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Let's see if this stirs you up. It's a stretch, and a pretty volatile subject. But maybe, just maybe, I'm trying to stir us all up. We're all familiar with what they refer to as "the oldest profession". And we've all got our ideas and fears on the evils that arise from such a profession. In our society, prostitution is illegal. It's connected to drugs, violence, disease, abuse, and other problems. That's the frame. We can all agree on that, right? How about looking through someone else's frame? A former student and acquaintance of mine sent me an e-mail recently with a link and all it said was, 'Check out this frame.' The link was to the International Committee for Prostitute's Rights. http://www.walnet.org/csis/groups/icpr_charter.html Upon further research, I found another organization called C.O.Y.O.T.E. The letters stand for call off your old tired ethics. They bill themselves as a sex worker's rights organization. Old frame: prostitutes. New frame: sex workers. There's a pretty strong movement in the U.S. and all over Europe, to decriminalize prostitution and ensure rights and protection to the people working in the industry. To me, that's a new frame. I had never heard of such a thing and it really struck me as interesting. The idea is to differentiate between people who are being victimized and people who feel empowered in this industry. It's a hugely complex issue with the added emotional intensity that only religion, politics and sexuality, can incite. The frame gets more complex, describing sex work as an important part of the economy. With Nevada and the Netherlands as examples, proponents of decriminalizing prostitution suggest that through regulation many of the dangers associated with the industry can be lessened. With mandatory medical check ups, the health dangers are drastically cut down. And with no pimps, the violence is lessened. The issue of sex for money has been taken out of the frame of morality (which has been the strongest frame by far) and put it in the frame of being an important part of the economy. If you look at the argument for legalizing drugs, it's very similar. How much is spent each year on imprisoning petty pot growers/users, and 'working girls'? If no violence or pain to another human being takes place, these are 'victimless crimes'. I'm absolutely not advocating this, but just showing, yet again, where once we thought ours was the only belief possible to have, there are intelligent, thoughtful opponents to our construct of reality. I'm not going to become an activist for these causes, but I am excited when I come to learn of a new way to look at a subject or issue once thought etched in stone. With framing, whoever has the stronger one wins.
Article Source: http://www.philvault.com
Kenrick Cleveland teaches strategies to earn the business of affluent prospects using persuasion. He runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in persuasion strategies.
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