Title: Why is prostitution illegal? - The Straight Dope
Headings: Why is prostitution illegal?
Why is prostitution illegal?
Content: Many Progressive leaders were educated, articulate members of the middle class that had emerged during the economic expansion following the Civil War. No longer was it necessary to accept social ills as inevitable, they felt. If we apply scientific methods and can-do attitude to our problems, we can eradicate them altogether. In many respects the Progressive project was a great success. Today everybody is grateful that we have pure food laws and antitrust regulation. ( Well, maybe Bill Gates isn’t.) The legacy of the antiprostitution campaign is perhaps a little less positive. In the 19th century prostitution, while not always legal, was tolerated in most of the world as a necessary evil. Enlightened opinion — enlightened male opinion, anyway — held that hey, boys will be boys, and men will be animals. The best we can do is regulate prostitution, including health inspections, licensing of brothels, etc.