Everyday I wake up and head through the journey that I call life.

I am
living in a world that is constructed and viewed through the eyes in which
only I can see. It is a view unlike anyone else. It is this individualized
outlook that has helped shape me into who I am today. I am a person made
up of a variety of values, beliefs, and attitudes. Every action, reaction,
decision, and judgment I make, are all unique. Through the exercise of this
standpoint paper, I will reflect on the ideas I have towards prostitution. I will
begin by analyzing my own personal values, where my beliefs are rooted,
and what dispositions I may hold. I will begin then to reflect on how those
dispositions may have consequentially influenced my roots and beliefs into
becoming deep seated truths for my life. My objectivity or view of reality is
that, prostitution should be illegal. I will not try and argue the rightness or
wrongness of this position, only try and convey what is true to me.
My personal values in the realm of prostitution come from my idea
that sex is not something that can be sold. The act of sex should occur
between two people having have shared feelings of connectedness and
intimacy. It is not that I feel that two people must be married, or even in
love, but that they want to express their connection in a way that brings them
closer. Sex should take place when both parties feel comfortable. It should
be an atmosphere in which you are safe. Prostitution goes against my very

core values of why sex should take place. I see prostitution, although it may
be consensual, as an act that is emotionally demoralizing. I say emotionally
demoralizing because I believe that when engaging in sex, emotions play an
important role. If you have having sex for the sole purpose of making a
profit, I can only imagine what damage may be inflicted on that persons
emotional well being. I also value the rights of women. When a woman is
paid for sexual favors, to me, she is selling her body to him. I believe that
the body is in fact a temple, and that no one besides its owner, should hold
any rights over it. Within my marginalized view as a woman in society, I see
the act of prostitution as oppressive. It is an act that keeps women from
taking control of their own lives. If I had to give a word that defines how I
feel about the act of prostitution, it would be, immoral. Its hard to define
why something would be deemed so wrong to be viewed as immoral, but I
do.
Growing up in a predominately white, middle class, suburban area,
prostitution was not a subject matter that was brought up often. In fact, the
closest exposure to the world of prostitution would be from watching the
film, Pretty Woman. In the movie, the viewer watches as society hurls down
its negativity on a woman trying to make it in a world where prostitution
seems to be her only means of survival. As the movie progresses, I felt

shame and embarrassment for her. I found myself rooting for her to find her
way out. In the end she finds a rich man who loves her, and she is able to
quit her life as a woman working the streets. The underlying message I got
from watching this film was that prostitution is not a role you can play in
society and that, you must find a way out. In a larger context, the mere fact
that prostitution is illegal where Im from shows me that society condemns
it. If I believe that most laws are put in place for the greater good, than it is
hard to argue with laws prohibiting this act. The stigmas that were reiterated
through TV, family life, and school were that prostitutes were lesser people.
Words such as; dirty, diseased, drug addicted, and uneducated, were all
words I heard to describe people who sold sex for money. My beliefs are
rooted not only in the picture society has painted in my world, but on a more
micro level as well. Being raised in a house with three women, the concept
of being a strong woman was constantly reinforced. To be a strong woman
meant to, not to allow a man to take advantage of you, to engage in healthy
relationships, and to always work hard to achieve your goals. I was told
from my mother that my body was a temple, and to be careful who I let
explore it. When I came to the age where talking about sex was relevant, my
mother advised me of the emotional impact sex would play in my life. She
told me to find somebody who respected my body and my mind. She warned

me to never do something that would harm my esteem. I see now that the
ideas my mother instilled in me, about being a strong woman, meant that
having sex was a very personal and emotional act. It shaped my views that
having sex meant having respect for my body. If I were to engage in having
sex for money, I would have somehow not been following my duties as a
strong woman. I was told by most of the women in my life that, as women,
we must work hard to break free from the oppression that keeps us
marginalized. I became aware at an early age that, along with the title of
being a woman, there were hurdles of inequalities to face. To challenge the
inequalities, I was taught to work hard in school, go to college, get a degree,
and never stop striving for the best. From my family, and the context I
viewed society, I formed the personal values I have carried with me to
adulthood.
The rooted beliefs that were embedded in me growing up were, that
with prostitution came with an array of social stigmas, sex was not
something to be sold but an emotional bond to be shared, and that it
contributed the oppression of women. However, these ideas were all created
through the lens of my social and cultural contexts. If I want to be able to get
a true standpoint on this issue, I must figure out what my dispositions are. As
I mentioned, I came from a predominately white middle class area, I was

surrounded by the influence of woman, and was subjected to all types of

media that stigmatized the act of prostitution. If I were to see the standpoint
from a different, perhaps an even more marginalized group, prostitution may
not be deemed immoral at all. For instance, if I had grown up in a poverty
stricken area, where there was a lack of education due to a lower standard of
living, prostitution may be the way in which food and shelter is provided.
Say I had grown up in an abusive family, where I was subjected to see the
women in my life abused or surviving by means of prostitution, I may not
have been then taught to believe that this way of life was oppressive. Some
women may even see their right to choose a life of prostitution as liberating.
From the standpoint of a males perspective, it may be hard to view this
issue through the lens of a womans view.
It is not an easy task to reflect on your personal values and rooted
beliefs, and to try and see from another perspective, which is much different
than yours. However, it is a task worth attempting. If you are able to view
any issue from a different perspective, whether it be age, race, gender, or
class, it will allow you to reflect on your own biases. When you are able to
see where some of your beliefs are rooted, you may then be better equipped
to see from a different standpoint.