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Is Sex an Economic Commodity?
Yes, and it should be 44%  44%  [ 7 ]
Yes, but it shouldn't be 31%  31%  [ 5 ]
No, but it should be 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
No, and it shouldn't be 25%  25%  [ 4 ]
Total votes : 16

ArrantPariah
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08 Feb 2013, 8:13 am

I gather that one of the standard refrains of Feminism is

A Strident Feminist wrote:
Sex is NOT a Commodity!! !! !


Examining the definition

Wikipedia wrote:
In economics, a commodity is the generic term for any marketable item produced to satisfy wants or needs. Economic commodities comprise goods and services.

The more specific meaning of the term commodity is applied to goods only. It is used to describe a class of goods for which there is demand, but which is supplied without qualitative differentiation across a market. A commodity has full or partial fungibility; that is, the market treats its instances as equivalent or nearly so with no regard to who produced them. "From the taste of wheat it is not possible to tell who produced it, a Russian serf, a French peasant or an English capitalist." Petroleum and copper are other examples of such commodities, their supply and demand being a part of one universal market. Items such as stereo systems, on the other hand, have many aspects of product differentiation, such as the brand, the user interface, the perceived quality, etc. And, the demand for one type of stereo may be much larger than demand on the other.

In contrast, one of the characteristics of a commodity good is that its price is determined as a function of its market as a whole. Well-established physical commodities have actively traded spot and derivative markets. Generally, these are basic resources and agricultural products such as iron ore, crude oil, coal, salt, sugar, tea, coffee beans, soybeans, aluminum, copper, rice, wheat, gold, silver, palladium, and platinum. Soft commodities are goods that are grown, while hard commodities are the ones that are extracted through mining.

There is another important class of energy commodities which includes electricity, gas, coal and oil. Electricity has the particular characteristic that it is usually uneconomical to store; hence, electricity must be consumed as soon as it is produced.

Commodification (also called commoditization) occurs as a goods or services market loses differentiation across its supply base, often by the diffusion of the intellectual capital necessary to acquire or produce it efficiently. As such, goods that formerly carried premium margins for market participants have become commodities, such as generic pharmaceuticals and DRAM chips. Another example is the credit card product, where all suppliers offer almost identical interest rates, fees, rewards programs, and bait & hook incentive models for new customers. Since the core credit card product is essentially identical, the only remaining market differentiators are branding & customer service.

There is a spectrum of commodification, rather than a binary distinction of "commodity versus differentiable product". Few products have complete undifferentiability and hence fungibility; even electricity can be differentiated in the market based on its method of generation (e.g., fossil fuel, wind, solar). Many products' degree of commodification depends on the buyer's mentality and means. For example, milk, eggs, and notebook paper are considered by many customers as completely undifferentiable and fungible; lowest price is the only deciding factor in the purchasing choice. Other customers take into consideration other factors besides price, such as environmental sustainability and animal welfare. To these customers, distinctions such as "organic versus not" or "cage free versus not" count toward differentiating brands of milk or eggs, and percentage of recycled content or forestry council certification count toward differentiating brands of notebook paper.


According to the Marxists:
Wikipedia wrote:
In Marx's theory, a commodity is something that is bought and sold, or exchanged in a market.
It has value, which represents a quantity of human labor.[6] Because it has value, implies that people try to economise its use. A commodity also has a use value, an exchange value and a price.
It has a use value because, by its intrinsic characteristics, it can satisfy some human need or want, physical or ideal. By nature this is a social use value, i.e. the object is useful not just to the producer but has a use for others generally.
It has an exchange value, meaning that a commodity can be traded for other commodities, and thus give its owner the benefit of others' labor (the labor done to produce the purchased commodity).


What say ye? Is coitus an economic commodity? Should it be?



ArrantPariah
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08 Feb 2013, 9:34 am

For those who vote that sex is, but shouldn't be, an economic commodity: is that stemming from a lack of satisfaction with the way that sex is apportioned in the marketplace? Would you prefer that sex became an entitlement, such that everyone's appetite was socially guaranteed to be sated?



ruveyn
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08 Feb 2013, 10:10 am

Anything that can be bought or sold is a commodity.

ruveyn



ArrantPariah
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08 Feb 2013, 5:27 pm

An interesting article relevant to the topic

Sexual Economics: Sex as Female Resource for Social Exchange in Heterosexual Interactions

http://www.csom.umn.edu/assets/71503.pdf



ripped
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08 Feb 2013, 10:59 pm

I would say that sex is the basis of our economy.



