In Irmgard Keun's Intimacy As A Commodity

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

Historians argue that prostitution was a form of negotiation on the part of the women involved and it allowed them to seek out alternatives to poor working conditions and low pay (Laite 734). According to Elliot West, “the oldest profession should be considered an aspect such as serious subjects as western communities, their changes, economic development and attitudes of their people,” (West 18). Prostitution was an alternative business opportunity that allowed women monetary freedom and independence. It was an economic necessity and a lucrative business model and many women chose to participate because they believed it offered them a higher standard of life than working in factories or

“We live in a predatory capitalist society in which everything is for sale. Everybody is for sale, so there is ubiquitous commodification.” This quotation by Cornel West, an American philosopher and political activist, conveys the widespread objectification of human beings in our society. The narrow, traditional image of prostitution has experienced a dramatic shift in the post-industrial American society. Sex workers are not automatically considered to be from low-income, marginalized groups, and instead, they have come to also include individuals from the educated, middle-class category. This demographic transition reveals the gradual

Prostitution is sometimes referred to as “the world’s oldest profession,” with the first record of its practice dates back to Ancient Near East civilizations. Despite its age-old existence, not until relatively recently that researches and studies have been conducted in an attempt to obtain a better understanding of and more liberal perspective on a taboo widely perceived as too degrading and immoral to even talk about. When writing about commercial sex in her book “Why Some Things Should Not Be for Sale,” Debra Satz challenges many of the bases on which society justifies its censure and outlawing of prostitution and its objectification and alienation of sex workers. She also criticizes the prohibition of prostitution, recognizes the core problems with sex selling, and suggests an alternative, possibly more effective, way in which prostitution should be addressed.

During the late 19th- and early 20th century, the nature of society forced the working class women of America to take advantage of any means to support themselves, including prostitution. Each woman had to decide herself which work option best supported her financially.

Feminists are concerned whether or not a prostitute controls her own sexual identity. Others believe prostitution is degrading, and sexual slavery towards woman while someone like Martha Nussbaum, believe its not threatening a woman anymore more than any other paid job. Where do you stand when it comes to prostitution? Personally I’m concerned with the moral factors and the harm it brings to women both physically and mentally. Throughout this paper I will examine the issues and questions which arise from Nussbaum’s paper, “Whether From Reason or Prejudice: Taking Money for Bodily Service” in order to help come to a conclusion on whether or not prostitution is something society should control through the use of the criminal law.

Is male prostitution a symptom of World War II? Conceptions of sexuality during the 1940s and 1950s attracted attention to male prostitution. Research indicated that male prostitution was linked to the development of sexual identity. Thus, researchers helped to animate male prostitution as socially problematic. This unique problematization of male prostitution led people to believe that male prostitutes were homosexuals, a ghettoized sexual identity which contradicted normative standards of masculinity. Additionally, researchers questioned the motivation of men who engaged in prostitution. Were their motivations strictly financial or were they also motivated by the desire of the same sex? Although the correlation between male prostitution and homosexual identity is symbolic, this correlation is maintained due to rigid gender roles expected by the general population. This paper explores how male prostitution transformed into a male homosexual subculture, which constituted a social problem after World War II.

And times have not changed much women are still victims to a male dominated society that tell them how they should treat their bodies, dress and behave in sexual intercourse.For that reason I envy the madams and ladies, the whores and sluts they’ve broken out of patriarchal society and live according to their own desires. Giving them the ability to often educate themselves and own land. By using sex as power they were able to achieve the rights that women would have never imagined. Sex workers during this time had an above average income for both men and women as stated by…..”Prostitutes in a 1916 study reported earnings between $30 to $50 per week, at a time when skilled male trade union members averaged roughly $20 per week” During a time where most women had nothing to there name, sex workers were making almost double that of a unioned man.They were also able to pick and choose their sex partners, walk the streets freely and dress as extravagantly as they desired in short they were as free as a

Between the industrialization of the 1800s and the post-World War II Women’s Rights Movement, women with few occupational options often made the difficult choice and became prostitutes. For the most part, women voluntarily joined this profession, since they saw prostitution as a temporary solution to an economic problem. When it was apparent to the War Department and the Surgeon General self- restraint and the possibility of venereal disease did not hinder the sex trade Congress passed “The May Act”. This sanctioned the closing of brothels and houses of prostitution near military bases. Men were willing to take the chance when women were available and could provide a service they wanted. Prostitution can be driven away underground, but it is still going to be around.

