All of the Eliot Spitzer articles on the web have my head spinning. I’m not sure how I feel about it. It brings up so many issues, issues that can be debated (and are) ad nauseum. While I think it’s a really important discussion, I just don’t know where I stand on them. So I thought I’d just list them, and ask you, “What do you think?”
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Should prostitution be legalized, de-criminalized, or remain criminalized?
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Is the Netherlands model of legalization best? Or the decriminalization model of Switzerland best? In the Netherlands, all sex work has been made legal, but they are backtracking on it, because it hasn’t been that successful. In Switzerland, they have de-criminalized selling sex, but have criminalized buying sex. Some in Switzerland believe that it’s been beneficial. Others say (especially those in sex work) that it has made making a living more difficult and more dangerous.
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Where are most of these articles getting their information about sex workers? Nicholas Kristof in his Washington Post op-ed cites Melissa Farley, saying, “She conducted a study finding that 89 percent of prostitutes urgently wanted to escape the work, and that two-thirds have post-traumatic stress disorder — not a problem for even the most frustrated burger-flipper.” There has been criticism of Farley’s methodologies. Kristof also says, “Studies suggest that up to two-thirds of prostitutes have been sexually abused as girls, a majority have drug dependencies or mental illnesses, one-third have been threatened with death by pimps, and almost half have attempted suicide.” There’s no citation for this. If you want to know about sex workers, ask a sex worker. Don’t ask a person working to end sex work.
- I would just like to point out that many studies now say that 3 (some say 4) out of 5 women have been sexually abused by the age of 18. Why would it be any different in the population who works in sex? And why are we not talking about these statistic more, instead of focusing on pointing fingers at sex workers?
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Kerry Howler coins a phrase I’ve never heard at Reason Magazine. Slut-shaming. What a great word. A poster in the comments then makes the distinction between slut-shaming and slut-mocking, writing, “If you’ve noticed that women nearly monopolize slut-shaming, while men, when not trying to gain the favor of slut-shaming women, mostly engage in mere slut-mocking, and don’t actually reject too many sluts either socially or personally, then yes it does.”
This is where the work of Star Light comes in. Do we participate in slut-shaming? Absolutely not! Do we participate in slut-mocking? Absolutely not!
We have to move the whole discussion down to the individual. Is there irony in the fact that Eliot Spitzer passed a tough New York state law against sex trafficking that took the “innovative step of cracking down on johns by increasing penalties” (Kristof, Washington Post)? Absolutely. Did Spitzer break the law? Apparently, and the discussion leans heavily on how he paid for the services of the escort agency.
Then let’s look at the young woman, Kristen. What do we know about her? Most of the articles I’ve read portray her as either a victim or a perpetrator. Why does she have to be either? How about a young woman trying to make a living? And all those rumors about her “per hour” rate? Chances are, that’s a day rate, not a per hour rate. Additionally, she doesn’t keep all that money. Her agency gets a hefty fee.
Next, we have to think differently about different segments of sex workers. There are those who are victims, most especially children who are in sex work, and those who have been trafficked or coerced into it. Then there are others who are working in sex because it is a lucrative way to make a living. Are they all the same? Absolutely not!
But shall we vilify any of them? Absolutely not!
Each and every one of them is an amazing woman, full of hopes and dreams, full of ideas about the future. Full of the same dreams that all women have: dreams of careers, family, fulfillment. They are struggling to keep sight of those dreams, to not let them go, no matter how much they have to work against society’s “slut-shaming” and “slut-mocking.” Instead of mocking them, shaming them or vilifying them, why can’t we help them all reach their dreams?
Wouldn’t that make for a better world?
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March 30th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Just to throw in my 2 cents….I truly believe that quote is an accurate hourly rate.
March 27th, 2009 at 3:28 am
Thank you. I’ve been having an ongoing argument with someone who believes that it is perfectly okay to slut shame women who work in the sex industry. It is driving me crazy. How can you, as a woman who claims to be about lifting women up, even begin to make the argument that humiliating and ridiculing another woman is a good thing? *sigh* Glad to find this right now. Renews my faith in the world.