Let’s talk a little bit about prostitution.

Catarina Migliorini, 20-year-old physical-education student from Brazil, claims to have auctioned off her virginity, potentially for charity purposes, to the tune of $780,000. Her virginity was purchased by a man in Japan going by the handle “Nastu.” The auction was conducted through a documentary project called “Virgins Wanted.” As for the male side of the experiment, Alex Stepanov was sold for $3,000 to a Brazilian bidder going by the handle “Nene B.” The difference in price doesn’t come as a surprise given the fact that male virginity is more difficult to establish, and the mystique of unseasoned males is not of historical mention in most cases.

To avoid prostitution laws, Migliorini’s horizontal shuffle occurs during a flight between the United States and Australia. For safety measures, all involved in the sexual shenanigans will be tested for STIs and the like, as well as thorough inspection to assure that the validity of the virginity is intact come magic time.

Safety details aside, there are some significant questions of morality being raised by folks across the globe. The two biggest issues come from religious individuals and those in the women’s empowerment business.

The religious angle is that old chestnut that sex between two people — often even more restricted to a man and a woman — is a union in God’s eyes to be undertaken within the sanctity of marriage; it might say something about the sex having to be bland and formal, too — missionary only I’m guessing, it all depends on how nutty your interpretations run.

The notion of casual sex remains taboo to many devout spiritual folk. The spiritual covenant between two people is a sacred emotional bond witnessed by God that lasts for life and other such buzz-kills to getting freaky for fun.

There is no way around that argument. Either you subscribe to a series of asinine rules often not even adhered to by its own followers, or you figure it is your life to do with as you so please. Migliorini appears to have no moral conundrum, so whatever other people think falls under the title of “sticks and stones.” Which will, unfortunately, not stop oodles of “abstinence is encouraged” advocates preaching essentially only to the choir.

Next up comes the girl power situation. To many a feminist supporter, selling your body to some degree is not something to be applauded; as the menfolk are objectifying these women, rather than respecting them for who they really are.

Migliorini is making the choice to put herself on the meat market. It does not appear she was forced or coerced in any way into doing something she was not cognisant of and willing to participate in.

Yet some think merely engaging in such activities demeans women, encouraging men to further treat women as less than human.

This seems rather silly to me, given Slut Walks and empowerment events wherein it is emphasized that women should not be chastised for choosing to be sexually explorative, or derided for suggestive clothing.

Migliorini scored a big hit for the feminism movement with the three-quarters-of-a-million-dollar winning bid by demonstrating how dumb men are. I hate to blame men for following whatever direction their “mini-me” leads them, as that is like blaming a compass for pointing north, but dropping that much cash for an hour of sex makes both my heads hurt.

Now for the bonus round, where we stir the pot a bit further to ponder why this one-night stand even warrants attention, apart from the hefty price tag: Why is prostitution illegal?

The sexual activities of two consenting adults is not a legal issue on its own; despite the attempts of some in power to make it such. Just because a monetary transaction is involved, I see little reason to place it on the prohibited list. People pay people to do things every day. As long as the person is consenting to the sex, where is the harm?

Sure, there needs to be legal measures put in place to tax it all as a business as well as paperwork to ensure there is no duress by those types that currently operate under the often akin to slavery “pimp” job description. But legal framework exists for other things that might be abused or cause mistreatment of employees, so what is the holdup?

Sex with random folks is a question of morality, often based on religious influence. Although some politicians think religion and government would be entwined, in the United States, the Constitution maintains the separation.

As to whether you see “selling” your body to some degree as demeaning or empowering, those angles also have little legal standing. Pornography is legal. Modeling is legal. Stripping is legal. All of those involve contracts where people use their bodies to make money.

If prostitution is something that should remain illegal in most places, then MMA fighting and TV wrestling should be illegal, for example. Two or more people are paid to use their bodies for the entertainment of others. They receive funds to touch each other under the direction of managers. To make matters worse, they are being paid to injure another person. I mean, sex doesn’t necessarily even involve any degree of injury, fighting in a ring is at least going to result in some bruising.

Migliorini’s sale of her virginity should be used to reopen the doors to getting regulated prostitution legalized in all countries where people are free. Shouldn’t adults be able to use their bodies to make a living? We love our movie stars and sports legends, and they use their bodies to make a living day in and day out.