Effects of normalizing prostitution as just another job
I found this thought-provoking.
Full article:
Making Sex Work: A Failed Experiment in Legalized Prostitution. Mary Lucille Sullivan. 2007. North Melbourne, Australia: Spinifex Press Pty Ltd. 413 pp. (+ viii, notes, index). Illustrated, with tables. $18.95 (paperback).
Reviewed by Nnenna Lynn Okeke
Excerpt (very truncated):
...legalization... has also led to some other unintended consequences... Sullivan explicates how the normalization of prostitution as work "gravely undermines women's workplace equality and contradicts other avowed government policies designed to protect the human rights of women" (2)... Sullivan says socialist feminists, like their liberal counterparts, not only inadvertently sanctioned the bodies of women as acceptable commodities, but it also unconsciously aided in the institutionalizing of the rights of men as purchasers of these bodies. ... Australia, as a result of its leniency toward prostitution, has increasingly become viewed internationally as a profitable destination for trafficked women (sex slaves).
Posted by Dominique Millette - December 27, 2008, at 11:57AM | in
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I can't say I'm surprised.
Hmmm
This sounds like it blames legalization for a cultural construct that existed long before anyone legalized sex work anywhere.
There are so many benefits to legalization...If it is going to remain illegal, how bout just going after the Johns? Aren't sex workers dealing with enough already?
The most interesting part for me was how big business took control of the prostitutes. Thus the idea that they would be in control was negated.
I think the legalization of prostitution worked out better in the Netherlands - which just goes to say that results of legalization vary. (Family in Amsterdam tells me that they are rolling away the legalization, and the red light district because of the annoying sex-tourists; but this has made for a) spreading it out, and b) less control of prostitution: pimps are now capable of much more abuse of the workers themselves).
And although it does kind of have a "putting women's bodies up for sale" side of it, there are two things I'd say in retaliation: firstly, not all prostitutes are women. Secondly, generally legalization makes it more difficult for the abuse of prostitutes, and I do think that trumps some of the for sale argument. Prostitution (and sex-slavery, unfortunately) happens, and has happened for ages. If legalizing prostitution hasn't helped stop sex-slave trading, what other suggestions can these people put on the table?
I really only scanned the review, so I've probably missed a lot of it, but I'd rather have legalized and slightly safer prostitutes in the hopes of getting as many scum bags out of the equation as possible. That way, at least if a prostitute is abused by a customer, s/he can go to the police, or some authority without the danger or being charged. And hopefully, it puts the authorities that much closer to actually helping sex slaves.
"If legalizing prostitution hasn't helped stop sex-slave trading, what other suggestions can these people put on the table?"
The author seems to point to Sweden as a better example of how to handle the issue (criminalize the Johns, not the prostitutes).
Fighting “the demand” is counter-productive to helping women in prostitution. Since when has it been beneficial to be on the supply side when the demand is on a sharp and steady decline? Regardless of whether one is an independent escort or the victim of a pimp- when work becomes scarce, compromises are made, either in personal safety/comfort, or the price of service (or both). When the demand is high, hookers can be more selective with their business dealings and more rigid in enforcing their personal boundaries. But when the rent is due; the bills are late; you need a fix; or your pimp said he’d beat you senseless if you came home with less than $500- the power dynamic is greatly skewed in the demand’s favor.
Vilifying johns (as a group) really ticks me off, too. It’s like hearing someone rant about Latinos, saying they’re violent-prone hoodlums wreaking havoc through gang related violence and drug dealing. The vast majority of johns I saw during my six year stint in the business were really nice men who treated me better than most of the bosses I had outside the sex industry. On average, I was treated with far more respect by johns than I was by the people I served in any other professional capacity.
"The vast majority of johns I saw during my six year stint in the business were really nice men who treated me better than most of the bosses I had outside the sex industry. On average, I was treated with far more respect by johns than I was by the people I served in any other professional capacity"
Wow I really liked this comment. I think this goes against what many would think by instinct, and also speaks to the larger issue of who/why people goto prostitutes.
