The discussion concerning people who sell sex is arguably one of the most polarized debates in terms of sexuality discourse. Each side holds an extreme ideological stance that founds itself in rigid ideas about morality, agency, the influence of patriarchy, and the role of the state. The two sides are categorized as actors that view these women as "agents" of sexual activity or "victims" of exploitation. These factions influence the conversations and practices in terms of selling sex, human trafficking, and labor migration. An examination of how the opposing factions view the status of women the highlights ways that patriarchy and neoliberal capitalism inform the discussion. The "victim" argument is that all women who are in the sex economy …show more content…
One way to achieve this goal is to conflate prostitution and human trafficking. In the Kempadoo article she explains that the anti-trafficking is a women led white savior movement to protect "fallen sisters" (Kempadoo 2005: x). Additionally, this understanding of the situation continues to paint women as victims of male domination reinforcing patriarchal views of women in the workforce. Due to the societal understanding of trafficking as inherently forceful, presenting all women in prostitution as trafficking victims encourages a public outcry in the name of saving disadvantaged women (Bernstein 2010: 50). According to Ronald Weitzer this is a moral crusade that appeals to people's ideas that prostitution is evil by definition (Weitzer 2008: 451). Moral crusades rely on societies acceptance of women as sexually passive and therefore " workers do not actively make choices to enter or remain in prostitution, and there is no such thing as voluntary migration for the purpose of sex work" (Weitzer 2008: 452-53), constructing the entire system as forced and denies labor rights and agency. Additionally, the moral perspective allows for the construction of men who buy sex as people who fall under the sexual predator category, instead of just regular men, reinforcing that notion that the system is made for, and by, people who are interested in hurting women (Weitzer 2008: 452-453). Furthermore, it also frames men, "real men", as the saviors due to patriarchal ideas of masculinity. In order to stop women from being hurt by evil men who force them to sell their bodies against their desire the entire system must be eradicated; which will in turn lead to more gender equality because the selling of sex continues the idea that
With prostitution still arising and thriving in present day America the Argument and war waged on it by media has changed from an advocated perspective, to being seen as present day slavery among women. Especially with modern practices of forced trafficking and drugged prostitution. the views have changed from one of a women's private and personal freedom of choice, to one of "the ones who weren't lucky enough to get away from being drugged, kidnapped and forced into slaved prostitution."
It is weakness, not sex work that makes victims. Sex specialists ought to appreciate the same work rights as different ,laborers and the same human ,rights as other ,individuals. Prostitution is not simply a trade of sexual favors; it is a money related trade. As of right now, feminists ascend to protect the free, market and additionally ,a lady's self-proprietorship. This is communicated, by the inquiry: Prostitution ,is a ,mix of sex, and the free ,market. Which ,one would, you, say ,you are
International human rights lawyer Dianne Post has described the institution of prostitution as founded on the principle of “structural inequality by gender, class and race”, in essence painting sex work as the exploitation women of low economic standing merely because they are desperate enough to perform it (Datta & Post 3). Admittedly, sex work is a primarily female profession, though the Internet has lead to growing populations of transgender and male sex workers from the most liberal areas, such as California, to the most restrictive, like South Africa (Minichiello, Victor, Scott, and Callander), but there is simply to little data discussing these population groups to draw any definite conclusions. Where Post loses sight of her larger argument, that women should be treated as equals, is when she decidedly paints women as the victims of prostitution. This argument has blatant hypocrisy in that it ignores the fact that the majority of women participating in sex work are not trafficked sex slaves, but women willingly exchanging money for sexual acts, who are capable of facing the consequences of these actions. In fact, it is an extension of this argument that assumes that women cannot be held responsible for their actions that constitutes one of the primary failings of the Nordic
In sociology, the term deviance refers to all violations of social rules, regardless of their seriousness (Essentials of Sociology 136). Deviance is an individual or organizational behavior that violates societal norms and is usually accompanied by negative reactions from others. According to a sociologist S. Becker, he stated that it is not the act itself that makes an action deviant, but rather how society reacts to it.
“There is no difference in work in which a women sells her hands, such as a typist, and a work in which a women sells her vagina, as in sex work.” Claims author Lacy Sloan. In today’s society, many people believe that prostitution is an immoral act. It is the world’s oldest profession and because it has been long condemned, sex workers are stigmatized from mainstream society (ProQuest Staff). However, the act of purchasing sex between consenting adults should not be prohibited by the government, but regulated for society's overall best interests. Prostitution is illegal and as a consequence prostitutes are often victims of violence and sexual assault; therefore, prostitution should be legalized and regulated to ensure the safety of sex workers.
Prostitution has been as issue in many societies around the world for almost all of recorded history. There has been evidence of brothels and prostitution dating far back into human history. Many different societies have different views, ideals, and reservation about the matter. Some cultures around the world view it as a necessary evil for people who need to support themselves and their families. Others view it as morally evil and socially destructive; helping to rot our society from the inside out. Even still there are cultures who don’t view it as evil at all and even a normal part of life. A person’s view on the act is formed largely based on the culture they are living in. Even sub cultures inside of larger one can have different view on the matter, such as religious groups that denounce it, to some groups in the same culture that say it is okay. Even the gauge of how industrialized a country can determine how that culture views prostitution, with many third world countries being more lenient on the matter, and many first world countries being much more strict on the matter, such as the some of the countries in Europe and also the United States.
