phony. But then again, do you really think that kind and pleasant customer service person actually thinks you’re a great guy and it’s making his day to help you configure your router? Are tech support personnel also unworthy of respect because they don’t scream “RTFM you moron” at you no matter how much you deserve it? Do you spit on Wal-Mart greeters? Snarl at cheerful cashiers? Order fast-food workers to wipe the smiles off their faces? They’re all phony too. What they’re really thinking is “52 minutes until my break … 51 minutes … 50 minutes …”

I whore out my mind and my skills and my art to my clients. I pretend to like them even when I hang up the phone and call them every foul name I can think of in three languages because they want the impossible and they want it yesterday, and free.

No, I’m not a prostitute; I’m a consultant.

As for the second statement (regarding respect), I don’t think that’s true. The problem is that there’s a deep divide in terms of skill sets here. The skills required to become a “whore” and the skills required to be a “great whore” (and by extension “respectable”) don’t have much in common. And I’m sure you will admit, Mia Rose is not Marilyn Monroe or Madame de Pompadour.

Porn certainly serves a purpose, and serves it well. But an attention whore, which Miarose has proven herself to be, is degrading. Of course there are many others in every profession who do the same.

I don’t look down on porn stars. I look down on advertisers and shameless self promoters. There’s no question that marketers are amongst the deepest scum on the planet.

This message is brought to you by Lux Soap; Lux WON’T shrink woolens!