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How a call girl can earn far more by actually working far less

entertainment.timesonline.co.uk

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Re: How a call girl can earn far more by actually working far less

#11
post #6
post #2

Disclaimer: Freakonomics to me embodies modern business writing at its worst. Anecdotal, single case half-correlations that try to pretend they’re something more than fluff entertainment. In this article, they truly don’t disappoint. A hilarious and misguided glorification of what, I imagine, is a soul crushing business for 99/100 prostitutes. Written like a recruiting pamphlet, to boot. And the answer to how a prost…

is a soul crushing business for 99/100 prostitutes How is that conclusion much better than the one you're attacking?

Fair enough.

Me vs. Professor of Economics Steven Levitt:

Levitt:

1 hand-picked prostitue that was a guest lecturer in his college class.

Me:

- PROSTITUTION IS THE MOST DANGEROUS JOB IN AMERICA. The murder rate is 1 in 490. Compare that to the fishing industry, where the death rate is 1 in 775.

- Eighty-two percent of prostitutes reported having been physically assaulted since entering prostitution.

- Women trafficked to the United States have been forced to have sex with 400-500 men to pay off $40,000 in debt for their passage.

- Statistics show that at least 2/3 of prostitutes began working in prostitution before the age of 16

Like Levitt I decided to provide points that suit my argument.

Sources are from top 3 results in Google for "prostitution statistics":

http://www.bayswan.org/stats.html

http://kiss951.radio.com/2010/04/29/seven-statistics-about-p...

http://womensissues.about.com/od/rapesexualassault/a/Wuornos...

Re: How a call girl can earn far more by actually working far less

#13

$300/hour? That is one of the highest paying job i ever heard of.

Better to go to law school and specialize. I once worked with a big time tech lawyer. For three hours work, we paid him what I made pre-tax in two weeks, and I wasn't doing terribly for that point in my life.

Pretty sure he's not getting beat up by any pimps when he strolls into work each day, either.

He worked really hard, too. I mean, I wasn't paying the bills, but he definitely seemed worth the cash. Filed some awesome stuff for us -- you don't often read legalese that entertaining.

Re: How a call girl can earn far more by actually working far less

#14
Problems with the article:

> Throughout history, it has invariably been easier to be male than female. Yes, this is an overgeneralisation and yes, there are exceptions, but by any important measure, women have had it rougher than men.

This one is a PC-friendly thing to say, the opposite point of view is not. If you haven't read it, I must urge you to check out the excellent "Is There Anything Good About Men?" essay by Roy Baumeister:

http://www.psy.fsu.edu/~baumeistertice/goodaboutmen.htm

Across history, it's estimated that 80% of women all-time had children, whereas only 40% of men did - the majority of men died without descendents. Things like that. Definitely check out Baumeister's essay.

> In any arena you look — education, legal and voting rights, career opportunities and so on — it is far better to be a woman today than at any other point in history.

At the risk of being controversial, I would point out unhappiness, depression, and suicide are all massively up in those countries among women. I think - I'm hoping - that we're in a transition phase while society gets acclimated to having women as equal participants in the labor market. For a while, being traditionally feminine (focusing on beauty, kind temperament and disposition, managing a household, and raising children) was out of fashion and seen to be a lesser choice, despite the fact that women who act in that traditional role actually have higher happiness levels, lower depression levels, and lower suicide levels than women who are working in so-so positions. As the risk of being controversial, I'll say I firmly understand why a woman would give up these traditional pursuits of being a good wife and mother in order to be an excellent scientist, architect, artist, or entrepreneur, but I have no idea why a woman would rather be a low level middle manager or a clerk instead of being a wife, mother, and active member of the community. Motherhood seems to me like it'd be more enjoyable and more rewarding than all but the most satisfying and self-actualizing of professions. I know this is controversial, but I'm hoping society will adjust to a point where traditional femininity can peacefully coexist as a respected choice for women on how to live their lives, because I think it can be a suitable, powerful, happy, and meaningful for choice for many women, and it'd be a shame if a woman was peer-pressured to do a job she hates because "just getting married and being a housewife" is stigmatized these days.

