The Oldest Profession

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Posted by: SexOracle, on 6/28/2009 , in category "Sex and Culture"
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Abstract: Prostitution has been present in all societies since time immemorial. The offering of sexual services in exchange for resources or money has manifested in many disguises throughout history and all over the world today.

Prostitution has been present in all societies since time immemorial. The offering of sexual services in exchange for resources or money has manifested in many disguises throughout history and all over the world today.

Ancient History

In ancient Greece (after all, what respectable timeline doesn’t start with ancient Greece?), hetairai were female companions. But women didn’t dominate the industry: teenage boys offered sex to older men in return for gifts. If they received money, on the other hand, they risked losing their citizenship. Pornoi were ancient Greek prostitutes of both sexes. In fact, in the Bible (1 Cor 6:13-16), the related Greek word porneia means prostitution.

The Bible also contains prostitutes: Mary Magdalene, a follower (and some say girlfriend) of Jesus, is known as a prostitute. In the Book of Joshua that depicts the Israelites’ invasion of Jericho, Rahav was a prostitute who helped the Israelites by providing intelligence in return for the protection of her and her family. St Thomas Aquinas and St Augustine saw prostitution as a “safety valve” for the male sex drive, to prevent sexual frustration being expressed in rape and violence.

Sculptures and paintings unearthed from the ruins of the Roman city of Pompeii are evidence of prostitution: they depict men and women in various sexual positions, and decorated the walls of buildings known to be ancient Pompeii brothels.

Modern Western History

Today’s sex industry began to develop in the late 1700s and early 1800s when more men moved from the countryside to the cities for work. The number of women moving to the cities to work as prostitutes also rose. By the late 1800s, red light districts had sprung up in American cities. In 1868 the Salvation Army opened its first shelter for prostitutes.

WWI produced influxes of single and unaccompanied men all over the world and the prevalence of STDs such as gonorrhea increased dramatically. Because of public health campaigns to combat this, anti-prostitution sentiment rose, and the profession was forced underground.

From the mid 1900s to the 1970s, the sex industry shrunk by almost half because of the new liberal attitudes of sexual permissiveness. Why pay for milk when you can get a few cows for free, especially if those cows are wearing hot-pants?

The Diverse Market Today

Street walkers, the minority yet the most visible of prostitutes, provide “tricks” in the client’s car or an hourly hotel room. Many are transgendered, underage, drug addicts from poor backgrounds, and are ‘employed’ by gangs. It is the most dangerous of all sex occupations – street walkers risk violence, rape, murder, drug addiction and diseases such as HIV more than any other prostitute.

The slave trade of women from poor countries is now a world wide tragedy. Women, mostly of uneducated backgrounds, are kidnapped, bought, sold and smuggled by international crime syndicates.

Pimps are people that recruit prostitutes and take all or a part of their earnings in exchange for protection, accommodation, drugs, bail money, and a workplace. Pimps sometimes have sex with their ‘employees’. They are often gang leaders and are notorious for exploiting sex workers. Many pimps are involved with the exploitation and slave trade of women.

Madams or managers are people that manage brothels or escort services. Like pimps, they employ prostitutes and take a portion of their earnings in order to run the brothel. In contrast to pimps however, in some countries and states, brothels are legal and government-regulated, and in this setup there is usually much less involvement of slave trade and organized crime.

Escort service agencies provide “escorts” (who are generally better looking, more educated and more expensive than street prostitutes) for dates that may involve any combination of sex, social activities, companionship and conversation.

Independent escorts are the freelancers and sole traders of the sex industry. They often advertise their services in newspapers, and work from home or attend out-calls (dates and clients’ accommodation).

Massage parlours purport to offer relaxing massage but in fact include extra services, such as “hand jobs” (manual stimulation) and more.

Strip clubs are venues where people gather to watch women (and sometimes men) dance with very little or no clothing on. A generous patron can buy him or herself a lap dance from a stripper. A lap dance usually involves the stripper dancing provocatively over the seated patron, but for a sufficient fee, more intimate ‘dancing’ may be available.

Phone sex differs to traditional prostitution because it doesn’t involve a physical meeting. In fact, it is more of a cross between pornography and prostitution. Phone sex workers are paid to receive calls and speak erotically to the caller who masturbates during the conversation.

Compensated dating is a somewhat disturbing trend among Japanese teenage girls who make their contact details available to older men through ‘telephone clubs’. Whether a schoolgirl joins a man in karaoke or accompanies him to his apartment, she is compensated with money or luxurious gifts. The motivation is not poverty, because most girls involved in compensated dating are from middle class families. It is more the rewards of label clothing and wads of spending money.

Temporary marriages in Islamic countries such as Iran and Iraq, lasting as short as an hour and as long as 99 years, allow couples to embark on love affairs and effectively legalise prostitution in countries where any intimate relations between men and women must be within the confines of marriage.

Ladyboys can be seen around bars and guesthouses in Thailand frequented by male tourists. As the name suggests, they are in fact young men dressed as women, trying to earn the cost of a sex change operation. Perhaps because of their slim build and fine features, Thai ladyboys are often so attractive and feminine it is hard to tell that they are not female. The very beautiful Parinaya Charoemphol (who was a Thai boxing champion, and not a prostitute) was featured in the film “Beautiful Boxer”. Ladyboy prostitutes are banned in many guesthouses because of their reputation for theft.

Internet sex chat is the cyber version of phone sex. Certain websites broadcast live streams of women inside bedrooms who chat with customers through chat boxes and participate in customers’ fantasies by stripping and masturbating in front of the camera.

Of course, the internet is a great resource for all types of sex workers to peddle their wares: internet advertisements, adult chat rooms and websites reach wider audiences than newspaper ads do.

Legality

Recently some jurisdictions have decriminalised prostitution in order to regulate it. The advantages of this are less STDs, safety, and a new source of tax. The government can issue licences to brothels who must comply with regulations such as frequent health checks and treatments, the use of condoms, and hiring only workers above the minimum age prescribed. Sex workers are no longer at risk of prosecution so will not hesitate to go to the police if they are the victims of violence. And like all businesses, licensed brothels pay tax. In the UK, prostitution itself is legal while brothels and streetwalking are not. Australian states all allow prostitution but have different laws about how it should be done. New Zealand permits brothels, street soliciting, pimping and prostitution in general; but the industry is regulated.

There are lots of legitimate concerns about legalising prostitution that cannot be solved simply by legislators making a few new laws. The main disadvantage of fully legalising prostitution is that it can come to be seen as a legitimate profession (in contrast to professions such as law, medicine and dentistry; all of which require high levels of education and practical experience to enter). It is an occupation that carries emotional involvement, historical stigma and health risks. Imagine a redundant office worker applying for social support schemes from the government and being told that as there are vacancies at the local brothel, no such support will be forthcoming. For example, after prostitution was legalised in New Zealand, a licensed brothel manager accused the Department of Labour of discrimination because they did not advertise his brothel’s vacancies in their local office.

Prostitution is not going to disappear. Whatever its legal status, in order to ensure the safety of the women and men involved, it seems that government regulation is necessary.

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