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Framing Taboos
Framing is an amazing persuasion tool which I continue to explore and in this article, I've chosen some pretty volatile topics to make a pretty powerful point.
Framing is an amazing persuasion tool which I continue to explore and in this article, I’ve chosen some pretty volatile topics to make a pretty powerful point.
The world’s oldest profession is reputed to be ill repute. As a society we’ve got our fears to the licentious nature of this business. Some of you may also have your attractions to it. Regardless, it’s an illegal activity, at least in forty-nine of the fifty states, and it’s definitely connected to some dangerous aspects of our culture-violence, disease, abuse, illegal drugs. And now that I’ve set the most common frame, how about looking through this one. A friend and former student of mine sent me this link: http://www.walnet.org/csis/groups/icpr_chapter.html. His note said, “Check out this frame.” And it’s a link to the International Committee for Prostitute’s Right.
Intriguing, I thought. I did further research and found that this isn’t the only organization of it’s kind. There’s one called C.O.Y.O.T.E., call off your old tired ethics. It’s a sex worker’s rights organization based in San Francisco. Notice the frames. Old one: prostitutes. New and improved: 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.
One of their arguments is that this kind of work is an important part of the economy and that just looking to the legalized prostitution in Nevada and in other countries, points to how some of the dangers can be taken out of the industry by way of regulation. Get rid of the pimps, the violence is cut down. Mandatory monthly medical treatment and safe practices, nearly eliminate the medical and health dangers.
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.
Again, this is just an exercise in framing and when you can reframe a very strong argument with another strong argument, whoever has the better frame, wins.