The Pros And Cons Of Sex Work

Despite women’s hard work, their efforts continue to go unrecognized. This is evident by the legal concept of unpaid and paid work. This legal concept definitely ignores the women’s work and renders it invisible, essentially disproportionately exploiting the work of women. Moreover, since unpaid work is presumed to not contribute to the capitalist economy and does not involve exploitation for surplus profit, it is undervalued. Interestingly, despite not being able to directly “profit” from unpaid work, the state has managed to find a way to still exploit the work of women. Accordingly, Waring (1998) argues that because domestic work is unpaid, it is seemingly a form of enslavement where women’s partners, families, their communities,

Once upon a time in a world dominated by men, women had been forced to comply with society 's blinding notion that they were pieces of property meant to play the domesticated role of a dutiful housewife. This was true up until the late 1840s when women began to realize their worth was so much more than a floor-moping, dinner-making, stain-bleaching slave to six children and an ungrateful husband. That may sound rash and some situations may have been different, but before the civil war these women did not have the opportunities to be properly educated like men. Courageously strong women, over time, from the early 1800s up until the 1920s and counting, such as Elizabeth Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem have all become recognized for their dedication and persistence in bringing about changes in defending the rights of women and suppressing the bias against gender equality thus paving the road of feminism. However, even in today’s world anti-feministic backlashes are still occurring in the sense of politics, workplace, and society.

In this paper, I will explain how the article “The Lady and the Tramp (II): Feminist Welfare Politics, Poor Single Mothers, and the Challenge of Welfare Justice” by Gwendolyn Mink relates to the thematic focus of working women and the Marxist and socialist branch of feminism. In Feminist Thought: A More Comprehensive Introduction, Rosemarie Tong explains that Marxist and socialist feminists understand women’s oppression as a labor issue. Women’s work is not viewed as a productive contribution to society. One of the ways Marxist and socialist feminists sought to improve women’s oppression was through the wages-for-housework campaign of the 1970s, which fought for work done in the domestic sphere to be paid and respected by society. In this same vein, Mink’s article can be viewed as a continuation of sorts of the wages-for-housework campaign. Mink suggests that poor single mothers have the right for their work to be recognized by society and supported economically like the Marxist and socialist feminist in the 1970s.

This paper will refer to both domestic labor and women’s labor in similar respects, but the two are not necessarily interchangeable. The use of the phrase “domestic labor” refers to work done within the home, particularly childcare, elderly care, and the upkeep of the household. The term “women’s work” or “women’s labor” encompasses domestic labor, but not all women’s labor is necessarily domestic. In her chapter “Industrialization, Wage Labor, and the Economic Gender Gap”, Estelle Freedman describes historically feminized fields of work that include other types of labor, such as industrial work in textile mills, retail, clerical, and teaching jobs. When referring to sex work, Laura Agustin uses the term in “Migrants in the Mistress’s House” to encompass everything from prostitution, sexual services in bars, clubs, and flats, erotic phone sex, peep shows, massage parlors, and lap dancing (110). However, she often does not differentiate between sex work and domestic work “because migrants often move between these sectors or work in two at once, and because a separation into two groups reproduces a scheme of ‘good’ versus ‘bad’ girls” (97). For the sake of clarity, however, this paper will differentiate between “traditional” women’s labor

As a valid occupation, fully legal under the law in the early nineteenth century, prostitution was met with public dismay. However, it was still seen as an occupation, just one that left much to be desired. The fact that it was an occupation was very much built into the figure of the willing prostitute, the one who entered into the profession freely. Abraham Flexner, a contemporary, commented that prostitutes, ones in rural areas in particular, tended to the ‘”unskilled daughters of the unskilled classes”’. Becoming a prostitute does, to some degree, allow economic independence for women outside of male control. Louise Tilly and Joan Scott noted that women often entered into the urban job market in order to help support herself or her family, an accepted circumstance within Victorian society. Increased migration from rural areas to urban areas was due to the declining job market in rural counties due to industrialisation. However, the job market in urban cities was often not as welcoming as rural girls might think, forcing or coercing them into prostitution in order to survive. In fact, as Paula Bartley identifies, ‘prostitutes were considered the archetypal victims of industrialisation’ by the end of the nineteenth century with contemporary feminists claiming that prostitution was the artificial consequence of constraints on women within the social and

Although sex work has always received a lot of criticism from the society that we live in but according to Bell (2009) rather than looking as sex work as degrading and unrespectable it should be treated as a work of any other kind. It is Bell's (2009) opinion the sex work doesn't necessarily have to be harmful to the women.