I 100% totally believe that many of the men going to prostitutes are not evil. Many are quite lonely and sometimes are more interested in companionship then "getting off", although there is nothing wrong with wanting to get off and certainly I can relate in that I have a very high sex drive and during "dry spells" it can be very very hard to function properly.
I also think if we had no prostitution whatsoever, I think the rates of sexual assault and rape would increase. Some men out there need what they need and will do whatever they need to to get it. Having an outlet of release like this for them to get their satisfaction without forcing it on someone has prevented many men from assaulting/raping women.
In Denmark, where I live, there's a raging debate about prostitution at the moment. We just got the first organization of and for prostitutes and their arguments are compatible to those of the socialist feminists depicted in the review. The model Sweden uses is of course at the centre of the debate, since Sweden is neighbour to Denmark and a country we often compare ourselves to.
When it comes to the question of either criminalization or full legalization with all the equal rights of the sex workers with other jobs it entails, the sex workers argue that criminalization will harm them more than legalization, because it will move the market into the dark, making it easier for men to abuse and harder for prostitutes to defend themselves. What lies underneath this is of course the premise that there are always men who will buy sex, even if it's a criminal offence, and there are always women who will sell.
It might be true that sex workers would have to accept more shit from their buyers if the buyers are criminalized, because they are dependant on their customers. When all the "normal" Johns (the regular family father and so forth) are afraid to buy sex because of it being a criminal offence, the prostitutes are left with the bad costumers, and/or they will be even less eager to report violence against them because it would undermine their already weakened business. There are reports from Sweden saying exactly that: that it has become a far more risky business being a prostitute.
At the same time the legislation is a symbolic one saying that it is not acceptable to buy anyones body for sex and that could work, if the root of the problem is considered being that men want to buy. Unfortunately that doesn't eliminate the problem, since the prostitutes will have to report their own customers if the law is to have any effect. And I doubt they are inclined to do that if sex work is how they prefer to support themselves. Instead they'll have to move their business out of sight of the police, and that makes their situation a lot more dangerous.
To me that's a truly horrible scenery.
What this makes me think about, also, is to what extent normalizing the sale of sex extends not only to outright prostitution, but to more and more sexualized expectations of women's various job functions, especially in the hospitality industry, where the definition of "hospitality" seems to include the customer's right to grope or make harassing comments and what not. Perhaps it's a non causa pro causa if there is a correlation but I would be curious to see a more thorough examination of the issue.
I can't say I'm surprised either. The sex industry is only as good as the state of gender equality.
One of the things not appreciated is that there are competing levels of privilege operating in their best interests, but not necessarily to eradicate the fundamental problems.
For example, strict laws in one economic zone, benefiting workers there, often simply shifts problems to other countries: the demand for underaged girls (and boys) and unprotected sex for example, remains high on the list of reasons for European males traveling to other countries for sex tourism (source Corriere della Sera, 2007)
And this quote from the article summarizes all that is wrong:
"The reality,
however, is that it is the buyers of sex that should be the main concern of the state"
Sex is an exchange, yet Prostitution Inc, bends over backwards to make things very cozy for purchasers of sex, especially their privacy. Why then should the government act as a chaperone?
And nobody needs to demonize male Johns, they do that just fine on their own. In fact, why should any woman have to screen potential male sex partners any more than men screen women sex partners?
I fail to see how arguing that legalizing prostitution normalizes the commodification or sale of women's bodies, or however that wording goes, does any benefit to prostitutes themselves. It reduces the prostitute to the sum total of what happens to her body, which is no better a feminist position.
I will have to read this book to understand the author's argument, but many articles and books I've read come to a vastly different conclusion about legalization.
Furthermore, I don't understand the outrage about normalizing sex work as work. Sex work is work. Talking about sex work as work rather than as sex addresses the issues with it, to me, at least.