Functionalist View On Prostitution

In the past decade, it seems as if the issue of prostitution has become fairly normalized in society. With the advancements in today’s technology, a fantasy is only a click away. In modern times, easily accessible video game chatrooms, and ads online make it simple to buy into the dream of sex. Selling sex, prostitution, is believed to have been around since the beginning of time. Let’s first consider the definition of prostitution, the transaction of sexual services in exchange for money or goods. There are various forms of prostitution that range from women on the street to upper echelon call girls, and it all originated the same. In The History of Prostitution (Sanger, W.) it was said that “the most historical record of prostitution comes

“Prostitution is the continual supply of physical sexual intercourse of some kind in direct exchange for material rewards, usually money” (Adriaenssens and Hendrickx 2012, p. 1) It is a corrupt way of producing one’s financial or personal gains. Women and men enter this line of business due to various reasons, which results with various types of prostitutes, such as; high-end escorts, third world sex slaves and street prostitutes. Prostitution is a sustained cycle due to numerous pros and cons such as; job satisfaction, quick cash, sex slavery, and to fuel drug addictions. This is supported by Robert Merton’s modes of adaption theory. Prostitutes who willingly end up in the sex trade is because of bad experiences with family and friends, hanging out with the wrong people, having no intentions for a healthy future, involvement with wrong activities and wrong beliefs. This is supported by the Hirschi’s bond theory. This paper will indicate how Merton’s, mode of adaption theory and Hirschi’s bond theory are able to explain prostitutes.

The discussion of prostitution has been a hot topic debate for as long as the practice has been established. The ethical debate as to if it should or should not be legal has been going on just as long. People say that in our Christian heritage it is a life of both antisexual and antidomestic life that we live , and that the act of prostitution is “the art of sin” . This paper will look at some of the paternalistic views of prostitution and develop a public policy09o9asssqaq position based on prostitution using Lars Ericssons “Charges Against Prostitution: An Attempt at a Philosophical Assessment.”

     The functionalist theory is the best way to view prostitution through a sociological perspective. Functionalists see prostitution as a means of controlling or channeling sexual behaviors (Henslin 53). Prostitutes meet the needs of men who otherwise do not have women always available to them. Also it meets the needs of a man because it is inexpensive, non emotional and a fleeting relationship. Through looking at prostitution we see that it persists because it serves social functions. This works by servicing people who are sexually frustrated. Prostitutes relieve pressures that otherwise might be placed on people who are unwilling to participate. Without the aid from prostitutes stimulating the un-stimulated, there might be other social problems that become bigger issues such as, rape sexual assault, kidnap and many more. Functionalism allows seeing each function that prostitution serves in a society.

Prostitution is the exchange of money for sex which enables the client direct access to sexual satisfaction through physical contact. In this essay, I shall argue that we should be morally opposed to prostitution. I shall analyse Laurie Shrage’s argument against prostitution. I shall then consider Igor Primoratz’s objections to these arguments and examine his account for why we should not be opposed to prostitution. I shall then explain why Shrage’s argument survives these objections and we should therefore be morally opposed to prostitution.

For the purpose of this study, male prostitutes and sexual acts such as pornography, stripping and erotic massages are excluded from the definition of prostitution. The terms ‘sex worker’ and ‘prostitute’ will be used interchangeably throughout the paper. The term ‘sex work’ was coined to circumvent the stigma that accompanies prostitution and to acknowledge that it generates income, like any other profession in our society (Sondhi, 2011).

For the purpose of this study, male prostitutes and sexual acts such pornography, stripping and erotic massage are excluded from the definition of prostitution. The terms ‘sex worker’ and ‘prostitute’ will be used interchangeably throughout the paper. The term ‘sex work’ was coined to circumvent the stigma that accompanies prostitution and to acknowledge that it generates income, like any other profession in our society.

Defined by Merriam-Webster 's Concise Encyclopedia, Prostitution is the practice of engaging in sexual activity, usually with individuals other than a spouse or friend, in exchange for immediate payment in money or other valuables (Merriam-Webster, 2014). When looking at this definition, most would agree that prostitution is the epitome of deviance. Prostitution is also one of the oldest professions in history, dating back to the bible and the old western days. Depending on the time in history, the society involved, the culture of the people within those societies, prostitution has been considered legal, illegal, acceptable, or deviant. This view changes depending on the time,

There are many sociological theories that can be used to explain prostitution in modern society. Two such theories are functionalism and symbolic interaction. Many people feel that prostitution may be an immoral act however, from a functionalist perspective there are social needs that are being filled through prostitution. Both social actors are gaining through the engagement of prostitution. Another sociological perspective; symbolic interactionism; focuses on the interaction that occurs between social actors. The labeling theory of symbolic interaction states that a prostitute is deviant only because he/she is labeled as such.

