A Specific Issue in Deviance and Its Social Control - Prostitutions - Research Paper Example

?[Your full full November 13, A Specific Issue in Deviance and Its Social Control - Prostitution Introduction Before going into the discussion regarding how different groups of feminists view prostitution, let us get a brief overview of what prostitution actually is and why it is a social deviance. Prostitution is one of the most disgraceful and oppressive acts done by any person. Prostitution is the act of getting payment in return of providing sexual services. Prostitution is the business of providing sexual services to other people for getting money. Prostitution has become a high revenue generating business for human trafficking groups these days. There exist many groups in different countries, which supply women and children to other countries in order to earn high amount of money. However, prostitution in any form is illegal because it destroys the dignity and status of women and gives rise social deviance, which is a shift from a socially acceptable behavior to such a behavior, which is accepted neither socially nor culturally. People view the professional of prostitution as a very unacceptable profession because it degrades the dignity of women and adversely affects the norms and values of a society. In this paper, we will discuss examine deviance and its social control from the feminist perspective along with identifying major forces pertaining to deviance and its social control. We will also make specific suggestions for current policies and prospective initiatives in deviance and its social control. Prostitution and Feminism About prostitution, Bartley states, “Prostitution is a terrible strain upon civilization” (183). This is the general idea of majority of the feminists and other people these days regarding prostitution. Majority of the people think that prostitution is a worldwide issue, which harms dignity of women and is a real social deviance. According to Weisberg, prostitution is the breach of women’s civil rights (50). Prostitutes are not prostitutes by birth; rather different circumstances force them to become prostitutes at some stage of life. For example, some women are not strong financially and when they do not find any proper source of income, they get involved into such activities, which can earn them money to live their lives. However, the way they adopt to earn money for themselves gives rise to the concept of social deviance because a woman present s her body to other people for sexual purposes. Prostitution is a real social deviance, which is caused due to many reasons. One of such reasons is forced rapes. When someone rapes a woman, the self-respect of that woman is harmed badly and she loses her respect not only in her family but also in whole society, which makes her adopt the profession of a prostitute. One cannot say that it happens with all raped women, but in some cases, it does. For example, when the red army raped a large number of women in Berlin during the second World War, the reports related to rise of prostitution started to come within a couple of years of the end of the second World War. The reason behind the link between rape and prostitution is that when a woman is raped, she is left with nothing. In such situations, social and financial circumstances force such women to become professional prostitutes. Musheno and Seeley state, “Feminists have consistently viewed prostitution as a social problem and opposed state regulated or legalized prostitution”. Radical feminists say that prostitution is a very disgraceful act because body of a woman is not for doing any kind of deal or business. They believe that women are a very respectable and highly regarded part of a society and there should not be any law, which should allow this shameful business of prostitution to prevail anywhere in the world. Feminists believe in the respect and dignity of every person. They do not regard such activities of professions, which cause social deviance. Men should change their view regarding women and should stop using women for illegal sex or for fulfilling sexual frustration (Bromberg). Radical feminists raise their voice to stop prostitution in the whole world because it is not only a very discreditable act, which degrades the respect of a woman in the society but also affects the norms and values of a society. Women do not become prostitutes by will. There exist many factors, which force them to become prostitutes. Some of the reasons why women become prostitutes include extreme poverty, over population, lack of opportunities, child abuse, and some social issues. “In an over-populated world, there may simply be situations that leave no other choices to women” (Bromberg). Radical feminists do not believe that well-off and rich women adopt the business of prostitution. They say that only impoverished, low educated, and those belonging to the lowest socioeconomic classes adopt this business because either they have no awareness of morality and social norms and values or they cannot do anything else to earn money. However, in any case, prostitution is not a good option to earn money because it promotes social deviance, which can never be tolerated in any society. Feminists also believe that rise in the number of prostitutes in a country mainly depends on the class distinction that exists in that country. “Prostitution owes its existence to an