Prostitution & Porn: The Female Perspective

The female perspective? Now, that’s a novel idea. Who’d ever thought of such a thing? Even mentioning the concept suggests that there is more than one perspective. There is more than a male perspective? Oh, I know that there is more than one perspective: there is the liberal Hollywood concept; there is a conservative Judeo/Christian and Islamic concept; and there are positions in between. But, I’m not talking about religious/political arguments, or about what males think, I’m talking about what females feel on a gut level. This is about what females think about the world’s “oldest profession.”

The well worn term, “the world’s oldest profession” implies that there has always been and there is likely always to be a willing seller and a willing buyer for a commodity that is so basic that its need demands fulfillment. Why is this so? Well obviously there are buyers who feel the need to purchase services with hard cold cash which are not sufficiently available otherwise. So where there is a need, there will be a vendor willing to fulfill that need for a price.

But what price does the vendor pay to be in this line of work? Well, Anne Bissell, a reformed prostitute, stakes out the popular position in her book, "Memoirs of a Sex Industry Survivor" that there is nothing positive about prostitution. She posits and that it is the abuse of females, oft times in childhood, that leads to a willingness to engage as a prostitute. Naturally Bissell believes that a prostitute is an emotionally and spiritually damaged person.

When discussing the legalizing of prostitution, Constance Penley, Ph.D. popular culture expert at the University of California Santa Barbara, states, “ When debating the issue, it is not appropriate to link child-trafficking with adult choices.”

An adjunct to prostitution is porn film work. “Not everyone is troubled by working in pornographic filmmaking either, Penley said. Now that the industry is so mainstreamed and has become relatively professionalized, many women use porn as a jumping-off place to go into something else, she said.”

Bissell counters:

"Using her body as a commodity either in prostitution or pornography erodes a woman's soul, said Venturan Anne Bissell, a former prostitute, recalling her own experience. "

"It was like being homeless in my own body," she said.

“She said it's impossible to distinguish the adult woman from the exploited child because, according to a nonprofit San Francisco-based anti-prostitution organization called Prostitution Research and Education, 75 percent of adult women who chose to be prostitutes endured some sort of sexual or physical violence as children. They enter womanhood so damaged that they can't make truly responsible choices when it comes to their bodies, Bissell and Simi Valley sexual abuse specialist Lee Reid, Ph.D., agreed.”

According to the quote above, “…75 percent of adult women who chose to be prostitutes endured some sort of sexual or physical violence as children.” The fact that there is the other 25% who chose to be prostitutes supports a conclusion that prostitution does not have to be associated with childhood abuse. The conclusion does not follow, therefore, that prostitution as an adult is necessarily emotionally and spiritually healthy for the female. Of course, it does not argue to the converse as well.

University of Wisconsin sociology professor John DeLamater, Ph.D. is the “…editor of the Journal of Sex Research, a trade journal for the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, a nonprofit organization of professionals from different disciplines who are dedicated to the clinical study of human sexuality.”

“DeLamater said the extent of a woman's trauma after working as a prostitute seems to be linked to how much control she has over her business. Prostitutes with higher-paying clients, often known as "call girls," who work out of their own homes and set their own schedules, don't report as many negative after-effects, DeLamater said. "They are highly selective about who they date, let alone who they have sex with," he said. "Typically, they are quite healthy mentally and physically. Some of them report actually enjoying their lifestyle."

“Women who report the most trauma are the so-called "streetwalkers" who work for little money and risk physical and psychological harm.”

"They have virtually no protection from the elements, customers, cops or pimps," DeLamater said. "They have virtually no control over who they go with. They have a substantial risk of getting beaten up and not getting paid."

Bissell and Reid counter:

“Bissell said she believes that, no matter how well legal prostitution or adult films are monitored, women who get involved will suffer longterm psychological consequences.”

“Reid concurs: "Most people in porn or prostitution who sell themselves for sex suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder," she said. "You can't sell your body and feel good about yourself."

"There are psychic deaths or a physical death," Bissell agreed. "The sex industry kills one way or another."

There you have it. There is no agreement. Probably the correct conclusion is that most women in the sex trades have suffered abuse in childhood and are likely to suffer throughout adulthood. Some of the remaining 25% may not fall into a category of damaged emotions, and they may find the business to be satisfactory for them at the time that they engage in it.

Now that we have solved that issue, is it time to start on the moral aspect of prostitution and the porn industry? Not today.