Prostitution: Modern Trends and Impacts - Dissertation Example

 Prostitution: Modern Trends and Impacts Introduction It is said that prostitution is the oldest profession. Generally, there have been no doubts about the immoralities associated with prostitution. Prostitution has always been part of the human race. Attempts to criminalize it has proven problematic, especially, over the past fifty years. This is because it is technically a choice made by two consenting adults and there is very little that anyone can do if two people decide to engage in sex for money. However, the social stigma attached to prostitutes and those who solicit their services is always there. This can be said to be due to the moral and social disagreements that it brings to communities around this world. This paper will examine the evolution of prostitution in the to world today and the social and moral challenges that come with it. In other words, it would look at the changes and current status of prostitution in this world of globalization and technological advancement. In doing this, the research will discuss the main elements of prostitution. It will attempt to define the concept of prostitution and what makes it go on in the world to-date. Will will assess the general impact of prostitution and how it affects people individually and collectively. Also, the paper will examine the changes to prostitution in the 21st Century and the role of technology, strip clubs and human trafficking in prostitution. We will examine the moral and social challenges that modern day prostitution brings to the society and how it affects people and the wider community. Definition of Prostitution The definition of prostitution tends to be problematic. This is because prostitution in itself is illegal in most societies. Thus, setting a framework to deal with it is more covert or seen as immoral. Most definitions have legal connotations because the only way that prostitution comes to the eyes of the public is through convictions and other legal actions against such persons. However, several scholars have attempted to define prostitution. Flowers (1998: 7) defines prostitution as “granting of non-material sexual access, established by mutual agreement of the woman, her client and/or her employer for remuneration which provides part or all of her livelihood”. This means that a prostitute is a person who allows people to have sex with her in return for a fixed 'remuneration' or pay which she relies on as a salary. Flowers goes on to identify that there are three elements of prostitution: barter, promiscuity and emotional indifference (1998). Barter refers to the exchange of goods between two parties through mutual consensus. This means that two parties will negotiate no what to exchange and once they agree on an acceptable exchange, they go ahead and trade. In this case, the 'trade' involves sex from the prostitute and payment by the client. In a study that traces the root of prostitution in Ancient Rome, over 2000 years ago, McGinn identified that the fundamental definition of prostitution was in relation to adultery and concubinage (2003: 18). In other words, there was a universal acceptance that prostitution laid out of the scope of normal sexual relations that happened within marriage. However, in the mind of the Romans, prostitution was to be separated from adultery, where a married man has an extramarital affair or concubinage which involves a man getting another lover or partner aside his legally recognized wife. Thus prostitution involves promiscuity like all the other forms of extramarital affairs. However, in the case of prostitution, there is an emotional indifference which makes it so distinct from concubinage and adultery which involves some exchange of affection and love. “A prostitute is one who earns a living wholly or partially by more or less indiscriminate, willing and emotionally indifferent provision of sexual services of any description to another against payment usually in advance but not necessarily in cash” (Flowers, 2001: 86). This means that prostitution involves offering one's body for sexual service to the public in return for payment on a consensual basis. There are also other facades through which prostitution can be examined. According to Weisberg, there is the feminist view and the Marxist view of prostitution. The feminist view identifies that prostitution is about an exchange of a social service. However, the Marxist view of prostitution indicates that it is the exploitation of women because of the capitalist system of making wealth, living in a given class and owning private property (Weisberg, 1996: 192). Marx's view suggests that prostitution is a way that desperate women earn a living in a society where they have absolutely no other opportunities. And this can be attributed to desperation of these women. Others view prostitution as sheer greed and the lack of moral sensitivity. Ditmore identifies the case of a prostitute in California who was a college graduate but she got introduced to prostitution and decided to do it as a phase in her life (2006). The discussion so far indicates that prostitution