Barry, Kathleen. The Prostitution of Sexuality: The Global Exploitation of Women. New York: New York University Press, 1996. Print.
Throughout America and the entire world, prostitution flourishes. Prostitution is another never ending war like abortion, which society feels is immoral. This immorality leads functionalists, who apply functionalism to this social problem, on a chase to figure out why prostitution is what it is today. Functionalism is the best theory for looking at prostitution. It allows us to see how prostitution changes along with other aspects of society.
Dianne Post, an international human rights attorney currently living in Pheonix, Arizona, presents the audience with a few main points that should be looked at when determining the legalities involved with prostitution. Her first point is that if prostitution were to be legalized/ decriminalized, true equality for women would be non-existent. She argues that the legalization ultimately just makes the woman available for men’s sexual access at their disposal. Also, she states that basic human rights would be violated and activities that in any other situation would be considered legally actionable, such as “rape, captivity, economic coercion, or damaging verbal abuse” (Post 1), would then become normalized. Her second argument states that by listening to the voice of the very women involved in sex work we can discover...
Next time, it might be sensible to think twice before branding a prostitute as a no good, dirty tramp with little to no ethics. These thoughts were exactly what second-wave feminism, centered in the 1960s to 80s, aimed to disprove as they created many new changes in American culture, the perceptions surrounding the concept of female sexuality. Under the category of sexuality exists the practice or profession of engaging in intimate acts with an individual for reward, also recognized as prostitution. Though Feminists took great strides to enable women to assert their sexuality in a liberal fashion and without fear, many second-wave feminists still condemned prostitution as “sexual slavery”, since, according to Otchet (as cited in “Should Prostitution Be Legal”), many women's groups viewed prostitutes as victims, while others considered them sex workers with rights. In reality, prostitution supported Feminist views on the way women should be identified in society, because prostitutes could determine who they serviced, prostitution broke stereotypical characterizations, and, women could display their sexuality.
While majority of the women are enslaved, imprisoned or forced to enter this profession, there are some women who enter this profession simply because they enjoy such acts and believe that it is a good way of making a lot of money easily. On a very personal front, such a profession is not wrong morally and ethically to them. They believe that just like other professions, prostitution is another profession that pays them in return for the services that are provided by them. According to these women, they work hard and their owners reward them with money in return for their hard work. These women believe that their job is just like any other job – the boss pays his or her worker for working hard and getting the job done. To these women, there is nothing wrong with this profession. They believe that their customers only require casual sex and it is their responsibility to entertain them since it is their profession. “If this is right, then engaging casually in an activity that has the potential for romantic significance needs not destroy that activity 's romantic significance on other occasions. If we accept this, then we would need a separate argument to explain why casual sex destroys sex even though casual eating does not destroy eating” (Moen). However, the entire society views such women with disrespect and for them; such professions are immoral and unethical. The society believes that these women are
Since prostitution has been around there have been labels and stigmas behind the workers, their morals and the job itself. Leaving these men and women to be rejected rights, health care, insurance, etc. Weitzer observes, “[i]nstead of viewing themselves as ‘prostituted,’ they may embrace more neutral work identities, such as ‘working women’ or ‘sex workers’ […] These workers are invisible in the discourse of the anti-prostitution crusade precisely because their accounts clash with abolitionist goals.” Weitzer is hinting at the fact that these women and men see themselves as workers too, deserving of workers rights and protection, just as you and I would expect. But they are declined help and benefits because of the stigma following their line of work, based on societal values.
The most popular opinion is the view that prostitution is the epitome of the female state under the firm thumb of the patriarchy (Scoular, 2004). As much as it has been argued that many prostitutes are empowered by the choice to sell their services as sex workers, it is important to acknowledge that the “highly gendered nature” (Scoular, 2004, p. 348) of the sex industry creates an environment for male domination and could be considered to be “the absolute embodiment of patriarchal male privilege” (p. 219). Moreover, the gender oppression model agrees that prostitution fundamentally involves male domination over women in the sex work industry (Weitzer, 2007). For example, the physical and psychological abuse endured by female prostitutes in both street-based and indoor industries by predominantly male managers and customers is ubiquitous, and has been said to be “ineradicable” (Weitzer, 2007, p. 143). However, while it would be incorrect to assume that mistreatment in prostitution in minor, it is important to understand that it is not present in all sex work.
In many cases society has tried to tell you that prostitution is bad, weather it is through movies, books, religious text and many other influential aspects of society, due to the nature of the people who they portray in the act. I believe if people were properly educated into the science of sex, having sex for money would not be considered such a bad thing. When I attended prep school, I met many other kids from Europe, and let’s sat they were a little more comfortable with their sexuality, and in a few of their countries prostitution was even legal.
Prostitution is often argued as a consequence of gender inequality (Hoffman 1997). MacKinnon agree that sexual liberation for women outside of prostitution is important in the fight for gender equality but it is crucial for the society to not replace one patriarchal view, for example that women should not have sex outside marriage or a relationship, with another similar oppressive patriarchal view. By accepting prostitution, a sexual practice that is based on a patriarchal construction of female sexuality, the society condemns sexual pleasure of women irrelevant and that her role during sex is to submit to the man’s sexual demand and control. Women become yet another submissive gender as she has to do what her customer tells her and her response or satisfaction is left neglected. Sexual liberation for women cannot be fulfilled as long as the society normalise unequal sexual practices where a man dominates a woman (Hoffman