Prostitution as a Form of Deviance

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Prostitution as a Form of Deviance 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. A particular state of being that has been labeled as being deviant in the U.S. is prostitution. Prostitution is the direct selling of sexual acts for financial gains. In some form or other, prostitution has been recognized throughout history and all over the world. There has been alternating phases of repression and toleration of prostitution. Official Christian morality has always opposed prostitution, but in big cities prostitution has been rather open and tolerated in Christian societies until the sixteenth century when venereal disease became a major public problem. At that time public authorities began denouncing prostitution and took severe measures to eliminate it. By the nineteenth century, official enforcement of rules against prostitution had become lax in the U.S. and England; while in nations such as France had rather wide open houses of prostitution in major cities. The U.S. launched a campaign to suppress prostitution. Industrialization and mass communication seem to have been associated with increased repression of deviance in general and sexual deviance in particular. During the twentieth century, repression and toleration continued, but today in urban areas the trend seems to be toward toleration, and prostitution is becoming increasingly... ... middle of paper ... ... a full list of services. In East Africa, sex is free from cultural and social restrictions. Africa in particular, prostitution is socially accepted to a degree completely unknown to any Western country. Men get open offers in bars and nightclubs. This is true for all African countries that are non-Muslims. In South Korea, being a prostitute is referred as being a businesswoman. It is not a respected profession but not disrespected either. In Netherlands prostitution has always been legal. Since 1988, it has been officially defined as a legal profession and prostitutes joined the Service Sector Union. As a conclusion, I think prostitution could be tolerated but not culturally accepted. Every one has different perspectives about life and how we should act, but we should respect the way people think as we like others to respect the way each of us think.

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