The Connotations of Sex Work and Prostitution by Alice Leuchtag - Research Paper Example

1] Alice Leuchtag, in her work – ‘Human Rights, Sex trafficking and Prostitution’ presents the connotations of ‘sex work’ and ‘prostitution’. ‘Prostitution’ generally implies the act of engaging in any sexual activity in exchange of monetary benefits. It is a kind of slavery experienced by the traffickers. Every victim of prostitution has been forced into it either by someone or by circumstances. They are subjected to physical and mental abuse. In using the term ‘sex work’, Leuchtag wants to highlight the work done by anyone working for associated with the sex industry. It can be a trafficker, pimp, brothel-owners, stripper etc. The processes carried out for commercial sex involve sex work. Therefore the significance lies in the fact that while sex work refers to a sex sector requiring adequate regulations and most importantly legalization in order to ensure job security, without legalization of ‘prostitution’ which lies at the very core of the industry, it is not possible to legalize such a sector. 2] Mills makes it evident that people in the back of their mind always remain opposed to anti-miscegenation, although the government has approved of it. She explains that, there are several invisible factors and behavior demonstrated by the society, which proves their psychological opposition towards inter-racial relationships. When asked about interracial relationships, many dismiss ‘race’ as a discriminating factor for choosing their partners. However, when personal decisions have to be made, they do consider the racial and color differences. Hence, the people tend to oppose inter-marriage for themselves and close relatives but not others. Another factor that imposes such barriers is the racial residential segregation, which is generally enforced quite subtly. Such kinds of spatial layouts and architectural designs forbid those interactions which could probably evolve into an intimate relationship. Similar segregation is also observed in people’s workplaces, schools, institutions, place of worship etc. Whenever, anyone tries to go ahead with an inter-racial relationship, people raise their eyebrows asking questions like – “Is he your boyfriend?” or “Are you two together?” Thus, people’s resistance to traditional norms of racial relationships continues despite the examples of successful inter-marriages. 7] In ‘Naked Profits’, Friend writes about the sexual revolution in the strippers’ club – Lusty Lady Theatre. The manager, Darell Davis announced that the club will be closed and the dancers bought the business for $400,000. It became the first employee-owned strip club in San Francisco & formed a labor union in 1997. This improved the morale of the current owners. They got could work with more sober customers. The business was now ‘worker owned’; free from the traditional master-slave concept of working as rented laborers by capital owners. The main idea was to give away the concept of capitalism when men could have the command over the women dancers and make them work according to their will, towards a cooperative of self ownership. Unfortunately, it was not as successful as imagined. A meeting revealed that Lust Lady was in deep financial crisis. The rent was doubled. The dancers made reductions in their wages although they had to do another job for a living. Unionization had increased number of dancers. They were almost broke. Their several plans like ladies night, auctioning, failed. The old problem persisted – they workers always kept complaining about the management, although it was self-elected. PART B 10] Comparison of Experience of Rape Victims: In Gavey’s writing, one can observe that the author tries to explain the readers about what exactly ‘sexual discrimination’ refers to and the various forms. Women face problems right from being assaulted, to lodging of complaints and seeking for investigation against the assaulters. Many regard them as lies. They are asked, if they had been raped or not and other associated questions. Repetitive questioning in front of police or stranger investigators and under the light of media make them recount the horrible experience time and again. Generally, they are also discouraged by their families due to obvious shame and alienation from the society. Pelka’s text reveals the experience of a man being raped by another, but not surprisingly in the prison. This became the biggest question against him. None was ready to believe him; rather he was cross-questioned regarding what he was doing at that time in that place and why his clothes were so dirty. People also thought him to be a homosexual although his sexual orientation was straight. His friends ridiculed him about his reduced masculinity. The cops were furious when he withdrew from pressing charges against his assaulter due to shame. His investigators thought that since he is a man, a rape by another man