Sex Work

What's Wrong with Prostitution?

This article explores prostitution. It tries to define prostitution and sex-work. Prostitution is seen as one of the most pathetic and horrid professions to go into. The author exclusively explores female prostitution, specifically inside of San Francisco. There are a variety of opinion prostitution culture. Some hate it, find it demeaning to women, etc. Some believe it should be legalized, destigmatized, supporting the benefits it has towards female empowerment
The author organizes the opinions on prostitution into three groupings: radical feminist critiques, pro-sex defenses, and contextual feminist approaches. The radical feminists are highly critical of prostitution. In their eyes it is demeaning towards women and continues the inequality in gender structures between man and woman. The pro-sex defenses come most from organizations such as COYOTE, comprised mainly of white, middle class, educated, sex workers who argue of its empowering abilities, and fight for its legality. They only represent a small minority and do not include in this the lower class who are uneducated, abused, and addicted to drugs, which are side effects of hookerdom and the structures that are put around it. There are middle ground views that see both the positives and negatives of prostitution. The author does not feel that prostitution will exist in the post-patriarchal society she hopes to one day live in.
The article explores many opinions, both positive and negative on prostitution. It did nothing to sway my opinion that prostitution as a profession should be wiped out. Pro-sex workers are kidding themselves to think what they are doing is good for society. They will just go on to create girls who dream of one day becoming hookers and that will lead some into becoming crack-addicted street walkers. I don't share the authors optimism with a post-patriarchal future. Inequality will come out of that and with a different kind of prostitution.

Whose Orgasm is this Anyway?

The author explores the sex lives of heterosexual married couples. There is much expectation regarding sex life compared to actual reality. What are the differences between fantasy expectation and reality?
Emphasis is put on emotion work, usually controlled by the woman. Sex expectations developed in the media have led to an increase in the concealment of actual sexual satisfaction, such as when the woman fakes an orgasm.
Sex work is normally defined as prostitution. Some argue that sex work is involved in marriage, in that you have work to please your partner. This usually described with regards to patriarchal views of sex structure. However, sex practice is more subjective with each couple. the author discusses how individuals are influenced by changing discourse of heterosex.
There's a feminist school of thought out there that decries the normal heterosexual relationship for its phallocentic nature. Women are more encouraged now to seek out their own sexual pleasure. Some feel that male dominance is necessary for heterosexual sex ethics and some women even feel empowered by it. who is doing more sex work in a heterosexual couple varies.
The main desire when it comes to sexual gratification, is a mutual orgasm. This not always possible. Sex dynamics change in heterosexual married couples. Sex activity wanes as they grow older and a desire for their former passion lingers. some couples have difficulty staying faithful, resort to pornography or masturbation, or come to terms with lack of sexual pleasure. Some are completely fine with out it.
This article depresses me as a heterosexual male. Is this the future? Not on my watch! I think maybe the happiest couples are the ones who don't make sex the centerpiece of their relationships. I blame the media. I agree with ideal of the mutual orgasm, but am realistic about it. I think maybe our culture is a little oversexed.

Stepford Wives and Hollow Men

Emotion work is a large part of marriage. Men are often not very good with this aspect. Women usually do the brunt of the emotion work. This may cause tensions and difficulties of communication in the family unit. Men and women also belong to separate genders and need to perform the correct roles and emotion work falls along these lines.
Emotion deals with how partners control their emotion for the sake of the other. Feminist scholars have argued that the way we go about emotion work is a side effect of male dominance of a relationship. Although people refer to men as hollow, it is mre than likely that they focus their emotional energies towards other matters like or instead on the husband-wife relationship. They don't want to appear vulnerable and worry the woman.
The emotion workers of the relationship don't want to come off as inauthentic, with good reason because no one likes a phony. A lot of strength emotion work is put into dealing with your other and you come as less than authentic. There are competing ideologies telling you how to behave. Women are often doing the emotion work and this drains them emotionally. They keep on such an even keel and may regress to a state soulless pleasantness that can be compared to the sci-fi cult classic "The Stepford Wives."
Yeah, emotions. Man and woman have emotions and they must keep them in check for each other. I agree with the chapter. I find nothing at fault. Woman are sometimes stretched all the way with their emotion work to the point them become stressed and robotic. Man is taught not express the emotions and may come off as distance. The problem will probably never go away, only return to us in different forms.

Sex Work for Middle Classes

This article deals with sex work among members of the middle class. You'd think being educated and more privileged would steer them away from sex work, but here we are. Middle class women have found a way to compartmentalize and create a logic that allows them to perform sexual services for a living, with out concern. One of the one's I read about used to be a preschool teacher. She said it was the perfect training for her later sex work.
The sex work is not just confined to street walking. It can involve phone sex, massage, call girl stuff, etc. Thanks to increase in technology advances, the sex workers can forgo the use of a pimp and self-promote themselves using the I Internet. It apparently pays well. Women may find it less offensive than working at a fast food restaurant. They can get hundreds of dollars for providing sexual favors.
If I sound critical of this practice, it's because I am. C'mon. Sex work is not something that's okay. I think class people have this romantic notion of being able raise their life status. They are not too far off from a life of luxury that the upper class enjoys. The dream is to earn a great living doing something easy, which I think sex is as people are naturally equipped to perform such acts. Turning it into as business seems to depreciate its value in society. It seems dehumanizing to put a price tag on the most human of acts. Well, OK, animals do sex as well. Maybe, natural. It's wrong to put a price tag on the most natural of acts. Sex is kind of like a game of roulette. If something goes wrong, something bad happens, like unwanted pregnancy or STI. You're kidding yourself if you think by regulating sex you can control outcomes. Too many variables.