The overall moral of her article is to sustain the raising of awareness regarding probable physical, emotional or psychological harm in which prostitutes continue to experience. Also, she attempts to find a middle ground in which feminists may still speak up without neglecting the real needs of modern day prostitutes. It is important, however, to acknowledge the existing social divide between feminists and prostitutes. Rebecca Whisnant and Christine Stark (2004) challenge this perception through identifying the divide in which we assume that whoever we are, the prostitute is not (p. 296). I will proceed by discussing the liberal views debated in this article.

The act of selling one’s body for money is degrading. For radical feminism, prostitution is defined as male domination, exploitation, and violence against women—whether entered into voluntarily or not, whether legal or illegal. As the most prominent radical feminist organization, the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, proclaims on its website, “All prostitution exploits women, regardless of women’s consent (Weitzer, 2006). Prostitution is one of the more widely known and condemned forms of sexual deviance (Goode, 2011). Prostitution touches all women, rationalizes the sale of any woman, and condenses all women to sex.

In 2002, Germany made buying sex, selling sex, and brothel-keeping legal. Germany has more prostitutes per capita than any other country and the industry is now approximately worth 15 billion euros. The objective of legalizing prostitution was to make it clear that it was like any other job. It was thought that once prostitution became legal, the workers could now enter into employment contracts, sue for payment and register for healthcare, pension plans, and other various benefits. However, the goal of this law failed. According to one brothel owner in, “Nobody employs prostitutes in Germany.” After researching it, the authors Joel Gunter and Ben Clissitt state that only 44 prostitutes registered for benefits. (Gunter) Prostitution is usually done in brothels, truck stops, or “sex-boxes.” However, when in these environments the prostitutes are not considered employees. The prostitutes will usually pay a rate to rent out a room and then the prostitute will determine their rate. This helps both parties by eliminating health insurance and pension contributions. (Gunter) Inversely in Sweden, they have imposed a sex purchase ban that has also sparked an interest in creating a ban on selling sex. The ban has caused a larger opposition to prostitution. Prostitutes experienced an increased stigma around prostitution after the criminalization. Overall, the negative effects on the prostitutes should be considered positive because of the goal of the Sex Purchase Act was to fight prostitution. (Fossum) The approaches to prostitution in these countries is different from the approach that is taken against prostitution in the United States. Buying and selling sex is illegal in the United States. However, some may argue that it is there body

This source is a scholarly journal article. This article discusses how prostitution is a result of gender inequality, and legalizing prostitution will only exacerbate this inequality even further. In prostitution, women’s bodies are viewed as “products”

The fact that prostitution is a global business which involves interstate and inter-country trafficking as a necessary part of its profitable operation

“Sex work.” It sounds harmless enough, attempting to make the sale and purchase of women’s bodies as legitimate as any job. Sex work, we are told, represents a feminist response to the masculine hold on the traditional job market. We are further led to believe that it is empowering, that these women are taking control of their sexuality and using it for their own purposes, turning the tables on the patriarchy. The problem with this mindset, however, is that it is not based in reality. The term “sex work” is meant to make exploitation of women’s bodies through their commercialization seem natural. For the purposes of this discussion, it should be noted that sex work covers a wide range of different practices. Most notably, it covers prostitution and the sale of sex, but it also extends to the strip club industry and the porn industry, as all three of these feed off of each other and emerge from the same broken system. The effects of the sex industry on women, however, differs across racial and class boundaries, especially in prostitution, where women of different ethnic backgrounds are often treated as commodities, to attracts certain consumers’ interests for “exotic” tastes. Although the exploitation of women through sex work takes different forms for women of different backgrounds, the sex industry as a whole is a fundamentally harmful institution that profits from the commercialization and objectification of women and women’s bodies.