The Issue Of Commercial Sex

In a decade that will be surely known as one of grand feminist success it seems worthwhile mentioning that prostitution is a new feminist issue. According to “Women Have the Rights” many sex workers and feminist activists see the decriminalization of prostitution as a human rights initiative for women to regain control over their bodies. These third wave feminists find sex an issue that should be more widely discussed. Large leaps in pornography such as female filmmakers and feminist porn stars point to an ideal that consensual sex work is just another fore front in the battle for gender equality. Legalization of prostitution leads to more government oversight requiring

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.

Abstract: This paper explores the world’s oldest and most controversial occupation and puts forth a foundational plan for legalizing and regulating sex work in a safe way that satisfies both radical and liberal feminists ideals. To understand how prostitution has evolved to where it’s at today, this proposal travels through the history of prostitution in the United States (heavily focusing on the twentieth century.) Prostitutes were initially accepted and openly sought after. A shift in societal norms and values placed sex work in a heavy degradation. The regulation of prostitution in Nevada began in 1970 and resulted in the first licensed brothel in 1971. Fast forward nearly fifty years and prostitution is outlawed in 49 out of 50 states. Vast amounts of money are being spent annually in failed attempts to stop prostitution all together. Radical feminists are those who would identify as conservative. They are against prostitution on the belief that it victimizes and degrades women in poverty. Liberal feminists strongly agree that the government has no place in a women’s body and that the right to perform sex work is human right. This paper analyzes these different perspectives and incorporates a model that will resemble the current working regulation in Nevada. Stricter stipulations such as health requirements and the legal age should help influence radical feminist to expand their perspective and acceptance.

Though widely accepted throughout the course of human history, the approval of prostitution in today modern society seems to be a much more grey area. While once legal in every major civilization on earth, prostitution is now illegal in many countries, though sometimes tolerated for the revenue it generates. This cold shoulder toward prostitution began in the Middle Ages, when church officials began to preach of the sins associated with the profession. Their cries, however, fell on mostly deaf ears. Prostitution had become such a large contributor of public revenue in so many countries, that is was protected and regulated by law. In the centuries to come, however, things began to change. With the rise of stringent sexual morality standards associated with the Protestant Reformation, the increased transmission and awareness of sexually transmitted diseases and the implementation of such social movements as feminism, prostitution began to fall out of favor, eventually becoming illegal in many parts of the world. (Jenkins).

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.

The first chapter of this book details what Raymond believes to be the most dangerous myths surrounding sex work, or prostitution as she refers to it. The first point she makes is that “Prostitution is Inevitable.” She claims that this is “the most senseless argument in defense of maintaining the system of prostitution” (Raymond, 2013, p. 2). Raymond backs her claim by explaining that this idea stems from the patriarchy from a time when women were objects. Raymond then continues on to berate the mindsets that say that sex work cannot or should not be banned because the safety of the worker has to be taken into consideration. She compares the “harm reduction” mentality to the same mentality that tobacco industry claimed to be using filtered cigarettes.

Prostitution has been around as long as human beings have engaged in sexual activities, and it is even touted as the world’s oldest profession. Despite these proclamations, the subject of prostitution continues to spark controversy in the United States in moderns times as it is a hot debate topic. Off and on, throughout the years, various states around the country have proposed that the practice should be decriminalized; however, it remains illegal nationwide, except for a few counties in Nevada. The reasons for this stem from both sides of the argument, as anti-prostitution advocates claim decriminalization of prostitution is immoral and sexually exploitative, while pro-prostitution advocates want to keep the government out of the bedrooms of consenting adults. No matter the stance for or against prostitution, the current legal construction surrounding it is undeniably harmful. Regardless of the arguments against prostitutes, it is time to decriminalize the laws against this practice to protect the rights of sex workers.

The first part of Nussbaum’s paper challenges to examine the stigmatization of prostitution by comparing it to six other kinds of jobs/professions in which the individual uses her body in ways that majority of us do not necessary find morally objectionable but are not far off from the ways prostitutes use their bodies in the trade. These range from the domestic servant who “must do what the client wants, or fail at the job” (pg. 375), the nightclub singer who pleasures her customers by her voice to the colonoscopy artist who allows herself to be probed without anesthesia in a “consensual invasion” (pg. 378) of her bodily space for the purpose of medical education. The further we go down the list of the six jobs/professions, we see a closer

Thesis: The criminalization of prostitution does more harm than good when often women are left unprotected, both socially and legally, and therefore, the United States should make efforts to decriminalize and regulate prostitution instead.

Prostitution and human trafficking are taking place all over the world despite the legal restrictions put upon them. According to Ronald Weitzer, “The sex industry refers to the workers, managers, owners, agencies, clubs, trade associations, and marketing involved in sexual commerce, both legal and illegal varieties” (1). There are many questions that arise when discussing the sex industry. Should prostitution be legalized? If it were to be legalized, would anything change? Is prostitution morally acceptable? What is being done to stop human trafficking? There is not one correct answer for any these questions, but each question can be analyzed by scholars who have different opinions on the issue. Prostitution should be legal while

We will look deeper into those who fight for what they believe are moral standards for societies and their claims. Throughout this essay, I will argue for the positive impacts of a fully decriminalized, thus, regulated sex work has on society as a whole, and protects women, children, and saves the government millions of dollars- money that can be utilized to fight sex trafficking and child exploitation. We will examine the links between the US Government and trafficking statistics, and the assertions made by strange bedfellows, the Feminist abolitionists and Right Wing moral crusaders who have combined both trafficking and prostitution before Congress and in media. Fighting sex trafficking and the prohibition of consensual prostitution with draconian laws have become the renewed White Slavery movement in America. I will examine certain statutes that can stop penalizing sex work, reduce organized crime and reduce rape and violence toward women, sexually transmitted infections, and give quantitative evidence for legalizing sex work, for both receivers and sellers.

One of the oldest legal debates comes from one of the world's oldest profession, prostitution, there is no denying that the sex industry has taken international dimensions and is recognized as an economic motor for many countries. As countries around the world debate the merits of legalizing or at least decriminalizing prostitution. The following questions should be addressed. Would legalization reduce some of the inequalities and abuse suffered by the women involved? On the other hand, by legitimizing prostitution, would society reverse decades of work to promote human rights and improve the status of women? On the surface, this looks like a rehashing of a timeless debate. However, it is not. The question is no longer about

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.

One of the oldest known jobs in history is Prostitution, otherwise known as the sex labor industry. It is a major part of our society as an illegitimate source of income and employment. The prohibition of Prostitution creates a larger number of issues in society. Before, prostitution was a more individual decision, where countless women picked it as a last resort in emergencies; whereas now these women are coerced into the industry and experience abuse, murder, etc. The involvement and trauma prostitutes experience results in mental disorders. Furthermore, I investigate how the prohibition of prostitution has greater drawbacks on our society and introduce three policies that may help resolve the social issue within sex workers. Some policies I believe will provide the most benefits are first, the legalization of prostitution, second, enforcing and strengthening the law enforcement for human trafficking, and third, development of availability of medical resources.