In the Listen Up reading “Reality Check” it talks about her struggle with the possibility of working a job that she feels like would sexualize her and this makes me interested in feminist discussions regarding sex work/prostitution. I have many feminist friends who have a wide range of opinions regarding sex work, some believe it only sexualizes women and forces them to degrade themselves for money, but others believe that it allows the women that choose the profession to empower themselves. I would really like if we could read more pieces about sex work and discuss in class the opinions that the feminist movement has had regarding sex workers. Also, I think it would be interesting to talk about the Nordic countries policy of charging those

The decriminalization of prostitution would be beneficial to society and would soften negative stereotypes and deviance. If prostitution is decriminalized more power would be granted to the sex workers, there would be health regulations, and tax benefits. However, there are also negatives to decriminalizing prostitution, like if regulations are set in place the workers will continue to do the acts that are banned. Prostitution should be decriminalized and regulated because workers won’t be coerced into work they don't want, and they will have control over their bodies. This will protect men and women from vicious pimps. Also, decriminalization would prevent sex workers from being dehumanized.

Do you agree that sex work is functional and serves an important role in our society? I believe sex work is functional. There has been much debate about whether sex work is beneficial or is immoral and degrading. Others claim that sex work like prostitution is demeaning to women and that sex is a private and meaningful act that should only be done by committed partners. Let’s be honest, every women in this world is not made to have a 9-5 job. Some women just enjoy the abundance of attention from men. Some women enjoy the nightlife and being able to sleep through the day and work throughout the night. Some dancers even have a daytime job and only dance for extra income because they have the free time at night. I think sex work like prostitution, exotic dancing, and even sexualized businesses like Hooters, Twin Peaks and Tilted Kilt are just another way to make money. I don’t believe that you should be frowned upon for enjoying sex with one or multiple partners or for using your body as a stepping stool. In America, sex is already overly publicized and women are sexualized even without being involved in sex work. I don’t see where it should be wrong for a woman to voluntarily feed into the means that men already bring forth. Criminalizing either the sale or purchase of sexual services puts sex workers at greater risk of abuse by driving sex work underground. Criminalization makes it harder for sex workers to access health services, safely negotiate with clients, and carry

People using their body and skills in exchange for money and/or benefits is a concept that has been practiced for hundreds of years. Prostitution is a worldwide industry commonly used with a negative connotation. In reality, the industry is filled with hard working people, despite some outliers, who are earning a living just like anybody else. Current laws in some countries decrease the safety and efficiency of this business. This business is accepted as a crime in many places, but it is actually a lesser evil which has the potential to be good with better regulations.

Prostitution is considered to be "the oldest profession." Prostitution can take many forms, from streetwalkers and brothels, to sophisticated call-girl or escort services. However, in United States it is a crime to offer sexual acts in exchange for money. The laws regarding prostitution differ everywhere around the world. In some places, especially the United States, soliciting a prostitute is grounds for punishment and even criminalization (Prostitution). Many prostitutes are criminalized because of their work. Therefore in turn, they are usually victims of many crimes such as rape and assault. However, through the legalization of prostitution becoming a business, sex workers are less likely to be affected by crimes such as rape and

Full-time or part-time, walking the streets or working within a brothel, from a state to the other, prostitution is an integral part of society. Prostitution is often referred as the world oldest profession (Forrest). For thousands and thousands years, humans have been exchanging money or material goods for sex. Throughout mankind History, set of laws has been put in place with the purpose of controlling and regulating its practice. But, it has never appeared to prevail over its illegal operations. According to the dictionary prostitution is by definition the practice or occupation of engaging in sexual activity with someone for payment (Oxford). Sex selling has traditionally been regarded as a taboo, but today the topic has come to stay

The results of this study conclude that sex work has a detrimental negative impact during a person’s lifetime. The hypothesis was well supported by the interviews conducted in the sampling phase. The three stages covered in the study gave detail description of the comparisons with food/ service/styling occupation and sex work. For example, “It used a life course orientation that recognizes the contributions of both distal and proximate factors in explaining outcomes, and it compared working in the sex industry with employment in other service/care work jobs. A life course approach highlights… various life stages influence subsequent decisions and experiences… important experiences from child- hood, adolescence, and emerging adulthood, in addition to basic demographic factors”(pg.1387).

There are debates in classrooms, workplaces, and in general conversations about what men can do that women cannot. In history classes, teachers often explain how feminist society was “back in the day.” Females were given the job of staying home and taking care of the children. They were to have meals prepared, ready for when the men got home from a long day’s work and do laundry. It was not until the mid-1800’s that women were given permission to work somewhere else besides their home. Textile mills began to open which employed over 7,000 unmarried women. During the years of World War I, they were hired as nurses to aid the wounded soldiers. At that time, the lives of many men were in their hands. From then on, females played a big role in hospitals. Once women were allowed to study and work, they were

Prabha Kotiswaran’s study of sex work presents a fascinating and illuminating insight of sex work in India. She searches for an approach which can better theorize sex work in third world countries and analyzes different feminist methodologies that exist on sex work to try to frame a theory with a materialist realist understanding of sex work in India. For this purpose, she visits Sonagachi, a red light district in Kolkata in order to learn about the sex industry from the perspectives of the sex workers themselves. From this study, she devises a postcolonial materialist feminist theory that pleads for recognition of sex work as a form of labor, based on a contextual understanding of the sex industry.