It Is Hard To Believe That The Colonizers Of Half Of The

Prostitution, sometimes referred to as “the world’s oldest profession” (Henslin, pg. 54), is defined by James M. Henslin as “the renting of one’s body for sexual purposes” (pg. 54). This arrangement, though illegal and socially deviant in most parts of the world, exists universally in many different forms (pg. 54). As a matter of fact, types of prostitutes range greatly in variety from call girls – who are said to be “the elite of prostitutes” (pg. 58), to streetwalkers – “who have the lowest status among prostitutes” (pg. 58), to sugar babies -young, physically attractive women who provide “rich, older men” (Kitchener, par.4) “…with attention (and sex) in exchange for the finer things in life” (par. 4).

For many, the Gilded Age was the opportunity for a new start, however many women were thrown into a life of prostitution. From the 1880’s to the 1920’s, immigrants from all reaches of the globe would travel to America in hopes of making a substantial profit and moving up in the world. Sadly, numerous women were brought into this life of horror. Whether involved by choice, deceit, or simply because they were too poor to provide for their families, once involved in a brothel, it was almost impossible to escape. The proprietors of these establishments were often called ‘The Vice Lords’. While prostitution was illegal

Prostitution is a controversial issue that has been around since the beginning of time and has recently became a major problem in today’s society. Prostitution is defined as the practice or occupation of engaging in sexual activity with someone for payment. Prostitution is often times referred to as “the oldest profession in the business”. It is prohibited in several countries, the United States included, though in some countries it is accepted and is legal in many others. Today, prostitution is so controversial because of the number of youth involved in it. Those who oppose prostitution are against it because it endangers a big portion of women with diseases and can also be considered as a form of slavery. Due to the fact that prostitution increases the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, or STDs, while also destroying the image of areas it has heavily polluted, along with the morality of the women involved in it, it is seen as a practice that needs to be done away with, or mandated by the government.

Since the beginning of time prostitution has been a part of our world 's culture, and it is said that it is the world 's oldest profession. Man has always been equally participated and felt the need to pay for services of a sexual nature since the beginning of time, whether it was legal or not. During 19th century woman who belonged to lower class family might have worked in order to support her family, in harsh times. During that time as farther away a woman moved from the mother and home, the lower her status became. Prostitution was clearly seen as disrespectful; the prostitute was at the bottom of society’s status chain. “During the late 19th- and early 20th century, the nature of society forced the working class women of Eau Claire to take advantage of any means to support themselves, including prostitution. Each woman had to decide herself which work option best supported her financially.”(Schaar.A) The wages these women earned were unbelievably low, and at times as much as 80% lower than the wages men earned. Back in those days there weren’t many jobs

Jane deliberately disobeyed her husband and sought out her wants. Disregarding what others had to say about her strange behavior; Jane proceeded to do what she wanted; to write. Nevertheless, Jane was slightly still submissive towards her husband due to the fact that she hid her journals to prevent displeasing John. Her tiny action that went against John’s morals that was bestowed upon her was the mark of Jane’s awakening. Jane’s awakening had caused a ripple effect on other women; they all began to draw out their inner beings. The conservatives in America could do nothing, but to sit back and watch the changes unfold right in front of them. There was no way out of this change; sooner or later those that degraded the rebellious females would realize that women can and will be much more than those wimpy little wives they were always told to be.

Colonial honor codes, both the traditional elite and alternative plebeian, supposedly dictated everyday life, but in reality this failed to hold true. Contestation of these rigid codes commonly occurred as society struggled to conform to the binary of moral and immoral, honorable and dishonorable, and masculine and feminine. Transgressions exploited the contradictory nature of the colonial system of power by claiming rights for the most oppressed, as evidenced with women finding powerful allies in the clergy. Working within the system yet simultaneously transgressing it, exemplified spectacularly through Catalina de Erauso, proved itself the most effective form of undermining the rules because it allowed one to validate one’s freedom through pre-established institutionalized structures.

Burstyn highlights that these changes altered the social and economic role of women during the nineteenth-century . She goes on to point out that there were great pressures on middle-class women not to work during this period and explains that ‘leisure women’ were symbols of the economic success of their male relatives . Burstyn suggests that marriage was vital for a woman as it was argued men needed to protect women because of their physical weakness . According to the ideal of womanhood, the home became a place where only women spent their lives and thus the ideal woman was morally pure and a guardian of the home . Burstyn also considers the contemporary issue of education for women by suggesting that if women were to become financially independent, they may no longer have the desire to marry for economic stability . If women remained unmarried, then men would, in theory, be forced to gain sexual gratification from the ‘Social Evil’: prostitutes . In the nineteenth century, the term ‘prostitute’ was used in a much wider context to how we would use it today. Judith Flanders explains that it referred to women who: were living with men outside marriage, had had illegitimate children, or women who perhaps had relations with men, but for pleasure rather than money . It is important to

Historians argue that prostitution was a form of negotiation on the part of the women involved and it allowed them to seek out alternatives to poor working conditions and low pay (Laite 734). According to Elliot West, “the oldest profession should be considered an aspect such as serious subjects as western communities, their changes, economic development and attitudes of their people,” (West 18). Prostitution was an alternative business opportunity that allowed women monetary freedom and independence. It was an economic necessity and a lucrative business model and many women chose to participate because they believed it offered them a higher standard of life than working in factories or

Judith Walkowitz’s book Prostitution and Victorian Society: Women, Class, and the State, deals with the social and economic impact that prostitution had on English society in the mid to late 19th century. Throughout her piece Walkowitz illustrates the plight of women who are in the prostitution field and that are working the streets throughout England. She starts with the background of most of the prostitutes in Victorian England then talks about the Contagious Disease Act in 1864 that attempted to curb the venereal diseases being spread by prostitutes. Walkowitz also discusses two specific cities in England that prostitution was a ‘social evil’, Southampton and Plymouth, where the repeal campaigns were successful.

In Butler’s article, Besides Oneself: On the Limits of Sexual Autonomy, Butler speaks about the social norms and expectations that we try to meet to be accepted in society while also talking about gender equality, identity, and culture. Butler shows emotions to the reader in her essay to get her point across on everything she believes in. Butler believes in equality for all humankind because everyone should want more peace and less violence in the world.

Sexual services have been part of societies for millennia. They date back to as early as ancient Mesopotamia, in which females were spiritually obligated to demonstrate Babylonian hospitality by engaging foreigner in sexual intercourse. Over time, the subject of prostitution has surfaced in spiritual and social discussion, and more recently into legal and moral discourses with an emphasis on the rights of sex workers. Since the recent phenomenon of advanced women’s rights through rigorous activist groups in the late nineteenth to early twentieth century, propelling the advancement of women’s rights movements began to immerge in the first world. At its core, prostitution is not an individual issue, but rather, a societal issue, and

In the Victorian era, the status of women in society was extremely oppressive and, by modern standards, atrocious. Women had few rights, in or outside of the home. Married women in this period relied on men almost completely as they had few rights or independence. With this mindset in focus,

In those days, so many people were forced into prostitution to earn an income. The living conditions were very low. People were poor, homeless, enemployed. There was crime and desperation. Mostly people were forced into prostitution to survive.

Women made vulnerable by poverty are most susceptible to the sex industry because they lack the resources, the education, and the economic alternatives to pursue other work possibilities. The lack of education diminishes women’s potential to gain paid employment, and desperately consent to prostitution as their survival strategy.

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