As I perused the CNN headlines with my morning tea I came across this title-
"My REAL life as a call girl."
Intrigued and thinking perhaps here was a counterpoint to the glamorous portrayals of prostitutes found on TV I decided to take a peek. This heading caught my eye right away, half-way down the page- "Victims or not?" Seeing red I started to read CNN's attempt at a fair and balanced discussion of the sex work industry and the women in it. What I found was a half-hearted attempt at discussing the harsh and complicated reality of sex work amidst a lot of talk of the celebrity call girls and their fabulous lives. Perhaps others on this site have different views, but it just really escapes me how this is even a question. Do you see a lot of privileged white men with all opportunities available to them taking the "easy way out" and turning to sex work to pay the bills? Because you know, its so self-affirming and sensual and in no way degrading or psychologically damaging. This issue is very personal to me due to the prostitution ring that frequents my Boston neighborhood and the time I have spent talking to these women (a lot of them mere girls really) or simply sitting in my window at night and watching them walk the streets, getting in and out of cars while their strung out boyfriends or pimps sit in a doorway nearby sipping a slurpee and snacking on Cheetos. Now I am not saying there aren't some good parts to this article, but all in all, it falls far short of the sort of thoughtful discussion this topic deserves. Ugh, note to self- avoid CNN before the caffeine has set in.
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Skimmed the article.
The problem that comes up whenever anyone talks about sex work is that no one seems to be able to wrap their head around the tremendous amount of variation within the industry. There are teenage girls who get beaten up by their pimps. There are also women who make a lot of money and work with people who treat them with respect. I don't like that we treat both ends of the spectrum the same.
In any case, prostitution itself shouldn't be illegal. In the first case, the woman is the victim, and the people using her -- her pimp and her clients -- should be charged. In the second case, the woman should have the right to do as she pleases with her body.
and in the third case, leagalized prostitution would eliminate many of the major issue with abuse and degredation. won't eliminate all of them, sure, but a majority... yes.
As to nattles' comment, your points are incongruent. You mention the complexity of the situation and the difficulty associated with that and then make two mutually exclusive and overly simplistic statements about it. Nice job. If a woman is making her own choices with her body she can't be being victimized, at least not with regard to a single action.
And for firefey, I feel you overestimate the extent to which legalized prostitution eliminates the underlying culture of abuse. Strip clubs are legal and, I would argue, not significantly less oppressive.
I actually wrote a much lengthier post about this a while back. I said basically the same things I said in the comment, but actually bothered to go into detail.
http://community.feministing.com/2008/10/a-new-way-of-looking-at-sex-wo.html
To me, sex work is a labor issue, and the different variations are between a third-world sweatshop employee working insane hours and someone working at a unionized factory with good pay and benefits.
I have to agree with Chalima regarding the legalization of prostitution. As much as it would definitely improve things to an extent, abuses and degradation will still always be part and parcel of this industry. The very nature of allowing someone the use of your body for money ensures that, and all the entrenched attitudes about women as objects and playthings to use and throw away will always be what prostitution is based on, whether they are within the walls of a high-end brothel or walking the cold and lonely streets. I want these women to be protected and safe, but I do not kid myself that this issue is about women being able to do what they choose with their bodies or sexual liberation.
The mere fact that legal prostitution must be so tightly regulated speaks more about the true nature of the profession than does anecdote.
For example, I applaud New Zealand for requiring it's sex workers to be citizens, but ain't it sad that they had to do that?
A brothel is just a fancy chaperone. Most of us would reject such an unreasonable restriction on our personal sex life even if it meant we could be safer; yet a lot of us aren't making that connection with sex work.
shoot. "it's" was supposed to be "its"