The Role Of Prostitution In Ancient Greece And Rome

The main topics that were displayed in this book to me were the sexual response cycle, spontaneous vs. planned sex, intimacy, as well as the use of erotica and fantasy.

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).

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

At the turn of the 20th century, increasing vigilance of women led to the focus of placing responsibility on both men and women for the corruption of sex workers. Both genders had a responsibility for the prevalence of prostitution as well as to finding a solution to a prevalent problem in metropolitan areas such as Chicago. However, rather than providing financial or social resources to help victims of prostitution form relationships and earn a respectable place in society, many progressive and feminists reformers as part of the Feminist Movement argued for the creation of vice commissions in order to gather evidence and research on the connections between prostitution and structured crime. This led to the persecution of prostitutes and the long term establishment of the criminal industry due to the infrastructure and legal foundations for the processing and cracking down on the “Social Evil”. However, there were individuals such as Jane Addams who worked tirelessly to improve the conditions of sex workers and those who recently left the profession, but she knew that there was a great divide between the public and the women who had been abused and used for one of the worst sins society has prevalent within it. She accepted the task and took it in strides for she knew that it would take empathetic cooperation on the sides of those in political/legal positions in collaboration with citizens and those attempting to better their lives as well as the city of Chicago. She did

Prostitution is a subject whom many people today have vocal opinions about if it should be legalized and is it moral? Can you imagine how people felt about prostitutes in the 19th century? Today people think the worst possible things of a woman who prostitutes herself and a less rigid view of women’s sexuality exists now almost two centuries later than there was then. In 2011 men and women can have a different view of prostitution and distinctive ways to correct the problem. Men today as they did almost 200 years ago would like to see prostitution legalized and regulated. Women still see prostitution as they did a moral issue that needs reformed. The data suggests that few things have changed when it comes to the punishment and

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.

Ancient Greece was an extremely patriarchal culture, and could even be called misogynistic. However, in the midst of a society in which women were second-class citizens, the Pythia at the Temple of Apollo served as a beacon of light for women. The Pythia refers to a religious and coveted position that was filled by a succession of women from Delphi for over 400 years. These women acted as the mouthpiece for the god, Apollo. The Pythia was arguably the most powerful and influential position in Ancient Greece. People from throughout Greece and beyond would pilgrimage to the Temple of Apollo in Delphi to consult the Pythia. During the reign of the Pythia, these women were able to give responses that influenced politics, social change, blood-guilt,

One of the oldest beverages known to man is wine, an alcoholic drink made from fermented grapes. Wine has been enjoyed all around the world and Ancient Rome is no exception. Ancient Rome played an important role in its history. Wine carried religious, philosophical, and social implications for the Romans as it was a part of their daily life. The popularity of wine and drunkenness in Ancient Rome is clearly portrayed throughout poetry, art, literature and even laws. Although wine was eventually available to all, it’s implications for women were severe. An important connection between Ancient Rome and wine that is rarely discussed is the idea of denying women a right to drink. Today, it is not uncommon or distasteful for women to have a glass of wine but in Roman society, women’s overindulgence of wine was frowned upon. This paper will discuss women in Ancient Roman society and analyze sources from Valerius Maximus and Propertius to focus on how the role of wine reinforced the patriarchal system and oppression of women.

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.

What I found most significant about this reading was the idea and meaning of sexuality between both men and women. When I think of the term sexuality, I simply just think about sex. Who I have sex with and what I like during sex. From the reading, I felt like social reforms, scientists and physicians were implying that sexuality was meant for procreation and anything that prevents procreation is an abomination to sexuality. It was stated, “The conservative social reforms mounted a political battle against anything and everything that facilitated non-procreative sexual behavior, including prostitution, homosexuality, masturbation, abortion and birth control” (Bem,1993, p.82). How can you relate sexuality

Slaves had been used widely in the Roman and Greek Empire and slavery continued in

Ancient Athens was a highly polarized society in which citizenship meant everything. Citizenship permitted individuals to not only participate in the democratic

Another important aspect of the novel is that of sexuality and of same-sex desire. Froehlich states that, in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries,

Slavery was the practice of taking a human being and making them do the work of another by force. This was practiced through out the ancient world and especially in Rome and Greece. Slaves were nothing more than just property to the ancient peoples. They didn't have the rights of citizens nor were they able to do what they want in most cases. Slaves had many tasks that they had to do, many of which included taking care of the masters house and kids, cooking and cleaning that house, herding the cattle for the farming families, being guards for some prisons, fighting for entertainment of the masses, and more common was sexual activities with the slaves.

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,