As Sebastian Horsley said " The difference between sex for money and sex for free is that sex for money always costs a lot less."  Is "paid" sex for money a simple and mutually beneficial transaction (assuming there is no subjugation of the one providing the service), and more "decent" than sex for pleasure (where invariably there are always strings and expectations attached)?

Several books on the subect of sex and money are reviewed in a provocative article in this weekend's NYT book review here: http://bit.ly/19nxnN. ; There is so much irony and hypocracy in Americans' views on these two pillars of power.  Something is wrong with us.

That depends what you look like...

@Seeker, you are right about the irony and hypocrisy in American culture on sex, but most other countries are pretty messed up too. Curious where all of these unsaid rules come from. Any information on how other cultures (or times) relate "Sex and Money"?

I think there WAS free sex until early humans realized there was a link between sex and pregnancy and created social structures to control that.

"It appears that even in early historical times, it was not clear that there was any male role in reproduction - there is no immediate correlation between sex and reproduction due to the delay in the obvious signs of pregnancy. However, all civilizations hit upon the concept of male reproduction and, even more importantly, paternity, most likely from the correlation seen during the development of animal husbandry. The discovery of paternity led to concepts such as fathership of children, the importance of ensuring fidelity, the role of marriage as prima facie proof of paternity, and holding individual males responsible for the support of their offspring." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_human_sexuality#Reproduction_and_cultural_gender_roles

Sex and money have been tied together since at least the roman times.  Roman soldiers were given coins with depictions of the sexual act that it would pay for on the coin itself.

What is referred to as the worlds oldest profession?

@Seeker, Mr Horsley might of been right, but that was before the age of killer STDs. Keep it clean, keep it safe...

@axiomflash, you shouldn't believe everything you read in Wikipedia. Everything in that Wikipedia entry is complete conjecture. Almost all mammals go through great pains to guarantee that offspring are theirs and this does not require a highly developed cognitive faculty. It is more likely that, as humans evolved culture, we simply codified our inherited instincts and not that we "discovered" it through observation of animal husbandry.

Who said sex was supposed to be free?

One needs to commit to another in order to be able to fully and freely give oneself to the other. This is a fundamental element of marriage, which is both unitive and procreative. There are always consequences to sex. In marriage this is a good thing. Outside of marriage, sex may be cheapened, even paid for with money, but it is not free.

That is my opinion and I stand by it.

you end up payin one way or another