continued from page 9 erotic or sexual—it is common knowledge that being strategically garbed wins the sexy contest hands down. But after a few minutes I’m glad that it’s just too damned hot in there, because it gives me the polite excuse to go cool off in the pool. Later in the afternoon the sun starts to show, and groups of seasoned Van Tanners arrive, wear- ing outrageous hats and little else. Social nudity seems liberating—if you have a great body you can show it off maximally, and if you don’t , you can rest assured that nearly everyone else doesn’t either. A perfect and svelte body is an exception rather than a rule. No worries about not © "ither press >>> OPINIONS being perfect. The unadorned human figure is, by commercial standards, flawed to a greater or less- er extent. The greatest such “flaw” is the lack of sameness. Just as everybody differs, every body differs. There’s no Gap-like homogeneity here. No communicating through clothes or presenting an image of ourselves as the way we’d like others to see us. It's Sunday afternoon, and I’m naked, playing bocce ball with three nude guys. | don’t feel bad at all, considering. Sure, I’m a little self-conscious, especially when | get caught accidentally glancing at a penis. There are the usual comments about balls, and there is a small semi-clothed group watching us from the pool deck. Oh this is sweet. We're the new nude kids on the block being put through our paces, while the members keep their clothes on. | snort knowingly to myself. “Hmmph! Pseudonudists!” “Hey! | yell, facing the crowd. “Take off your clothes!” Are you getting out much? e-mail your comments to: iconoclastcom @ yahoo.ca 1p SPE Red Light Tom Mellish OP Contributor No one deserves to be murdered. It doesn’t matter that the women found dead at the pig farm in Port Coquitlam s were sex workers. They were human beings, and they deserved better pro- tection. Our sex workers on the street, work in dangerous and unhygienic con- ditions. Many are hard-drug users and live in daily fear of violence, possibly murder. It is time to change the laws sur- rounding solicitation. It is time to get sex workers off the streets and create a safe environment for them. In Canada it is not prostitution that is illegal, but rather street solicitation. The communicating law of December 20, 1985, prohibits communicating in a public place for the purpose of buying or selling sexual services. Also illegal are “bawdy houses” (Criminal Code sections 210 and 211), and procuring and living on the avails of prostitution of another person (section 212). In 1997, Vancouver police announced that they no longer intend to arrest sex workers for even street communicating, except near schools, etc. The police claimed the root cause of Vancouver's street prostitution is the men who pimp juvenile or adult sex workers. In general, Canadian police are paying less attention to bawdy house violations and off-street prostitution, and focussing on the Johns. In Holland, the sex industry is legalized, regulated, and taxed. Amsterdam’s red light district is a prime example of a civilized solution. Sex workers are cared for, as human beings should be, and sex workers are off the streets. Violent johns are side-checked, and pimps have been turned into landlords. Though Holland is currently faced with illegal immigrant sex workers, they are still the most open-minded. In Scotland, a prostitution tolerance zone bill is before Parliament. A trial zone in Aberdeen has met with resistance, but the bill is being pursued. There has always been a market for prostitution in Scotland, and there is a move- ment towards taking care of the people involved. Rather than pretending that these women don’t exist, their government is taking action. Sex can sell, so it has a place in the market; though, in Canada the act may not be solicited. We commercialize the human form in the marketplace— using it to sell products—by advertising. We objectify women. Films such as Erma La Douche, Pretty Woman, or even the recent Moulin Rouge, show the duplicitous nature of Western society. On one hand the oldest profession carries a debased social stigma, and on the other it is glamourized into objects of desire. Antiquated, puritan laws seek to protect “public decency and order’, yet the double standard is that anyone can open up any news- paper, the yellow pages, what have you, and find a page of legally advertised escorts. We won't stand for the objectification of women, but we won't protect them when they are driven into dangerous circumstances. There are two camps on the subject—those seeking to eradicate prostitu- tion and sex workers’ rights groups. Whether you’re for abolition or for sex workers’ rights, it’s time to repeal laws that are used to punish sex workers. Sex workers should be allowed to work out of a location, and municipalities should be allowed to license small-scale brothels. We ought to decide where and under what circumstance sex workers can meet their customers, decrim- inalize adult prostitution (18 years and over), and open a debate about a reg- ulation. This would enable sex workers to take more control over their own lives. Smarten up. Women are being murdered.