Why is prostitution illegal, but traditional marriage legal?

Prostitution is merely the act of one person (usually a man) paying another person (usually a woman) for sex.





Marriage, in its traditional form, is a contract between a man who works to financially support himself and a woman in exchange for his wife cleaning the house, cooking, and having sex with him regularly.





In both cases, a man is basically paying a woman for sex. However, one is legal and ';moral'; while the other is illegal and ';immoral.'; How exactly is this consistent. Shouldn't either prostitution be legalized or marriages where the women stays at home be outlawed in order to be logically consistent?Why is prostitution illegal, but traditional marriage legal?
Marriage is about much more than sex. It is about committing yourself to one person for the rest of your life. Sharing everything; love, pain, happiness, sadness, etc. it is a much a spiritual union as a physical one.Why is prostitution illegal, but traditional marriage legal?
Traditional Marriage, by YOUR definition, would also include Sex for REPRODUCTION. Prostitution is sex for pleasure.





edit:Angryseals, I don't know about where you live, but around here we have a lot of cases where BOTH the husband and wife work. This person said only the husband works. Since their basis of the world appears to be the 50s, I set my basis on the 50s. Most married couples then weren't using real birth control. Even if they used something like the ';rhythm'; method we all know that didn't really work.
To the answer above, it would only include sex for reproduction if the couple chooses not to use any form of birth control, which is unlikely in most marriages. Furthermore, couples who are unable to have children would not fall under your explanation either. It's an interesting question.





Sgoldperson: Makes sense, I took it as meaning a 50s style marriage, but today (with modern birth control).
Well you are sort of right, and sort of not. Yes, when a 19 year-old marries a 70 year-old because he is wealthy (Anna Nicole-Smith), it is basically high-class prostitution.
Sex was meant for procreation with one partner for your whole life.


Hence the difference