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Brothel window in Hamburg (archive image)
Photo:
Christian Charisius/dpa
It's vacation time, the Germans are again disinhibiting in Mallorca or celebrating open airs.
And a summer hit is also on the horizon: The popular song »Layla« by the musician duo DJ Robin & Schürze has been number one in the charts for three weeks - and now also on the index of folk festival operators in Würzburg and Düsseldorf.
Because it's about a prostitute.
However, banning the song at parties is far more problematic than singing the song.
Because it reveals the German double standards in dealing with sex work.
There are so many sex workers in this country that Germany is often called »Europe's brothel«.
Exact numbers are difficult to come by because no one likes to admit to going to a brothel, but it is estimated that one million men seek sexual services every day.
There are young and old men, unemployed and managers, some come in the morning, others at night after visiting the rifle festival or the fair.
This is the case in Würzburg and also in Düsseldorf.
Of course you don't have to like »Layla«.
It's a bad Ballermann hit.
A carnivalesque, pounding synthesizer sound, with hardly any melody in the verses.
The refrain is made for singing along with a very heavy tongue: »La-la-la-la-la-la-la-Layla«, the rhyme then becomes simply »geiler«.
The most offensive word in the text is "Puffmama".
That's cute compared to other labels and still a far cry from sexist rap lyrics.
Now everyone is free to only play songs they like at their party.
This also applies to folk festivals.
But the hypocritical justification, supported by politics, is annoying.
The boss of the Düsseldorf rifle club announced that the text of "Layla" corresponded "in no way to the customs of his traditional club".
This indignation is interesting: are you only allowed to sing about things that you practice yourself?
Are there possibly gun-licensed people who have never heard of the horizontal trade?
In such cases of unworldliness, "Layla" would of course be a shocker.
The spokesman for the city of Würzburg, Christian Weiß, also said that he did not want to hear the text of "Layla".
In doing so, however, the city administration misjudges a social reality.
Open your eyes! one would like to call out to the city leaders: In this country, sex is a service that is wanted and has been regulated by law for twenty years.
23,700 prostitutes currently have a so-called whore pass, as required by the 2017 Prostitute Protection Act, which is admittedly controversial.
Before Corona there were more than 40,000.
The number of unreported cases is much higher because most sex workers refuse to be registered.
In an industry in which people work exclusively under aliases, they don't want to give up their anonymity and offer themselves as prostitutes labeled with their name, address and photo.
Censoring songs like "Layla" exacerbates this social exclusion.
It is at the expense of women, while men rise morally above what other men demand as a service.
Because a muzzle sows shame and keeps things hidden.
If you don't want to be reminded with the word "Puffmama" in a party song that there is prostitution in your city, you make sure that these women remain invisible.
It would be more honest to sing about prostitution at the folk festival and thereby admit that it exists.
Not to judge morally mad, but to remain close to reality.
It would help sex workers if they were talked about openly.
About how forced prostitution can be prevented and voluntary sex work can be freed from its stigma.
About the needs of women in business.
This is the only way to create structures that make life easier for all sides and make consensus possible in the first place.
It is a debate that is constantly being conducted in feminism and in which the positions are very far apart.
Some say that only legalization can help destigmatize prostitution, and argue that buying sex must be accepted as a fact.
Others counter that clean prostitution does not exist.
Sex for money can never be consensual and is therefore always a form of violence.
One thing is certain: pimping and violence arise above all where prostitution is taboo.
When women can't turn to the police for fear of prejudice, but need other »protectors«.
So don't pretend you've never heard of a puff mama, Layla.
That doesn't help anyone.
Better sing it out loud