involves offering sex for money. It revolves around people, who are ready to take payments in exchange for sexual acts. These acts are negotiated for and the prostitutes submit their bodies for the sexual pleasure of the payee. There are no attachments and the payments are taken as income to cover the bills of the prostitute in question. Such a person can be said to be involved in this act over a reasonably long period of time. This is because a desperate girl who offers this kind of service in one particular incident might not fall into this category fully. This leads to the different classifications and possibilities for prostitution. One of these categorizations include the case of child prostitutes as against adult prostitute. “Child prostitution is a form of coercion and violence against children and amounts to child labor and a contemporary form of slavery” (Lim, 1998: 170). This is because child prostitutes are often put into the practice by an older person, or at least that is what the law assumes. Due to this, child prostitutes are classified as a specialized group in the wider community of prostitutes. However, due to their nature as minors, child prostitutes are not treated like adult prostitutes in legal proceedings and other public discussions. Another interesting feature of the discussion of prostitution is that prostitution invariably refers to a woman who sells their sexuality, rather than the man paying for it (Smart, 2005: 77). This is because most men are regarded as the initiator of sex acts. And since men are often the ones who demand sex, men who benefit from sexual acts of prostitution are not considered to be prostitutes. They are more or less the benefactors and the women who allow their bodies to be used in this process are considered to be prostitutes. Smart adds a note that due to the inherent differences in the attitudes of men and women in offering and receiving sex, rape is seen to be a male offense whilst prostitution is more of a female offense. In the United States, some states define prostitution as the act of hiring out one's body for sexual intercourse (Carroll, 2010). In other states, prostitution is define in light of exchanging money for any sexual behavior sold for profit and this includes strip shows and other acts (Carroll, 2010). In extending this preamble in areas of the world where same sex marriages are allowed, prostitution by males who offer themselves for sexual acts in homosexual encounters can be considered male prostitutes. Other scholars prefer to use the world 'sex worker' instead of 'prostitute'. This is because sex worker is much more inclusive and attempts to encompass a wider frame of people who offer their bodies for sexual encounters in return for money (Ditmore, 2006). This is because the term 'worker' allows the inclusion of stakeholders to be recognized quite easily in the 'trade'. This include the identification of managers and pimps who play various roles in soliciting for customers for their prostitutes. Also, it enables the easy conceptualization of commercial acts like advertising and allows commentators to factor in elements like fixing prices due to the elements of demand and supply. Impacts of Prostitution Changes in Prostitution in the 21st Century Moral and Social Impact of 21st Century Prostitution Conclusion Complex to define. Sex in exchange for money. Class of promiscuity but emotional indifference. Exchange of service. Usually for money. Either desperation or just a lifestyle. Female offense not a male offense. Sex worker is often preferred because it brings in the commercial elements. References Caroll, J. L. (2010) Sexuality Now: Embracing Diversity Mason, OH: Cengage. Dail, P. W. (2011) Women and Poverty in the 21st Century. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. Ditmore, M. H. (2006) Encyclopedia of Prostitution and Sex Work A – N. Darby, PA: Greenwood Publishing Group. Edwards, C. J. (2005) Changing Policing Themes for 21st Century Societies Sydney: Federation Press. Farley, M. (2012) Prostitution, Trafficking and Traumatic Stress London: Routledge Farley, M. Baral, I. Kiremire, M. and Sezgin, U. (1998) “Prostitution in Five Countries: Violence and Post Traumatic Stress” 8 Feminism and Psychology 415. Flowers, R. B. (1998) The Prostitution of Women and Girls Jefferson, NC: McFarland. Flowers, B. R. (2001) Runaway Kinds and Teenage Prostitution Darby PA: Greenwood Publishing. International Organization on Migration (2005) Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation New York: IMO Publications. Jeffrey, S. (2009) The Idea of Prostitution New York: Spinifex Press. Lim, L. L. (1998) The Sex Sector: The Economic and Social Basis of Prostitution. Rome: International Labor Organization. Maggio, E. (2009) Private Security in the 21st Century Concepts and Applications New York: Jones & Bartlett. McGinn, T. A. J. (2003) Prostitution, Sexuality and the Law in Ancient Rome Oxford: Oxford University Press. Smart, L. (2005) Women, Crime and Criminology London: Routledge Weisberg, D. K. (1996) Application of Feminist Legal Theory to Women's Lives New York: Temple University Press. Read More