Prostitution : The Modern American Sex Industry

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

By the year 2015, it has been long since brothels have lined the streets of well-known cities to the extent in which they did during the early 1900’s. While there are still a few legal brothels in Nevada and in some foreign countries, we usually find similar sorts in the forms of gentleman clubs or strip clubs nowadays. When examining the early 1900’s and our current modernity, there are, of course, both extreme and subtle similarities and differences. In Karen Abbott’s novel, Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys and the Battle for America’s Soul, there is no pronounced comparison of our modern world with the one of the past, but we can insightfully see that we are not so different. Prostitution, sex trafficking, drugs,

Public humiliation has been around for years. It was always a controversial and terrible thing to do to a person. Being outlawed in the states during the 19th century there is a reason why this was banned. Public humiliation destroys a person emotionally.

The legalization of prostitution has been a compelling two sided argument for many years. When morals and reasoning combine, it is often hard to come to one solution. Prostitution is considered to be a serious issue in countries around the world. The amount of prostitution has been increasing tremendously every year and it seems to be getting more serious than the past centuries. The government has legalized prostitution in a few countries and people are wondering if this will become an all over the world thing. There are two very different views to legalizing prostitution that I would like to explore.

Throughout history, prostitution has been an issue of intense debates in the US and the larger global society. Many countries legally prohibit prostitution and associated activates. Except Nevada, the United States also illegalizes prostitution. However, the benefit of legalizing prostitution in the US would not only be for the workers but also for the economy as well. It is high time that prostitution be legalized for various reasons.

It is rather odd to think that prostitution, which is considered to be the world’s oldest profession, would be illegal and harmful in nature. The issue of legalizing prostitution has entered public conversation around the world, which is severely divided. Many, like myself, consider prostitution to be a victimless crime. Despite such opposition to legalizing prostitution, many argue that legalizing it would result in decreased morality issues, increase the economic activity in the United States, and help decrease the number of sexually transmitted diseases among both prostitutes and those who patronize them,

“Prostitution is one of the worlds oldest professions” (Kipling 1) and still has quiet a relevance in today’s society. However, unlike this primitive profession, a not-so-old debate is whether or not the United States should legalize prostitution. Prostitution is seen from many different viewpoints and although there is clear evidence of the damage that it puts on society, along with tarnishing the morals of Americans. Concerning America and its people, prostitution should not be legalized in any way.

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.

Sex trafficking is a problem that sweeps across the nation. The number of children and teens on the street makes them more at risk of being taken into human sex trafficking. According to the Covenant House Institute, more than two million kids in America will face a period of homelessness. As many as 20,000 kids are forced into prostitution by the human trafficking networks every year in the United States

The first thing that someone may think about when they hear the word prostitution is that it’s illegal but also dangerous. This is a completely fair claim to make, however if America legalized prostitution, it would be a completely different story. If there was to be a standard policy implemented that would ensure safety in all aspects, prostitution would no longer be viewed as a negative thing. Likewise, nobody would be forced into anything as opposed to those currently involved in the business. Prostitution in America should be legalized because if there was a standard policy, then there would be less health risks, no more danger for the girls involved, and regulations on the market.

Prostitution is a profession that has been around for centuries and has a majority of negative stigmas toward it. People of different genders and sexual practices have found jobs within this industry. They face problems within their line of work due to many areas having this profession marked as illegal. These legal restrictions breed further problems for sex workers ranging from health problems, work environment dangers, and tough economic situations. The idea of legalizing prostitution within the United States has been pitched as a solution to these problems. The negatives ranged from all prostitutes being drug addicts or that legalization of this profession would create many more problems than it would solve. Further examination of the claims for and against the legalization of prostitution nationwide show that the pros of legalization outweigh the cons. If legalized nationwide the sex industry would solve many problems for sex workers and others within the country.

Deep-seated opinions and radical views come and go, but one that prevails (with topics such as the legalization of marijuana) is the legalization of the profession that has been around for thousands of years—prostitution. The dispute over whether prostitution should be legalized has long troubled many American citizens as well as becoming an extremely controversial issue in America. Although many spiteful claims have been made about the act of prostitution, the truths are slowly beginning to resurface. Disregarding moral accounts, there are far more political and diplomatic facets that must be taken into account when making a national decision of this caliber. Prostitution can be used for professional purposes and can also be used as another form of tax revenue and the only people that are benefitting from this business are pimps who are making hefty profits, tax-free. I believe that prostitution should be legalized because it could help the economy and society as a whole; if the government regulated it, it would be a taxable business. Although deemed immoral, Legalizing prostitution comes with a major benefit, a positive economic impact to the country it was legalized in; this reason could help America thrive economically.

In his book Love For Sale, Nils Johan Ringdal wrote, “If nobody wants to sell sex, it is a crime to force anyone to do so. But when men or women do want to sell their bodies, they should have that full right without encountering punishment or discrimination.” Prostitution, often described as the world’s oldest profession is a legitimate criminal offence in 109 countries of the world today (“Human Trafficking Statistics”). Laws on prostitution vary considerably from country to country: in some countries it is punishable by death penalty ("Iran - Facts on Trafficking”), in some it is a crime punishable by prison sentence, while in other jurisdictions, it is a lesser administrative offense punishable only with a fine ("The Sentencing 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,