It seems to me like there are two concerns with sex-oriented establishments being raised in this discussion: that they could possibly encourage sexist behavior on the part of men who visit them, or attract sexist men to an area, (as well as some vague concern about 'undesirable people' - and I would like to challenge the assumption that all or even a good portion of people looking for some sex toys or porn are undesirable people), and that sex workers (prostitutes) will find a clientele and work within or near these establishments.
Rather than get our undies in a twist over the Love Doctor, which seems like a fairly innocuous place of business from the descriptions that I've read, I encourage us to think about what a sex-positive St. Paul could look like. Perhaps a sex-positive St. Paul, instead of bemoaning the sex-oriented businesses we think perhaps encourage sexist or undesirable behavior and attitudes, if in fact that is a concern, would want to establish and support a feminist sex toy shop like the Smitten Kitten in Minneapolis, a very responsible and community-oriented business.
And as to prostitution, I don't think that we can prevent prostitution from happening, or even minimize it very much. All that attempts to do that would accomplish would be to drive prostitution further underground, and thus further marginalize sex workers. I think as non-sex worker St. Paul community members, our main concern in dealing with issues of prostitution should be: how can we be allies with sex workers who are extremely marginalized because of the criminalized nature of their work? How can we treat sex workers as *workers* and afford them the protection we would/should give to all other workers? Furthermore, I heard a presentation by a St. Paul police officer, one of two assigned to prostitution in St. Paul, and he claimed that practically all street sex workers he had dealt with had substance addiction issues. Perhaps instead of fighting the Love Doctor, St. Paul's efforts to curb "undesirable" prostitution would be better spent putting resources into free treatment programs and employment training and resources (for living wage jobs, jobs with dignity and justice) so that all workers in the sex business are there because they want to be, just like in a future world I hope that all workers in the service industry are there because they want to be, and that they can have justice in those positions.
Renee Lepreau Merriam Park
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