An Escort is a Prostitute

I knew all those mormon women were whores!!!!

LOL!

A good follow up to this would be

Is somehow prostitution morally worse than Men or Women who marry for money?



If everyone thinks all people marry or stay married for love , they have a lot more
problems than whether escorts are protitutes in SL and RL.

You can call them sex workers, and still be right. You can call them escorts in SL, but not simply on Skype in RL because in RL they're not escorting anyone anywhere, not even to a private skybox. The term I most come across for them is simply "phone operators"

But they aren't prostitutes in a legal sense, because they're not have actual sex. Although you could say they are "prostituting" themselves, according to the dictionary's secondary definition.

b) One who sells one's abilities, talent, or name for an unworthy purpose.

is the only definition of prostitute that can hold, either for SL or phone sex. Mind you, that is entirely subjective. Unworthy purpose can mean anything you think is unworthy, doesn't have to be sex.

Personally, I don't care. I don't have any moral feelings about people who have sex in SL - its their time, their game. Just don't get the kids involved with it. (doesn't need to be sex to contribute to the delinquency of a minor, natch)

Definitions matter to me though. Cybersex is adult material sure, you could even call it pornography, or erotica (depending on your point of view) - you may not like it, you might, you might share it with a beloved, you might sell it, I don't care. In SL, it's still erotic talk and playing with erotic anims and toys *made by someone else generally*, and not physical sex with one's own built in parts born for the purpose. We're playing someone else's avatars modelled for SL (ok, we can play with the sliders but still), someone elses skin generally, someone else's bits, someone elses anims, about the only thing that belongs to the participants is the text chat - well maybe, unless they're letting the bits do the talking too At least Skype is actually their own voice!

Phone sex isn't illegal in most states, its not prostitution in most US states, because its specific meaning to the legal system is to sell your body for money. Phone is just your voice, you're trading erotic talk for cash. Nothing more. It's about as much prostitution as singing an erotic tune or writing an erotic novel.

As another example - I have quite a few erotic novels, and the authors are not prostitutes, either. I rank that about the same as textchat cybersex or naughty Skype talk. But again, you could say they "prostituted" themselves making the work, but that isn't prostitution in a narrow sense as people are meaning here.

I used to make a living for a while playing keyboards for a country band. I considered myself a prostitute.

I sell my abilities making unworthy clothes (what can be worthy of some of our girls' beauty anyway?), that by the way often show more skin than what many people would dare to show in real life, hence i consider myself a prostitute.

All jokes aside. The term escort has become a commonplace term in second life, escorting is just another kind of roleplay that in a virtual world has exactly the same dignity of others (like roleplaying the fashion designer for instance). So i don't see any need to forcefully replace the term with a maliciously derogatory one that wouldn't fit what is, in the end, a simple roleplay.

I wear your clothes, I don't think them unworthy But yes, some people might think that way, but who cares! I'm splitting hairs over definitions, that's all.

But yeah, some people may think that way, but it's entirely subjective, as I said. Chronic hit the nail on the head. I can think of many jobs I had where I considered it prostitution, but it wasn't. (retail management, underpaid, undervalued!) But no, not prostitution in the first and narrow sense.



Escort means the same in RL as it does in SL, actually. Just some people don't seem to get out of SL enough to see the real world I think

And I don't see any need to replace the term for selling sex with one that does not fit the definition.

Consider it roleplay, and its STILL prostitution.

Hmmm. I smell a Kevn.

:: slips a 20L$ into Einsman's g-string

Sweet. At this rate I'll beable to buy that land in no time!

I know southerners who call all cabonated beverages "coke", I know someone from the east coast who calls them all "pop" and in my area it is "soda". Labels don't matter at a basic level, just like a Janitor is also a Sanitation Technician people get the underlying meaning. It's really irrelevant whether we call them Escorts, Prostitutes or Bob.

This is true in almost all cases. Some of these labels have negative connotations in our society and others do not and since in SL prostitution is a perfectly legitimate business (just as it is in RL except where they have made it illegal) I see it as perfectly acceptable that you call them escorts. Everyone knows what you are talking about and it sounds better than prostitutes.

This argument is the same junk I see in those "game" vs. "virtual reality" posts. Who cares? People don't want the connotations that go with "game" to be applied ot SL, so be it, they can use the term they wish and you can use the term you wish. There is no reason to get bent out about it.... except for the PR director at Linden, that is probably the one person who REALLY should care whether it is called a Game or an Experience :^).

Says who, exactly?
Isn't it awesome how many people feel they are so superior to have the right to slap a sticker with a derogatory label on on someone else's rear just for kicks.
Then, if you don't mind, i'll gladly slap the "rude" sticker on yours

Oooh Bob. That's a great name I'll call my wallet Bob, and my leather purse Escort.

yeah I agree, it's irrelevant. I actually agree with the OP, though I don't have the emotional baggage over it. Escort can mean prostitute in common usage, and she's right on target. It doesn't HAVE to mean prostitute, but it's still a term to refer to a practice that can involve prostitution as evidenced by one of its definitions.

Which some people choose not to read, but that's their problem

One problem. I'm not using it in a derogorative manner. Must be YOUR perception thats doing that.

Then if your intention is not derogative, you have absolutely NO reason to try and replace one term with another. Simple as that.

"Escort" is a commonplace term that's established in the SL lingo. Needs no replacement. Exactly like frags is a commonplace term established in the FPS lingo. Like it or not, that's how it is.

is phone sex prostitution?

If there's no physical contact, is it really sex?

I never said anything was wrong with it. Its amazing what people assume.

You're right.


I have no reason to replace 'prostitute' with 'escort.'

'Prostitute' is a common term used in SL and RL, needs no replacement. Exactly like frags is a commonplace term in FPS games. Like it or not, thats how it is.

Commendable but honestly a bit pathetic attempt, considering that prostitute is NOT a commonplace term in the SL lingo. So no, you can retry if you really want, more luck next time.

C'mon! Call em what they ARE...WHORES!!

No, not unless you're masturbating. But that's just sex with yourself

Its common in my rl lingo, so why should I change it for SL?

I don't call prostitutes escorts, rl OR sl.