In this article researchers determine how some Latin American prostitutes identify with their sexuality. The most important aspects to consider understanding prostitution include sexuality, gender, class and ethnicity. Due to the fact that good portions of the Dutch prostitutes are immigrants it was helpful to gather information from a Latin American male sex employee who is working as a transvestite prostitute. It was important or the author to allow readers to experience the information from the perspective of a known sex worker. Often time’s information gathered for research on prostitution is not from the sex workers themselves but general information by the researcher perspective. This information was based on his life experiences everyday sex workers, immigrants and how they sexually identified him. To help give us a

Prostitution is seen as a problematic situation in most countries around the world. In 1999, the Netherlands was one of the first countries to legalize prostitution; it lifted the ban on brothels, recognized prostitution as sex work and delegated the regulation of the sex industry to local authority (Outshoorn 2004a). The sex purpose act was introduced by feminist policy makers as they argued that prostitution is a form of male violence against women even if women are choosing to work in this industry themselves. They said if people want a gender equal society then prostitution has to no longer exist. This act is also known as the ‘Swedish model’ it’ is the criminalization of the purchase of sex. The aim of this model is to try and abolish prostitution through targeting the demand and decriminalizing those who are selling sex. This model specifically aims to protect sex workers. Its important that this legislation only targets the buyers of prostitution, as the women who are involved should not have legal repercussions, because if they do it can make their life much more difficult. Worldwide feminists agreed that prostitution was a patriarchal tool of oppression against women. Many believe that prostitution undermines women’s agency. Since the beginning of the 1980s, Swedish feminists have consistently argued that men who buy prostituted women should be criminalized (Sachs, 1912; Welborn, 1990). They also argued that women who are in prostitution should have help to save them from prostitution and let them escape. In Sweden, prostitution is seen in political discourse to be a form of men’s violence against women (MIEC, 2005). Therefore they aim to abolish prostitution to ensure a ‘gender equality’ society. By preventing prostitutes from selling their services and earning money, this will make them want to abandon working within that trade. Those is sex work are seen as unstable, passive and exploited. In criminalizing the purchase of sex, a primary ambition was to decrease levels of sex work. However, since it can only be demonstrated that levels of street sex work declined when the law was introduced, it seems that street sex work figures have been assumed to be indicative of overall levels of sex work

Prostitution is a profession that has been around for thousands of years despite being a controversial topic in many parts of the world. In the modern world, the ethics of prostitution have been debated with many people viewing the profession as immoral. Prostitution is an exploitative and harmful profession for the sex workers. Since women account for a majority of those who engage in prostitution, these negative impacts affect women more. Also, prostitution is a gendered institution that strengthens and

In terms of sociology, Prostitution is a way for an individual to maximize their monetary intake or in other words “benefits” by selling the thing that they have readily, their bodies. In other words, it is the act or practice of participating in promiscuous sexual activity especially for money. Prostitution has been in existence for ages, going back to the Byzantine, Roman, Greek, and Egyptian Empires. Ironically, the ancient religions of those eras dealt with the needs of the group and consequently developed protocols for dealing with sexual relations that have propagated throughout time to the modern era. As a result, prostitution is not about to disappear anytime soon, despite relatively recent local laws. Also throughout centuries,

Prostitution has frequently been touted as the world's oldest profession, for the simple fact that it has been prevalent in society for quite some time. In order to properly discuss the many social ramifications of this particular crime and possible ways for dealing with them, it is first necessary to define prostitution and to explore the reason why it is a crime. Prostitution is the exchange of money or monetary assets for sexual favors and pleasure. It is the paying for sex in all of its myriad facets, from conventional coitus to a number of lewd and arcane acts from which people derive pleasure. Prostitution is part of the sex industry, which includes legal business such as strip clubs (Weitzer 7). There are a couple of different reasons as to why exchanging money for sex is deemed illegal. One principle reason is that if it were legalized, it would be exceedingly difficult for the government to tax and to capitalize off it, which is one of the reasons in which marijuana is widely considered illegal. More importantly, however, prostitution is illegal because it promotes the objectification of women and their bodies, and inherently reduces the degree of parity between men and women in which the latter are viewed as things simply for the fulfillment of men's sexual desires. Additionally, there are a variety of noxious activities that accompany prostitution such as trafficking in which the will of another is subjected to someone else's.

Prostitution has been a part of our world's culture since the beginning of time, and is the world's oldest profession. Ever since the beginning of time man has felt the need to pay for services of a sexual nature, whether are legal or not. In our culture; however, prostitution has become a topic of debate concerning the merits of this profession's legality. In viewing the legalization of prostitution one must take into account all the pros and cons of the situation, but more importantly what is currently being done to rid society of the problem of prostitution as well as the lack of effect of these so call solutions. One must ask one's self if outlawing prostitution, as a profession is the most effective or worthwhile way to deal with the