interplay of social and economic arrangements that involve promiscuity, chastity, and inequality” (Jolin). They say that in some societies, men do not give rights to their women and use them just for sex. A prostitute is a sufferer of a corrupt society in which there exist the elements discrimination and class distinctions (Bromberg). Women belonging to such countries raise their voice to make the governments take steps to eradicate class distinctions and workplace discrimination. However, negligence shown by the governments makes some of those women use illegal and disgraceful ways to earn money. The viewpoint of radical feminists is very close to the conflict perspective regarding prostitution. Feminists consider both women and men responsible for the rise of prostitution. They believe that the men who are involved in such businesses are equally immoral because they are not interested in making relationships with women rather they just want to use women for fulfilling sexual desires. Radical feminists strongly oppose prostitution and consider it an unpleasant and an unhealthy act. They say that prostitution is a form of violence against women in which the women have no right to say no to their male employers. They say that responding to the ads of prostitutes is also a way of doing violence against women, as use of body for any reason is totally unjustified and unethical. Radicals believe that male employers seize the right of independence of women and make them sex slaves who only have to provide sexual services to the customers and nothing else. Radical feminists also argue that prostitution is not a mindful choice for women and they are forced to perform sex with the customers. If we talk about liberal feminists, we can say that their view over prostitution is very different from radical feminists. Liberal feminists believe that prostitution is not a forced sexual activity rather it is a private business transaction. Radical feminists believe that women are forced to provide their bodies to men whereas liberal feminists view this activity as a business based on the will of the involved woman. Another difference between the viewpoints of liberal and radical feminists is that of men’s personal interest in women. Radical feminists believe that men who make use of women’s bodies for sex are not interested in the women rather they are only interested in their bodies. On the other hand, liberal feminists believe that prostitution is a business and one’s personal interest in the other person does not matter in a business. Marxist feminism is another group of feminists, which discourages prostitution and believes that the issue of prostitution is associated with the wrong policies of the governments. Bell states, “Prostitution, for Marxists, is exploitative in the same way that the selling of all labor power is exploitive” (78). Marxist feminists say that no woman wants to become a prostitute, but the social and economic circumstances make them prostitutes. For example, in some third world countries, the employers do not like to hire women and even if they hire women, they give very less wages to them as compared to men. Therefore, when women do not get equal wages while performing the similar tasks, which their male counterparts perform, they feel low and get involved in illegal sexual activities in order to earn money. Another group of feminists, which are Socialist feminists, believes that rise in the number of prostitutes depends on the class distinction that exists in many societies. They say that in some societies, women are not considered equal to men and men just use their women as sexual slaves. They raise their voice to make the governments take steps to eradicate class distinction and change the structure of the societies in order to prevent women from becoming prostitutes. Feminists believe social classes to be one of the main causes of prostitution. They believe that when a woman’s rights are suppressed, she becomes weak financially and mentally and that financial and mental weakness makes her an easy victim of corrupt people who use such women for sexual purposes. Radical feminists believe that prostitution is somewhere at the centre of female subordination and male domination. They say that prostitution is violence because in this business, a woman’s basic rights are violated using force. Feminists believe that if the governments of all countries do effective legislation regarding human trafficking and prostitution, the society can come out many problems and issues. Some other feminists say that prostitution makes people involve into illegal sexual activities and leads them towards many social problems, such as forced rapes, no respect for women, and unwanted pregnancies. Therefore, feminists say that if there is a complete ban on prostitution all over the world, the world can become free of many social problems. Feminists have been successful in convincing the governments of different countries to take actions against prostitution although the actions have not been very successful. If we analyze the laws regarding prostitution in the United Kingdom, we come to know that the government of the United Kingdom has done legislation regarding paid sex. In the United Kingdom, paying to the agent for the sexual services of a prostitute is considered an offence, and the government does not tolerate it in any case. If we analyze the laws regarding prostitution