Jacoby
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08 Feb 2013, 11:16 pm

It can be.



Dox47
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08 Feb 2013, 11:44 pm

I would say that it fits the service definition, and I have no problem with that. If I can legally pay someone to rub my feet in a pleasurable manner, I see no reason why other forms of pleasurable personal service should be forbidden to buy and sell.


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Fnord
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09 Feb 2013, 12:26 am

Sex can be traded as a service commodity, in the same way that physical therapists trade their services for money.

It's best when given without coercion, condition, or trickery, though.



ripped
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09 Feb 2013, 3:49 am

The pursuit of sex, the procurement of sex and the consequences of sex make up the greatest share of the Gross National Product.



TheValk
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09 Feb 2013, 4:12 am

Sex is for the attractive and (if not) the rich.



JNathanK
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09 Feb 2013, 11:31 am

TheValk wrote:
Sex is for the attractive and (if not) the rich.


What's keeping ugly people from f*****g? THey have the equipment just as much as attractive people. The same goes for the rich and poor.

Sex can be a commodity, but I don't think it should be, due to the extreme, emotional nature of it. Its not the same as buying and trading dixie cups.



JNathanK
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09 Feb 2013, 11:42 am

ruveyn wrote:
Anything that can be bought or sold is a commodity.

ruveyn


I wouldn't say anything that can be bought or sold is a commodity, but, rather, everything that is bought and sold is a commodity. Water is readily available and a thing unto itself until humans decide to put it in plastic bottles and sell it for a profit. Saying something is a commoidity because it has the potential to be bought and sold is like saying people are slaves because they have the potential to be bought and sold.

To use a less charged analogy, its like saying all trees are doors because they can be made into doors. Its not a door until its made into a door, just as an object or an action isn't a commodity until its made into one.



Last edited by JNathanK on 09 Feb 2013, 2:26 pm, edited 2 times in total.

JNathanK
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09 Feb 2013, 11:49 am

ArrantPariah wrote:
For those who vote that sex is, but shouldn't be, an economic commodity: is that stemming from a lack of satisfaction with the way that sex is apportioned in the marketplace? Would you prefer that sex became an entitlement, such that everyone's appetite was socially guaranteed to be sated?


No, I think they're just acknowledging the reality of prostitution and that its bad. Yo, dude, look, if you wanna get laid, stop fixating on this kind of heady BS, go out and meet some people, treat everyone with respect, gals or guys, and it'll happen. Try to find some other interest besides this too. It won't lead you anywhere and will just creep people out.



ArrantPariah
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09 Feb 2013, 1:09 pm

JNathanK wrote:
Yo, dude, look, if you wanna get laid, stop fixating on this kind of heady BS, go out and meet some people, treat everyone with respect, gals or guys, and it'll happen. Try to find some other interest besides this too. It won't lead you anywhere and will just creep people out.


Who sez that I necessarily want to get laid, or that I have no other interests? I like heady BS. Hell, I have two master's degrees.



JNathanK
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09 Feb 2013, 2:20 pm

ArrantPariah wrote:
JNathanK wrote:
Yo, dude, look, if you wanna get laid, stop fixating on this kind of heady BS, go out and meet some people, treat everyone with respect, gals or guys, and it'll happen. Try to find some other interest besides this too. It won't lead you anywhere and will just creep people out.


Who sez that I necessarily want to get laid, or that I have no other interests? I like heady BS. Hell, I have two master's degrees.


I'm not saying you don't have any other intersts, but you seem very bitter about relationships and gender since you keep posting these types of topics (I looked back several pages, and many of your posts related to sexual politics in some way). Derision against the emotional and spiritual basis of romantic relationships is a strong indicator that you haven't had a fulfilling relationship and are bitter about it. Also, the assertion that all sexual relationships are economic commodities suggests that the only sexual relationship you've had is from a prostitute or that you feel the only way you can get laid is from a prostitute. Since many see traditional, committed sexual and romantic relationships as more genuine and fulfilling than exchanging money for sexual favors, you arging that both are on the same level makes me think you want to normalize what you may feel is your own avenue to physical intimacy. ...just saying.



TheValk
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09 Feb 2013, 2:58 pm

JNathanK wrote:
TheValk wrote:
Sex is for the attractive and (if not) the rich.


What's keeping ugly people from f***ing? THey have the equipment just as much as attractive people. The same goes for the rich and poor.

Sex can be a commodity, but I don't think it should be, due to the extreme, emotional nature of it. Its not the same as buying and trading dixie cups.


Nothing's keeping them away from it, besides a little disadvantage in the competition.