The Politics of Lust: Prostitution Undressed

Whore. It's a current hot-button word, bringing to mind high heels, short skirts and heroin junkies. It brings to mind the kind of girl you see on the TV show COPS, getting arrested on a street corner, barely aware they're going to jail. These women are victims of society, probably on one drug or another, raped and beaten by pimps and johns, likely to live fast and die young. So then why would radical feminists be calling for prostitution, the cause of these dire situations, to be legalized?
Because that's a small, inaccurate piece of what prostitution really looks like.
Prostitutes range wildly from the stereotypical street hookers to classy San Francisco “geishas”. Some call themselves “sacred intimates”, going the path of a sensual high priestess. Others are trained massage therapists. Many prostitutes (who also call themselves “escorts” to avoid legal problems) are well-educated girls and guys who are just out of or putting themselves through college, their classes ranging from Business to Fashion, and have talents ranging from languages to computer repair. There's thick prostitutes and Glamour magazine models, nymphets and mature older women. And in case that wasn't enough variety, there's men and transsexuals to spice the escort world up a bit.
While their stats may vary, almost all of them come with a disclaimer-
“Money exchanged in legal adult personal services for modeling is simply for time and companionship. Anything else that may or may not happen is a matter of personal choice and personal preference between two or more consenting adults of a legal age.” (Eros San Francisco: Nadia Kai)
This disclaimer is necessary for any and all escort advertisements, since escorting is illegal in most of the United States. By stating that the money is for time and companionship, a prostitute may get around the actual exchange of sex for money. Many are careful with their words and actions, using euphemisms such as “professional companion” for what they do. Others work under the guise of massage parlors or strip clubs. The Internet has been a popular place to post advertisements, making street prostitution an unnecessary and dangerous alternative. Since most of the prostitutes who are arrested are street prostitutes, this firewall can be an invaluable protection.
Considering police are always on the alert for prostitutes, and are eager to arrest them, this precaution can be the difference between jail and freedom. The police get almost too much freedom on what they can do to a suspected whore. A St. Paul, Minnesota government website (Prostitution Arrest Photos.) shows photos of women and men arrested for engaging in prostitution; one glance shows you that most of the women are black, and the two johns are older white men. I'm unsure as to the point in displaying photos of these people, along with their full name and stats. A few towns insist that their officers engage in sex acts before making an arrest, such as the publicized Spotsylvania, Virginia case. In some areas, this tactic works against the officers, causing the cases to be dropped. But in others, such as Spotsylvania, this abuse of power causes the prostitutes to be convicted of felonies (Associated Press). The hypocrisy of arresting women for prostitution and requiring that a police officer use their services in order to do so is an obvious abuse of power. Many officers who arrest prostitutes abuse the women, refusing to read them their rights and using force. One woman, recounting one of her arrests, said she had never even agreed to any sexual services, but just accepted money from an officer:
“In a few seconds he flashed a brown wallet and tells me I'm under arrest for prostitution.
'No, I'm not. I didn't do nothing. I did not agree to anything verbally.
'Get up against the wall. You're under arrest.'...
He grabbed me. Since I did not get a clear look at any type of badge, I got scared and thought I was going to be raped and robbed (note: something which happens a lot on the street- rapists pose as police)...he grabbed me by my hair and slammed me against a brick-building wall...He grabbed me by my hair and forcibly dragged me for about three meters. He then called for assistance... the other officer kept telling me that he would like to take me north somewhere and he would beat the shit out of me and leave me for dead. He then told the other officer that the next person who resists would be shot, and I told him to shoot me and just get it over with.” (Leigh, 2004)
Her story is only one of many that express the same sentiment; police officers more likely to abuse you than clients are, and if you get raped while on the street, you're helpless to get legal help.
The statistics of the actual arrests are also skewed wildly, and express incredible accounts of racism. A disproportionate number of prostitutes arrested and sent to jail are women of color, although a minority of prostitutes are ethnic minorities. 85-90% of those arrested work on the street, yet street work accounts for approximately 20% of prostitutes, though the figures may vary from state to state. (Prostitution in The United States - The Statistics). While many who oppose prostitution feel that street prostitutes are a danger to neighborhoods and children, they fail to recognize that street hooking is only one form of prostitution, and that many other forms exist under the radar. Claims that drug use is a problem among prostitutes rarely proves true in statistics; half of the escorts who use substances did so before they became prostitutes, and most of those who use drugs are on the street. Prostitutes who are inside, whether it be in massage parlors or incall/outcalls, are much less likely to engage in substance abuse. (Prostitution in The United States - The Statistics). Instead of trying to decriminalize prostitution and allow these women and men a safe place in which to conduct their business, these opponents of decriminalization choose to increase police and legal action, which neither solves the underlying problem of why women become prostitutes or protects them once they become prostitutes.
