Prostitution: Sociology

Prostitution is defined as “business of exchanging sexual services for martial compensation or financial befits” (Weitzer, R. J, p8). The practice usually happens legally in modern cites like Vegas, Berlin and

Prostitution, also referred to as “the oldest profession,” has always been a controversial and challenging social issue. It is practiced in many different forms including: call girls, convention prostitutes, apartment prostitutes, hotel prostitutes, house prostitutes, bar girls, streetwalkers, and parking lot lizards (). Civilizations such as the Samarians, and countries including Morocco and parts of India engaged in a form of prostitution known as temple prostitution. Temple prostitution is based on the belief that “generative activity of human beings possessed a mysterious and sacred influence in promoting the fertility of nature” (Clarkson). In other civilizations, such as the Roman and Byzantine Empires, prostitution was looked upon as less of a religious ceremony, and more of a sin practiced by “women of evil life” (ProCon.org). Today those differentiating view are still present in modern society, but there are also new ideologies surrounding the everlasting presence of prostitution. This Essay will use the Symbolic Interactionism Theory to identify those new ideologies, and evaluate the meaning of prostitution within three relationship: the husband and wife, the Call girl and client, and the Pimp and the sex trafficking victim.

Abel, Gillian, et al. Taking the crime out of sex work: New Zealand sex workers fight for decriminalisation. Policy Press, 2010. Part two: Implementation and impact of the Prostitution Reform Act (2003): the first five years: Review of the PRA

Prostitution is illegal in the United States and the laws keeping it illegal are causing more problems than they are solving. Because there are no regulations or laws protecting sex workers in the United States, and everything is run underground, there is nothing stopping the mistreatment and abuse of sex workers in the United States. The only way to protect sex workers is to legalize prostitution. In the following paper, I will attempt to prove that prostitution is a victimless crime and the laws against prostitution are hurting prostitutes more than they are helping them. If we want prostitutes to remain safe while earning a living, the only way to achieve this is to legalize prostitution.

Prostitution, also known as commercial sex or solicitation, is the business of preforming sexual activities in exchange for monetary compensation. Prostitution can be seen in many different outlets, from brothels and streetwalkers, to top of the line escort or call-girl services. Prostitution laws make it a crime to suggest, consent, or participate in a sexual act for the benefit of receiving payment (FindLaw, 2016). Prostitution is one of the first known female occupations and appears as early 2400 B.C.

Prostitution is known to many as “the oldest occupation”, but when examined, the harsh reality of the sex industry is exposed and it is visible that prostitution is more of a form of oppression than it is a profession. The oldest occupation has many names: prostitute, streetwalker, hooker, escort. These types of terms are just examples of how the women who participate in this industry are reduced to labels and objectified. This social oppression is met with physical violence among sex workers, making it the most dangerous profession in human history. If it is so violent and horrible to participate in though, then why has it existed for all of these centuries? The answer is that the entire

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,

In the United States prostitution for the most part is illegal. Around the world though is practically the opposite. Why is prostitution so unacceptable in the US? The US is one of the few countries in the world where prostitution is illegal. When I say for the most part I mean that in some counties in Nevada prostitution is legal.

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.

Though it is expected that the expansion of the sex industry would be controlled by legislation, it actually does the opposite. “Legislation leads to massive expansion” (Sullivan & Jeffreys, 2001). For example in Victoria, Australia, from when it first legalized brothels 1984 until 2004, “sexual service providers” increased from 40 to 184, not counting the growth of illegal prostitution, which was estimated to be four to five times the size of the legal sector (Sullivan, 2005). Also, the demand for sex services grows rapidly after legalization. Many men who before legalization wouldn’t risk buying women, see it now as acceptable; as prostitution becomes legal, treating women as merchandise also becomes ethical and socially acceptable. There is also an impact on the future generations of men and boys; they will now receive the message that prostitution is harmless and fun. Businessmen are now encouraged to carry out meetings in clubs where they provide naked women laying on the center of the table (Raymond, 2003).

Prostitution, as stated by Flemming, is known as a form of sexual activity, a kind of sexual style or category, and a form of economic activity, a way of making a living through the provisions of certain services, by behaving in accordance with, or falling into such a category (39). This definition, though, is controversial. While conducting research for this project, we found that most topics regarding prostitution and its affiliates were controversial. Each author gave a differing interpretation for the same data. Due to this, our project centered on the female prostitutes, even though there is evidence of male prostitutes.

Prostitution is defined as the act of “providing or receiving sexual acts, between a prostitute and a client, in exchange for money or some other form of remuneration” (Hock 557). The idea of exchanging sex for valuables has been around since the beginning of human society. The first reported data about prostitution was reported around 3000 B.C.E in one of the first known civilizations, Mesopotamia (Caraboi and Fierbinteanu 362). It is often referred to as “the world’s oldest profession.” Today, even though prostitution is illegal in most parts of the world, it is still prevalent worldwide with different ways to exchange sexual services for payment and many different types of prostitutes. One of these types of prostitutes are brothel workers; brothel workers work in “a house of prostitution,” a brothel, which are normally in areas where prostitution is not criminalized or is legalized (Hock 560). Like prostitution, human trafficking has been around for thousands of years and is still present today.

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

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.

Before I entered this class, my imagination about what sociology is wasn’t of what it came to be after this class ended. First of all, before coming to this class, I didn’t know that prostitution was a social problem. I understand that being a prostitute is a sin, however I don’t think that a person should be punished by a society for being a prostitute. In other words, I thought that if a person is making money on his or her own body, it wouldn’t be a societal problem. Coming in this class, I have the knowledge that gay, lesbians or any other sexual orientation that isn’t heterosexuality was something that only exists in one’s mind and that if a person want to change their sexual orientation, he or she could. Therefore, in this class, after learning about sexual orientation, I accepted that people are born different and as society we should all accept that. Sexual orientation somehow I feel should require more large-scale intervention. In a lot places, LGBT people are discriminated. If God only created female and a male and that they only should be attracted to each other, let him only judge those whose feelings are different from what the bible states.