Is Marriage Prostitution?

The idea that marriage is a form of prostitution is not uncommon in our corner of the internet.  I've seen it voiced by the MGTOW segment and others likely hold to the same view.

Considering the frequency with which the phrase is tossed around it merits examination.

This article digs into the idea, evaluates evidence for and against, and comes to a conclusion.  Tell me if you agree.

My Perspective

I am instinctively opposed to the idea that marriage is a form of prostitution.  I disagree for religious reasons, I disagree because I was brought up to see the two as social antipoles, I disagree because I don't like the idea.

But all that doesn't make it so.

How Are They Similar?

The statement that marriage is a form of prostitution is usually accompanied by the claim that they are both methods of paying for sex.  The prostitute charges a specific amount upfront while the wife takes her payout on an ongoing basis -- with the possibility of a lump sum afterwards.  So while there is a difference in payment methods & amounts, both marriage and prostitution have payment and sex.

For those men for whom marriage is primarily or exclusively about sexual access the similarity is very close with the difference being a straightforward economic comparison.

How Are They Different?

The differences between marriage and prostitution are numerous and vary somewhat based on the perspective of each man.

In the matter of companionship marriage has a far greater breadth.  A wife is in theory a helpmeet, a companion & support through the rigors and efforts of life.  A prostitute's services are far more limited in both type and duration.

in the matter of progeny marriage also has use while prostitution does not.  Marriage is a platform for the nurture & instruction of the young.  Any children produced by prostitution are bastards and likely unknown to their fathers.

Marriage offers access to a new family network that can provide social & material support.  Prostitution provides transient physical pleasure with no long-term opportunities or returns.

From a societal perspective, marriage creates stability by combining sexual access to social investments that a man would not or could not make on his own.  Prostitution exists in an isolated marketplace that offers sex unbundled from social commitments.

Do Similarities or Differences Dominate?

The differences between marriage and prostitution depend greatly upon the longevity of the marriage.  The shorter the marriage the closer it functions like prostitution.  I believe this is the point on which the MGTOW comparison of marriage to prostition hangs.

Short marriages do not have the relationship or societal investment characteristics possessed by long marriages.  Short marriages provide a man only transient companionship.  Short marriages produce either no children or children whose relationships with their fathers might as well be that of bastards.

The difference between a short marriage & prostitution is less than that between a long marriage & prostitution.  A short marriage looks in economic terms like an inefficient form of prostitution.  The man's cost is mostly financial and his gain is mostly sexual.  For a transaction of this kind prostitution is superior because the short & explicit feedback loops reinforce customer satisfaction while the short marriage relies on creating false prospects to induce male malinvestment.

Conclusion

For men whose outlook is characterized by mistrust of female commitment the comparison of marriage to prostitution is apt because the expected form of marriage, short, is actually similar to prostitution.

It is likely that MGTOWs use this not as a dialectical statement of fact so much as a rhetorical device to 1) combat feminist-derived social narratives used to prey on men, and 2) justify to themselves their decision not to engage in marriage.