Current, illegal prostitution is very degrading, but that's not because of the practice itself, but because of abusive pimps who keep their prostitutes in line with a combination of hopelessness and fear that, should they ever go to the authorities, that they'd simply be arrested instead of have their abuse investigated. Ask women at places like the Bunny Ranch in Nevada if they feel exploited or degraded. They work in an environment, and an area, where prostitution is legal. They're kept clean (via regular STD screenings and mandatory condom use), safe (from what I've gathered, these places have very strict security), happy. The practice is only ever degrading when its kept illegal, and even then, its due to a third party. You seem to forget, Fred, that women who sell themselves at places like the Bunny Ranch do so entirely by choice. If we deny people the ability to sell what they want (within reason), up to and including their bodies, then we deny them autonomy. We deny them the ability to decide for themselves, as consenting, informed adults, what they do with their bodies. If they make a choice that, later on, turns out to be stupid, then it is not our place as a society to punish them, but to help them. The natural consequences are punishment enough.