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Prostitution Introduction to prostitution Prostitution is a prevalent issue in the American society and has been in existence for a long time. It has been a highly debated issue both from the moral and religious point of view with many states declaring it as an illegal practice. In spite of this, prostitution is still widely practiced in the society with statistics placing the number of prostitutes in the US as more than 1 Million. Women form the highest percentage of prostitutes in America and they face society prejudice because people still consider the practice as being immoral. This paper will discuss the pros and cons of prostitution and what the different sociological theories say about this practice Pros and cons of prostitution Prostitution refers to engaging in sexual activity with individuals who are neither spouses nor friends in exchange for financial or other material reward. Traditionally prostitutes have always been women but with the changing society, there has been an upsurge in male and transgender prostitutes. There have been very many people who have been against it due to moral reasons while others have supported this practice due to economic and personal reasons (Weitzer 3). Supporters of prostitution refer to it as an economic activity that involves the exchange of goods and services for money. In the poverty prone areas, some women look at prostitution as the only way of meeting their financial needs. They refer to it as self employment where they can use their sexuality as a survival tool. They look at sex as a commodity and believe that they should be able to sell their services as a way of meeting both the personal and family financial needs (Veen 46).

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According to Veen (47), some people regard the practice of prostitution as empowering. Women who have been victimized in their families and societies look at prostitution as a way o taking back control of their sexuality and using it to provide for their own needs. By engaging in prostitution, they feel like they have control of the money they are receiving and they can increase their services or even reduce them depending on their current financial needs. Prostitution has been seen as an avenue for wealth creation among the uneducated young people. In some neighborhoods, the cycle of poverty is hard to break due to the lack of education for the young. Prostitution has been regarded as a way of ensuring that the uneducated earn money because it doesnt require any education skills or startup capital. Some people have used it as a way of earning money to support their academic goals (Moen 7). Prostitution involves exploitation of people both financially and sexually. This is because it mostly consists of dominating clients who use their financial ability to engage the prostitutes in degrading and humiliating experiences. Most of the prostitutes who get exploited are usually the young prostitutes who get into it for lack of alternative means of self sustenance. In such a case, the prostitutes will be forced to engage in those activities to get the money (Moen 3). Prostitution leads to other social evils among both the prostitutes and clients. Research has shown that many prostitutes engage in drug abuse as a way of coping with their activities. Some of the prostitutes feel degraded and humiliated after their experiences and deal with these feelings by engaging in drugs and alcohol abuse. This could lead to drug addiction among these groups of people. People who engage in prostitution also have low chances of sustaining long term relationships with spouses or partners. This affects their family lives (weitzer 33).

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Prostitutes are exposed to sexual infections and diseases from their clients on a regular basis. In some cases, prostitutes agree to sleep with their clients without protection for a higher fee. Such prostitutes expose themselves to sexual infections because they do not know their clients sexual past: Some of them are forced into unprotected sex by their clients. They also expose their clients to diseases because some prostitutes usually suffer from some sexual diseases. This starts a cycle of disease infection they may even affect the spouses of the clients (weitzer 32). Theories on prostitution According to the conflict theory, prostitution exists as a result of social inequality between the powerful and subordinate groups in the society. It is seen as exploitation of these people as some of them engage it prostitution out of lack of alternative income means. Poverty and lack of education has been the root cause of prostitution and the people who engage in prostitution are seen to turn to it as a way to earn a living. Using this theory, one can analyze the reasons whey prostitution continues to exist in the society and who benefits from its continued existence (Brinkerhoff 11). Symbolic interaction theory puts its main focus on individuals and their daily interactions with one another and with their social groups. This theory will look at prostitution based on the reasons why people engage in prostitution and how the society puts the prostitute label on some people and not others in spite of the fact that they are all engaging in the sex trade. According to this theory, prostitution is learned through societal interactions as no person is born a prostitute. Through interaction with the social groups that one is in, the person develops their individual self concept (Davis 746).

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The Structural functionalism theory looks at the society as a combination of parts that are connected and that interrelate in order to function smoothly and as a whole unit. It looks at the shared norms and values as the core of the society. According to this theory prostitution would not be permitted due to the fact that it does not conform to the societal norms and behaviors. According to this theory, prostitution would be seen as a result of societal issues like inequality which lead people to look for alternative ways of achieving equality (Brinkerhoff 9). Conclusion The practice of prostitution is wrong and should not be legalized by the government. This is because it treats sex and the human body as commodity that can be traded for favors and financial rewards. In the course of their activities, the prostitutes are exposing themselves and their families to dangerous diseases and harmful consequences that could even include death. Prostitution exposes the society to immoral behaviors that may influence the children growing up in that society. The people who engage in it can easily find other ways to support their families without degrading their bodies like that and they should look for other sources of livelihood and stop using their sexuality as a source of income.

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Works cited Weitzer, John Ronald. Legalizing Prostitution: From Illicit Vice to Lawful Business. New York: NYU Press. 2012. Print. Moen, Ole Martin. Is prostitution harmful? J Med Ethics. 10.1136(2012).Web.29 Oct 2013. Veen, van der Marjolein. Rethinking Commodification and Prostitution: An Effort at Peacemaking in the Battles over Prostitution. Rethinking Marxism. 13. 2(2011).Web. 29 Oct 2013. Weitzer, Ronald. prostitution: facts and fictions.Retrieved from http://www.gwu.edu/~soc/docs/Weitzer/Prostitution_Facts.pdf. 2007. Web. 29 Oct 2013. Davis, Kingsley. The Sociology of Prostitution. American Sociological Review. 2.5 (1937). Web. 29 Oct 2013.

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Brinkerhoff, David. Essentials of Sociology. New York: Cengage Learning. 2013. Print.