Prostitution
Prostitution may not exactly be the
‘oldest profession’, but it certainly can assert itself to being a very ancient
method of making a living. Some societies openly accept prostitution as a formal
occupation, while others barely tolerate it as anything. In the West tolerance for the
profession has gradually diminished with the awareness of urbanism as well as other
interests related to city development.
The status of the prostitute has not improved with time. With the
modernization of societies, it is denied occupational status because it deals primarily
with sexual matters out of what is regarded as the proper context, love or marriage, and
is therefore seen as perverse. As this trend continues prostitutes are likely to be even
more vilified and their profession devalued.
People who prostitute do so for many reasons and rarely is it done because
of mere choice. One distinction between women and men who engage into prostitution is in
the extent of their commitment to the industry due to economic motivations. It seems that
women prostitutes are worse off economically and require a quick method of earning income.
With the women, mostly living in developing countries, prostitution becomes a matter of
necessity to satisfy personal drug addiction and/or family finances.
Economics though, is not the only motivation for prostitution. It is quite
questionable to pinpoint an exact reason for people to engage in sexual trade as each
individuals have their own stories to tell. Several gay and bisexual men engage into
hustling, for example, in order to obtain some extra money apart from their regular income
while others do it for the thrill of the work. Despite these differences, there are
general characteristics: prostitution is a trading exercise that involves a lot of money,
but demands a lot from the individual; most prostitutes often lack skills for any other
kind of work and see themselves forced into sex trade in order to survive; in some cases,
people get into prostitution in order to satisfy themselves with their work. |
