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dpearso's Human Sexuality blog

Blog4.prositution&legality

April 29, 2015 by Domonique Pearson   

In the debate in discussing whether or not prostitution is legal, there are two different sides of the debate.

 

On one side of the debate proponents of legalizing prostitution have provided a different perspective on the ideas and results/ outcomes of prostitution. They believe that prostitution is not that harmful as it is being projected and is just as likely to be casual sex (Moen 2014). The ideas talked about on this side were focused on sex not always being permissible. If sex is not romantic does not mean it is not sex, it just means sex is still casual and sex is sex. (Moen 2014).  Moen made a comparison of the casual sex aspect of prostitution and making a metaphor out of it with eating by saying, ” What is, biologically, the mere satisfaction of a nutritional need is given deep personal meaning because of its social and psychological setting” (Moen 2014). The argument is that if causal sex is going to cause problems then so is prostitution. When arguing to legalize prostitution it was stated that the cause of some psychological problems do not always stem from prostitution. Another article looked at a different view of what if prostitution was legal. The argue that their solution will protect the social order, society and the prostitutes. (Hayes-Smith et al. 2010). Hayes-Smith makes the point that there are problems with prostitution, but if they make it against the law it will not stop the problems, but instead they want to protect the prostitutes. In the 19th century doctors were worried about prostitutes and transmitting or getting STDs, so doctors were trying to urge the government to have prostitutes have mandatory exams (Hayes-Smith 2010). There was a study done where, “The Seattle Women’s Commission (1995) … compar[ed] arrest and conviction rates and found 1210 arrests of prostitutes and 228 arrests of johns [pimps]… 98% of the men arrested were charged but only 8% of these men were convicted, while 62% of the women were charged and 12% were convicted (Seattle Women’s Commission 1995; or Farley & Kelly, 2000). This shows that the prostitutes are being charged more than the pimps. There are many flaws in the laws of prostitution and the rest of the study says that these laws should be changed or not there at all in legalizing prostitution because of the many layers.

 

On the other side of the debate the they argue that prostitution should not be legalized at all. The study was done with transgender females of color who have a history of sex work, because of this they have a hard time in life later on. And they are struggling to survive, so they have to sell sex for food and shelter. There was a study done with 48 transgender women of color in San Francisco and they were asked how they were getting to be involved in sex work (prostitution) and then they tracked the risks and why they stayed involved with sex work (Sausa et al. 2007). Through the study the participants said that they were influenced by the cultural norms of society to get into sex work. Though these personal stories Sausa and colleagues discovered that the transgender women of color in sex work are more prone to having more needs and will have to deal with certain interventions so that they will not have as many health harms through society and the social realm. (Sausa et al. 2007). In another article it examined the sale of alcohol and prostitution in the late nineteenth century in San Antonio, TX and how it was an increased business due to the men coming back from war. However this was a problem but if they stopped it would just go onto the Mexican border, so they had to deal with that problem (Shah 2010). Many clubs and organizations were meant  to steer girls in the right direction but it was hard to “clean up” so to say from the prostitution in the area. The history records showed that prostitution was tearing the town down so, a woman’s organization, “WCSA believed that increasing women’s role in antivice work would lead to less corruption within the police force and would provide girls protection from sexual exploitation on the street” (Shah 2010). Prostitution is making it harder for communities to stay together and to create a safe place for girls and women to not get involved in prostitution.

 

I agree with the side that says that prostitution should not be legal. The articles that I found were all about personal stories and the history of the effects of prostitution. I think that these were more helpful that the other side where it just talked about how prostitution is being more exaggerated than it should be. I thought it was interesting that casual sex is being compared to prostitution because I did not see it that way, or it being that decision. They just took it very lightly on that side. But with the side that said it should be legal, gave the view that these women were dragged into prostitution based on the life they were living and the situations they were in. The real life stories were used more in the strength of the argument.

 

References:

(NO) Sausa, L. A., Keatley, J., & Operario, D. (2007). Perceived risks and benefits of sex work among transgender women of color in San Francisco. Archives Of Sexual Behavior, 36(6), 768-777.

(NO) SHAH, C. Q. (2010). “Against Their Own Weakness”: Policing Sexuality and Women in San Antonio, Texas, during World War I. Journal Of The History Of Sexuality, 19(3), 458-482.

(YES) Moen, O. M. (2014). Is prostitution harmful?. Journal Of Medical Ethics: Journal Of The Institute Of Medical Ethics, 40(2), 73-81.

(YES) Hayes-Smith, R., & Shekarkhar, Z. (2010). Why is prostitution criminalized? An alternative viewpoint on the construction of sex work. Contemporary Justice Review, 13(1), 43-55.


1 Comment »

  1. saraa says:

    Two research articles included for Side A 5/5 pts

    Two research articles included for Side B 5/5 pts

    Summary of Side A and Side B 13/20 pts
    Parts of this section were unclear. At times, I couldn’t really determine the points you were trying to support with research

    Who you agree with and why? 13/15 pts
    (Include strengths and weaknesses)
    Specific strengths and weaknesses of the research

    APA Formatting/ Grammar/ Length 5/5 pts

    Total 41/50 total

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