Essay 1500 words

SEX FOR SALE

I. PROSTITUTION AND SEX WORK

A. DEFINITION PROSTITUTION

exchange of sexual services for money

B. DEFINITION SEX WORK

sex worker is a person involved in prostitution and related activities, such as phone sex, nude dancing, erotic massage, internet sex, and acting porn movies

C. CUSTOMERS OF SEX WORKERS

mostly men – study of men around the world (2006) found that 10% had exchanged money for sex in the past year --

women are far less likely to pay for sex, but female sex tourism is on the rise – single, divorced, and married white women from Europe and North America travel to third world locales like Kenya for liasons with “beach boys;” African American women go to Jamaica, and Japanese women go to Bali (2006)

D. ADULT FEMALE AND MALE PROSTITUTES

some work part-time and purse school or work; others work full-time and have little education and few marketable skills – some studies find that 89% of sex workers want to leave the profession –

what women say they need in order to quit prostitution:

job training, home or safe place, health care, individual counseling, legal assistance, peer support, drug/alcohol treatment, self-defense training, child care, legalization of prostitution, physical protection from pimp

E. TEEN PROSTITUTES

according to the National Incident-Based Reporting System, in the U.S., male juvenile prostitutes outnumber female by 61% to 39% -- teens often become prostitutes to survive financially after either running away from home or from being kicked out of home by family – 95% have been victims of sexual abuse, and most have been rejected by their families, often for being LGBT

F. WHY WOMEN AND MEN BECOME SEX WORKERS

combination of psychological, social, environmental, and economic factors –

some do it for sexual liberation, desire for attention, especially flattering for gays who are used to being stigmatized –

primary reasons are economic necessity = research on sex workers in 9 countries (Canada, Colombia, Germany, Mexico, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, U.S., Zambia) found that most need to earn money – 75% were homeless when they became prostitutes – in U.S., minimum wage is insufficient, and many prostitutes had held low pay jobs like babysitting, food service, and cleaning jobs –

stereotype is that sex workers do it to support drug/alcohol habit, but untrue! in fact, studies show prostitution often precedes alcohol/drugs

G. LAW

alternatives to criminal status of prostitution: legalization, decriminalization, depenalization:

legalization: could be regulated, licensed, and taxed by government, and medical checkups for STIs

decriminalization: criminal penalties for workers and customers would be eliminated, but not licensed or regulated

depenalization: fine and imprison customers, pimps and brothel owners, but provide sex workers with education, medical and economic assistance to get out of the work

II. PORNOGRAPHY

A. WHAT IS PORNOGRAPHIC?

any written, visual, or spoken material depicting sexual activity or genital exposure that is meant to be sexually arousing –

people find what is porn subjective – think social constructionist perspective

B. HISTORY

remember in beginning of semester discussion of Chinese sex manuals, Greek erotic art, Kama Sutra –

photography was developed before the Civil War and allowed spread of erotic photos – Comstock Laws outlawed “obscene material” –

1953: publication of first issue of Playboy magazine –

1973: Deep Throat, adult movie that drew mainstream audiences, including women, to x-rated movie houses

C. HETEROSEXUAL VS. GAY VS. LESBIAN PORN

heterosexual porn:

close-up views of intercourse, anal and oral sex – women are eager sexual participants, and their bodies are the primary focus of the film – underweight with breast implants – threesomes, group sex, two women having sex – men not as eroticized, and are ordinary looking – money shot is men ejaculating outside woman’s vagina or mouth

gay porn:

muscular good looking men – subgenres have variation in body type, like bear porn that features large men with lots of body hair

lesbian porn:

few films made, low budget – include real-life lovers – lots of variation, from butch and femme (those words not derogatory in this context, used by lesbians to refer to themselves as either more “masculine” or more “feminine”) – lots of role-playing and sex toys, and safe sex is highlighted

D. SEX DIFFERENCES IN RESPONSE TO PORN

some women may be physically aroused but “intellectually” turned off –

both men and women can become physiologically aroused by porn, but men are stimulated more by visual whereas women are more into erotic novels

E. PORN AND SEXUAL COERCION

Research is mixed

Many studies have found that exposure to violent porn is linked with sexual aggression –

exposure to degrading but nonviolent porn increased acceptability of rape in minds of viewers