Wollongong is a seaside city in New South Wales, Australia, an area known for skydiving, sailing, and legalized prostitution -- and the Illawara Mercury stopped into one of these legal brothels to see how things are going. What they find is pleasantly mundane: the regulated business has to make sure they're in compliance with laws, employee drug use is a grounds for firing, employees are just working stiffs trying to make ends meet. If there's one thing that legalized prostitution seems to universally cause is the un-magicalizing of prostitutes -- Pretty Woman, Milk Money, Risky Business, they all make prostitutes out to be mystical, complex creatures that exist outside of normal reality and when you cross paths with one your life will change, when in reality there's an exchange of services for money in a unmagical capitalistic way. On the other hand, the opposite view of prostitutes as dirty, dangerous, and harmful is similarly counteracted by legalization's emphasis on health and cleanliness. While the views of illegal prostitution probably make it more exciting in some ways, the average, everyday view of legalized prostitution in the suburbs is probably better for business.

Via.