Confused on: Bunraku, One word, multiple meanings? Options

[Grinder]

[Fortune]

[Whipstitch]

Agreed. I'm sure that some bunraku sell themselves into that position, maybe even most of them, and in some places it might even be legal. But I also bet there's exploitation going on and I believe it's a sweeping generalization and far too big of a leap to say that it's legal in many areas or that they're often in a position to advertise.

First off, prostitution rings and bunraku parlors referenced in the books are virtually always presented as being operated by organized crime and are firmly part of the underworld vice economy. On top of that you have to remember that the information in the books are presented as things shadowrunners know, and as such are not always the best indicators of what the general public is aware of. Shadowrunners may know where to find whores who look like Nadja Daviar, but they also sometimes know where you can go find exotic designer combat drugs and laser weapons too, so that doesn't really mean all that much on its own.

Even if for the sake of argument we conceded the idea that bunraku parlors are generally legal, I would still suspect that the raised operating costs of using cybered girls means that such places likely gear themselves towards servicing a select clientele who has a vested interest in keeping themselves anonymous. After all, if the workers are willing and desperate enough to work in such a venture, why would they bother paying for their own datafilters unless they're mandatory? I think this is important because I sincerely doubt that the parlor will front the money for the filter unless it's a necessary expense that exists for the benefit of their clientele. Even if its legal do you think guys like Kenneth Brackhaven and wealthy, respected corp suits really want to bump into John Q. Public on the way out of an Orxanne look-alike's bedroom?

[hyzmarca]

I'm going to point out that the television miniseries that may signature comes from is not just based on a book. It is also based on conditions which actually existed in North America between the years of 1642 and 1865. The owners of large farm actually purchased laborers as chattel and they did so openly. It wasn't a big secret and it wasn't hard to find and th authorities didn't do anything about it. On the contrary, the authorities actually protected it for a good long while.

To say that the authorities wouldn't support open slavery is a bit absurd; they already have. It wouldn't take much nudging to get that pesky 13th Amendment repealed.


But the great thing about the UCAS is that it doesn't have any Constitutional prohibition of involuntary servitude. In fact, having signed the Business Recognition Accords, the UCAS is required by international law to recognize and enforce labor contracts.

One interesting aspect of the 13th Amendment is that it prohibits not just chattel slavery but also the much more common conditions of peonage and bonded labor, where an individual will be contractually required to perform an amount of labor to pay off a voluntarily incurred debt. It also prohibits specific performance as a remedy for labor contract disputes.

When we talk about "sex slavery" today, we're not talking about chattel slavery at all. We're talking about bonded labor, for the most part. Young third-world women contract for passage to a better country or for money for their families in exchange for their labor until they pay off the debt. The labor just happens to be in brothels and the pay is probably not enough to pay off the debt in their lifetimes.
While I'm sure that chattel slavery is illegal in most Sixth World jurisdictions, bonded labor certainly is not. Bonded labor is the whole point of the voluntary extraction, after all. The UCAS is required to enforce employment contracts. It is almost certain that the people who recruit involuntary and semi-voluntary subjects for employment in bunraku parlors require that they sign employment contracts. Once the contract is signed, witnessed, and notarized, it cannot be voided without either consent of all parties or a court order. While it is certain that contracts signed due to coercion are voidable, the burden of proof rests on the person who wants to void the contract. In most cases, a young p-fixed prostitute would be unable to do this. Not only would she not want to challenge the contract (unless the P-fix is removed) but if she did then she would not have any witnesses to call. It would simply be her word against the word for her employer, his two witnesses, and a notary public.

[JonathanC]

[martindv]

[hyzmarca]

[Adarael]

Oh, Hyz. You just made me laugh and clap with glee. You win the thread, just for that post.

[Grinder]

[mfb]

okay. at this point, i think it's fairly safe to disregard the majority of JonathanC's points, because he continues to provide zero backing for his view of how things work. as far as i'm aware, there is no evidence that bunraku parlors explicitly and publically advertise themselves as place where one can have sex with simulacra of famous personalities in exchange for money. therefore, there's no reason to assume that bunraku parlors face any more legal and/or moral opposition than anything in the modern illicit sex market. carry on with your normal activities, citizens; the crisis has been averted.

as far as voluntary recruitment goes, there are plenty of voluntary sex workers nowadays. more of them come in droves to every major city. the demand, however, is so incredibly high that it's just not enough. there are, i'm sure, voluntary bunraku dolls--lots and lots of them. you'll generally find them at the nicer joints. the low-rent parlors, however, are going to be a hell of a lot more common, because most people would rather pay 25Y for a handjob by Nadja Daviar than 100Y. and in those low-rent parlors, you're going to find a) voluntary dolls whose health has been so badly sapped by long years in their profession that they can't get work elsewhere, and b) involuntary dolls.

[Stahlseele]

[Critias]

Says the dude from Germany. We're all on the internet here. We know what freaky shit your people call porn.

[Grinder]

What?

[Ed_209a]

Oh dear, here we go...

[Critias]

Yeah, you too, Grinder!

I know all about you zany Krauts and your weirdo poop fetishes and stuff. My eyes have been opened! Opened horribly, and violently, and they can never be closed again!

*sobs uncontrollably*

[Grinder]

Don't you think that the US has it's share of people who enjoy strange sex too? And produce movies with that theme too? ;)

[Fuchs]

Overdosed on South Park I think...

[Fortune]

[Grinder]

Yay, so we're World Leaders? Finally, finally! :D

[nezumi]

I had a character who was an ex-bunraku. It occurs to me that next time I actually have a PC in an SR3 game set before 2060, I should have him visit a bunraku parlor and have sex with her.

Or is that way too narcistic?

[swirler]

[Kanada Ten]

[JonathanC]

[Konsaki]

[TheOneRonin]

In RE "Sex trade advertising"...

****WARNING! LINK BELOW NSFW!****

Edited content

Took me about 30 seconds of google-fu.

Of course, I'm not admitting to having it bookmarked or anything...


[edit: added NSFW warning}

Don't bother with NSFW tags. If it isn't NSFW, it shouldn't be linked.

This post has been edited by fistandantilus3.0: Jan 31 2008, 11:42 PM