in the United Kingdom, we come to know that the government of the United Kingdom has implemented strict laws regarding paid sex. Under this act, paying for the sexual services of a prostitute is considered an offence, which cannot be tolerated in any case. Running brothels is also illegal in the United Kingdom according to the Sexual Offences Act 1956. Such actions by the British government are very good efforts pertaining to deviance because they discourage prostitution. The issue of prostitution, as we all know, is a social deviance that needs to be tackled properly by the governments of all countries. The issue of prostitution exists in some way or other in all parts of the world. It is one of the oldest and the most disregarded professions, which destroy the foundations of moral, norms, and values. We can hardly find any society completely free of this disgraceful act. However, the fact is that a very small number of prostitutes adopt this profession by will. A large number of women become prostitutes due to the factors described already in the paper. The responsibility comes on the government to deal with this social deviance because class distinction, unemployment, and other issues, which give rise to prostitution, need to be resolved by the governments. However, we do not find any considerable measure being taken by the governments in this regard. Apart from some efforts by the British government, most of the governments do not spend time on thinking for the end of this disgraceful profession. If we talk about the United States of America, we can say that efforts are being made to legalize prostitution instead of ending this business. Although, prostitution has not become legal in the United States officially until now but it has been allowed in some of the counties. In the countries like Thailand and Nigeria, prostitution is considered illegal but the laws regarding this profession are not very strict and prostitutes are able to find loopholes in the laws very easily. In many parts of the world, such as, the Netherlands, East Africa, and South Korea, the profession of prostitution has a legal status and people view prostitutes as businesswomen. Feminists say that becoming a prostitute is a very difficult decision for a woman as no woman wants to become a prostitute without any significant reason. They say that prostitutes do not live a respectable life because no one respects them because of their profession. Prostitutes also want to leave their occupation but the socioeconomic forces do not let them do a respectable business to live their lives. The role of radical feminists has been very positive in this regard, as they have opposed this profession on almost every platform. It is the responsibility of the governments to put ban on prostitution by doing effective legislation and by providing job opportunities for the lower class women in order to make them leave this occupation and become respectable citizens of the state. Governments should take care of the needs of the poor people in order to stop them from joining the business of prostitution. Providing good jobs to the lower middle class can be good effort in this regard. Governments of all countries need to do effective legislation to end his business because it is not an issue, which exists in any particular part of the world. It is an issue, which has its roots in every part of the world. Human traffickers send prostitutes from one country to other countries to earn a good amount of money. Governments need to make such laws, which should be able to stop activities of the prostitutes. From sociological perspective, prostitution is a deviant act but governments also need to recognize this by taking effective measures against this profession. Conclusion Summing it up, prostitution is a common social issue and a disgraceful profession, which can be tolerated in many societies but can never be accepted culturally. All groups of feminists, which include Radical feminists, Liberal feminists, Marxist feminists, and Socialist feminists, have different viewpoints regarding prostitution. Based on the analysis of all viewpoints, it is concluded that prostitution is an unlawful act, which harms the dignity and honor of a woman. Two ways that can be used to eliminate or at least lessen the effects of prostitution on society include making prostitutes aware of the health issues associated with prostitution and stopping women from adopting this profession by giving them jobs and making them aware of the adverse impact of prostitution on overall status of women in a society. Works Cited Bartley, Paula. Prostitution: Prevention, and Reform in England, 1860-1914. London: Routledge, 2000. Print. Bell, Shannon. Reading, Writing, and Rewriting the Prostitute Body. Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1994. Bromberg, Sarah. “Feminist Issues in Prostitution.” Feministissues.com, 1997. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. Jolin, Annette. “On the Backs of Working Prostitutes: Feminist Theory and Prostitution Policy.” Crime & Delinquency 40.1 (1994): 69-83. Print. Musheno, Michael, and Kathryn Seeley. “Prostitution policy and the women’s movement.” Crime, Law and Social Change 10.3 (1986): 237-255. Print. Weisberg, Kelly. Applications of Feminist Legal Theory to Women’s Lives: Sex, Violence, Work, and Reproduction. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1996. Print. Read More