On this occasion, however, I choose to make an exception. This is not about political correctness gone mad or personal offence caused; this is about glamorising the exploitation and trafficking of women. Within moments of entering the house, Fleiss boasted in relation to her escort service: “I sent them all over the world”.

Television, films, magazines, music – all these cultural elements have combined over the latter years of the twentieth century to desensitise the public to previously distasteful aspects of society: drugs, violence, sex. This is not necessarily a bad thing – women now have far more control over their own lives and bodies. However, the culture of celebrity these elements have given rise to continues to perpetuate the idea that there are some for whom the rules are different; not just in terms of the law but of social acceptance.

There is an ongoing and extremely complex social debate within the UK about the legalising prostitution. Legalisation is not the same as legitimisation, though undeniably it goes some way in that direction. The argument goes that just because they won’t be chucked in jail doesn’t mean that prostitutes will put it on their passports under profession: it will not be a socially legitimate occupation to admit to. See Holland. In this respect, popular culture has a far greater role to play in legitimising an activity than the law does.

Take the drug culture as an example: weed is now widely perceived as pretty harmless. Politicians admit to having done it at university and, far from ending their career, it makes them a bit more human. Cocaine has a dangerous glamour about it; it has become the drug of choice for the young and the rich. At the far end of the spectrum is heroin: not only are its addictive qualities terrifying, but it is associated with crime, violence and poverty – with a few notable rock and roll exceptions.

The same twisted logic seems to apply to the sex industry: strip clubs are ‘just a bit of fun’ for your average punter. If you’re rich enough high-class prostitution can be dangerous (especially if you get caught) but pretty cool if you can afford it. Meanwhile, the vast majority of prostitutes are caught up in an incredibly dangerous and damaging world that few would choose to delve into.

At great risk of sounding like a broken record, it is high time that the realities of the sex industry were laid bare (forgive me). The exploitation of men or women in such a way should be as unacceptable to society as it is the law. Whoever you are, whatever your income – it’s not OK to pay for sex: a position that is much denigrated by parading Charlie Sheen’s supplier in the guise of a glamorous rebel, on national television.

Now, were this a hard and fast law of the playground, was the notion of the shag band taken seriously by anyone, were children indoctrinated into the rules of shag band etiquette from an early age; I would agree that this was a serious problem. However, as anyone who has ever owned a shag band will know, this is not the case. They are merely a fashion accessory that engenders a lot of girly giggling about boys and their *tee hee* willies.

To rail against shag bands as the sexualisation of children is to trivialise what is actually becoming an increasingly serious issue. If you want to talk about it, let’s talk about beauty pagents – the wigs, the make-up, the heels. Let’s talk about Bratz dolls. Let’s talk about the legitimisation of school-girl-sexy; not least through the now infamous Vogue cover featuring the fabulous Miss Lily Cole dressed as a school girl hugging a teddy bear.

Let’s not reduce what should be a far-reaching and introspective societal discussion to playground banter. In doing so, we are really missing the point.