Re: How a call girl can earn far more by actually working far less

#15
post #11
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

is a soul crushing business for 99/100 prostitutes How is that conclusion much better than the one you're attacking?

Fair enough. Me vs. Professor of Economics Steven Levitt: Levitt: 1 hand-picked prostitue that was a guest lecturer in his college class. Me: - PROSTITUTION IS THE MOST DANGEROUS JOB IN AMERICA. The murder rate is 1 in 490. Compare that to the fishing industry, where the death rate is 1 in 775. - Eighty-two percent of prostitutes reported having been physically assaulted since entering prostitution. - Women trafficke…

I think high-level and low-level prostitution are two almost completely different businesses.

Re: How a call girl can earn far more by actually working far less

#16
I'm not sure if what they are saying applies to the first girl they speak about. A street hooker cannot easily transition to a highly paid escort. You need to be pretty and young at least, to earn that much. And the street hookers, if they increased their prices, would have no customers.

Re: How a call girl can earn far more by actually working far less

#17

Problems with the article: > Throughout history, it has invariably been easier to be male than female. Yes, this is an overgeneralisation and yes, there are exceptions, but by any important measure, women have had it rougher than men. This one is a PC-friendly thing to say, the opposite point of view is not. If you haven't read it, I must urge you to check out the excellent "Is There Anything Good About Men?" essay b…

> it'd be a shame if a woman was peer-pressured to do a job she hates because "just getting married and being a housewife" is stigmatized these days.

The pressure does not come from being stigmatized but from the fact that a single person income is not enough to feed a family of four in plenty of places.

And if you don't have children and your spouse is out working you might as well go to work yourself, rather than to hang around the house all day, and increase your expendable income.

edit: Yet another factor, it makes you feel good to not be a dependent but to bring in your own share of the household money.

Re: How a call girl can earn far more by actually working far less

#18
post #15
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair enough. Me vs. Professor of Economics Steven Levitt: Levitt: 1 hand-picked prostitue that was a guest lecturer in his college class. Me: - PROSTITUTION IS THE MOST DANGEROUS JOB IN AMERICA. The murder rate is 1 in 490. Compare that to the fishing industry, where the death rate is 1 in 775. - Eighty-two percent of prostitutes reported having been physically assaulted since entering prostitution. - Women trafficke…

I think high-level and low-level prostitution are two almost completely different businesses.

Yes, one is on-demand by phone, and the other is on-demand at the street corner. In both cases you don't know how they got there (whether by choice or force) and most johns don't care to ask.

Re: How a call girl can earn far more by actually working far less

#19

Problems with the article: > Throughout history, it has invariably been easier to be male than female. Yes, this is an overgeneralisation and yes, there are exceptions, but by any important measure, women have had it rougher than men. This one is a PC-friendly thing to say, the opposite point of view is not. If you haven't read it, I must urge you to check out the excellent "Is There Anything Good About Men?" essay b…

  the majority of men died without descendents. Things like that.
Well, to me that's a reason not to read the essay, because it sounds quite like a naturalistic fallacy to care whether someone had offspring.

Re: How a call girl can earn far more by actually working far less

#20

Problems with the article: > Throughout history, it has invariably been easier to be male than female. Yes, this is an overgeneralisation and yes, there are exceptions, but by any important measure, women have had it rougher than men. This one is a PC-friendly thing to say, the opposite point of view is not. If you haven't read it, I must urge you to check out the excellent "Is There Anything Good About Men?" essay b…

> it'd be a shame if a woman was peer-pressured to do a job she hates because "just getting married and being a housewife" is stigmatized these days. The pressure does not come from being stigmatized but from the fact that a single person income is not enough to feed a family of four in plenty of places. And if you don't have children and your spouse is out working you might as well go to work yourself, rather than t…

The pressure does not come from being stigmatized but from the fact that a single person income is not enough to feed a family of four in plenty of places.

Is this true? Surely the cost of living has decreased over the last 100 years, so it must be easier for a single breadwinner to feed a family than it was back then.

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