“Did you hear about Backpage?” Stephanie asked me as we lay naked in bed.
I told her I had read that the feds had seized the online classifieds notorious for advertising “adult services.”
Stephanie had never utilized Backpage. Many of her clients did use it as a source for providers. She didn’t understand why they didn’t stick to the more reputable local board. Some were searching for “the diamond in the rough.” On Backpage, there was a lot of rough.
I didn’t tell her that I saw a number of women on Backpage. I tread carefully on there. Amidst the flotsam, if a lady appealed to me, I’d search her reviews on The Erotic Review (TER) to see if she was legit. I managed to meet several attractive, talented professionals that way. They were probably the exceptions, though.
Now TER no longer operates in the U.S. due to SESTA/FOSTA, federal legislation recently signed into law by President Trump, who Stormy Daniels says once tried to pay her for sex. The law seeks to stop sex trafficking online by holding websites accountable for hosting solicitations for illegal sexual commerce. Of course no distinction is made between consensual activity and genuine exploitation. Some in law enforcement have expressed concern about the predictable effect of driving sex trafficking underground onto platforms that are harder to monitor.
Stephanie had just come back from visiting New Orleans for the first time. She toured Storyville, the notorious early 20th century red light district, where she saw a few of the handbills the ladies distributed. They contained offers of services remarkably similar to online ads. “Some things don’t change,” she mused.
Feminists who think they can abolish the sex trade are in a state of massive delusion. Only a ruthless, fascist regime of vast scale could eradicate the rogue sex impulse that is indistinguishable from the life force.
Camille Paglia
Steph has an established clientele and a modest online presence, so she won’t be affected much. For other providers things will become more difficult. As a client, it disrupts established ways of seeking out companions. Hopefully this dumb law will be overturned in the courts. I regret that my position in the church restrains me from publicly protesting it.
Lutheran Guilt 