should not bother him much. Thus we find that both men and women victims, despite being assaulted, were never readily believed while lodging complaints. For women, they have to go through medical examination in order to testify that she has been victimized. A man, although raped, is not taken seriously. It is thought that since he is a man he can overcome the horror of assault. Connections between Violence and Sexuality: The preface to violence is generally aggression. Practicing masculinity often turns into violence and physical abuse against women. The process of dominating women by exercising male sexuality is a demonstration of power over another. This kind of sexual inequality can be enforced through violence. Exerting one’s sexuality over another by force is itself an act of violence. This assumes the form of rape and molestation. Sometimes it is observed that deprivation of physical pleasure or power becomes they key determinant of physical violence or sexual violence. Sexual act might take place without coercion and rather with consent. Such acts cannot be referred as violence. How does Society Construct Sexuality? Sexuality is categorized into homosexuality and heterosexuality. These two aspects receive different treatments by the society. Again sexual victimization and coercive sexual acts are social issues and concerns. Sexual interaction might lead to victimization when the act takes place without the women’s consent (usually). Offcourse, sexual violence against women is usually considered to have more psychological impact on the victim compared to that of men. (Pelka) Homosexual assault is not given that much importance as far as the victimization issue is concerned. Sexual assault is equated with rape and coercive practices of sexual acts. Controversy surrounding ‘Victim’ and ‘Survivors’ of rape: According to Gavey there is confusion between victimization and coercive sexual act. A sexual act without consent and with violence might not be considered as rape by a victim mainly because the woman is confused about the term. Sometimes coercive sexual assaults come from known quarters. Sometimes the victim is not even aware when she had been raped and how. Ann, who had been raped years before did not even realized she was raped. She is herself doubtful about it. She was a survivor of rape inflicted by her apartment mate. But if she is herself in doubt and not sure if he was actually raped, how can she be called a ‘victim’? Thus, survivors depend on the extent of physical coercion inflicted upon them. Women are forced into sexual acts by their husbands and boyfriends but it depends upon the woman’s psychological built whether she will consider this to be a case of victimization. The psychological impact is negative according to feminists’ definition of rape and sexual assault. However unless the woman herself speaks and admits herself as a victim one cannot simply impose this terms on her experience. However the author feels that according to him any woman undergoing forceful or unwanted sexual activities should be considered as a victim. Again as expressed by Pelka it is unlikely that a man under homosexual attack will be termed as a victim whereas a woman would usually be getting that acknowledgement. This is because socially constructed phenomenon of men indicates that he will always be able to resist and control any situation. Vulnerability is not something we associate with men and this gives rise to the controversies centering on victims and survivors of rape. Political Implications: The controversies associated with sexual assaults and victimization show that there is a dire necessity for a legal construction to specify the characteristic of the term ‘victimization’. Many times due to reasons mentioned above a person undergoing the rape will not be able to stand up for herself and say that she is not a victim and in such cases the law is more likely to consider her words to be true and not further the investigation. In order to avoid such injustice it is better to frame policies and categorically define the cases of rape victimization and sexual assaults. A survivor might claim to have undergone unwanted sex but cannot call it rape. One needs to take measures against the victimization of the woman. But for that we first need some legal back up which may be provided only when legal policies pertaining to these terms will be formulated. Works Cited 1. Leuchtag, Alica, “Human Rights, Sex Trafficking and Prostitution”, Humanist , 2003. 63(1):10-15 2. Friend, Tad. “Naked Profits: The employees rake over a strip club”, The New Yorker, 2004. 80(19) 3. Mills, Melinda "Tainted Love? Exploring the Contours of Interracial Romance and Resistance to Interracial Intimacy" 4. Pelka, Fred, Raped: A Male Survivor breaks his silence” In Rape and Society (pp.250-256), Westview Press 5. Gavey, Nicola, I Wasn’t Raped, but…” New Versions of Victims (pp.57-81), New York University Press Read More