It's interesting, too, that the government feels the need to crack down on what happens between two(or more!) consenting adults, simply because there's a cash exchange for sexual encounters. Other forms of bodywork are acceptable in our society, as long as they don't give genital pleasure. Working as a masseuse is perfectly legal, until they include genitals in their massage; one woman felt shame about her work at an erotic massage parlor, simply because she included the male's penis in her touch. While giving someone's body pleasure is a legal profession, it stops being acceptable if the pleasure is sexual. Another ridiculous example of this antisexual stigma is the professional Dominatrix. These women beat clients for money, a type of sex work that is legal as long as they don't provide sexual satisfaction, leading one to conclude that paying for pain is acceptable, but not pleasure. Prostitution's illegality is irrational, and is really an indication of a greater issue- our deeply rooted problem with sexuality in general (Ince 222-232).
Some people dislike the concept of prostitution, not because it's sexual in nature, but because it “victimizes women”. While it's foolish to ignore that some prostitutes are victimized by pimps, clients and domestic abuse, it's also crazy to ignore that this is in part because we have no job perimeters for prostitution. In areas like Europe, where prostitution is decriminalized, there are areas one can go to find that activity. By shutting down motels, brothels and massage parlors, US police force the activity into the street, where neighbors are unwillingly exposed to it. To call these women “victims” because of the sex work they do ignores the fact that arresting women for sex crimes can render them unemployable, thereby making them more likely to abuse drugs and begin criminal activity. These women are made victims more by government practices than by their clients. The crime rate has lowered in Nevada, where brothels are available and sex work is legal in certain places. In fact, while many people work in the sex industry because they cannot make ends meet any other way, other sex workers simply enjoy the work and receive both income and personal satisfaction from it. One such sex worker wrote: "All in all prostitution has been good to me and I have been good to it. . . . I don't really have to work anymore, but I love the business, so I still see my regular clients" (Sommer). Contrary to media's portrayal, many prostitutes are independent contractors, able to decide on the clients they want to see, when they want to work and how much they want to charge for their services. This independence allows for a happier work situation that may offer them the time needed for school, taking care of children, or another job.
Feminists have long split over the issue of prostitution. Traditional feminists see prostitution as reenacting gender roles, making women into commodities to be bought and sold. One extreme example is Andrea Dworkin, who states that prostitution is like gang rape, punctuated by a money exchange (Ince 229). Sex-positive feminists, in contrast, believe that prostitution is a job like any other, and that the stigma has to do more with our problems with women being sexual beings than with the buying and selling of services. Margot St James is credited as saying “In this prostituting society, we all have to hustle, and I'd rather suck cock than kiss ass!” I believe this points to the fact that our society is based on the buying and selling of goods and services, and that to some extent or another, every member of our society has to whore themselves out for some reason, whether it be to go further in the business or get a better offer. Perhaps the type of prostitution isn't sexual, but even job sites recommend you learn how to “sell yourself”. They ask, why is it more acceptable for a woman to be a brownnoser in a business than it is for her to work for herself as a prostitute? Both sides have excellent points, and I believe the answer will be found somewhere in the middle of both.
Prostitution is often called the “world's oldest profession”. While that may or may not be true, we do know that sex work was initially something that sacred temple priestesses did as a service to bring followers closer to the goddess. Its criminalization came along with Christianity and its subsequent criminalization of everything sexual and feminine. I believe that we need to look back to where the selling of sex moved from sacred to profane, and pick apart the problem from there. I don't think it's as simple as whores are victims or whores are empowered... I think society has woven a web around sexuality that is far more complicated. I believe only when we can step back, and look at how we criminalize all types of sexuality and desire, can we truly begin to create a solution to prostitution that validates sex workers and the clients that visit them.


Associated Press. "Sheriff Defends Detectives Allegedly Having Sex To Bust Prostitutes." NCB4.com News 13 Feb 2006. 27 Feb 2006

"Eros San Francisco: Nadia Kai." San Francisco Women for Couples, Female Adult Entertainers for Men and Women in San Francisco, CA. Eros Guide. 27 Feb. 2006 .

Ince, John . The Politics of Lust. Amherst: Prometheus Books, 2004.

Leigh, Carol. Unrepentant Whore: Collected Works of Scarlot Harlot. San Francisco: Last Gasp, 2004.

"Prostitution in The United States - The Statistics." PENet: Prostitution Issues: Statistics. PENet. 27 Feb. 2006 .

"Prostitution Arrest Photos.." This Week's Prostitution Photos--Saint Paul Police. 13 Feb 2006. St. Paul Police Dept.. 27 Feb. 2006 .

Sommer, Joseph C. Legalize Prostitution. 27 Feb. 2006 .