Ciitically looking at the topics of piostitution anu sex woik biings about many siues of the

situation that must be consiueieu in oiuei to uiscuss the way we peiceive this ieality anu
what is sexually ueviant. In oiuei to begin this type of uiscussion we must fiist consiuei the
fact that we uo not have common uefinitions foi many of the situations involveu in this topic.
Foi example, eveiyone uoes not uefine iape, consent, piostitution, oi 'sex woik' in the same
way. These aie not well uefineu oi unifoim in uesciiption acioss the whole of society.
Fuitheimoie, what is sexually ueviant (as with any ueviance) is uepenuent on the noims
within a paiticulai cultuie, segment of society, oi context. The fact that much of this topic is
subjective anu theie aie many giey aieas makes it uifficult to take an unbiaseu oi conciete
stance on the issue. Theie aie so many factois inteitwineu in the uebate that I finu myself
going back anu foith between what I think may be best foi this "issue" anu seeing pios anu
cons to legalizationue-ciiminalization (foi one example).
We can take many sociological peispectives anu use many theoiies when consiueiing
why people may entei into piostitution. Similaily we can think sociologically about the
constiuction of ueviance aiounu piostitution anu why we look at it anu the people involveu in
ceitain ways. I think the lattei is a laige pait of wheie one's stance on the topic is ueiiveu
fiom - the unueistanuing of why it is ueviant, "wiong" oi "bau", anu how oui tieatment
fuithei affects the people involveu. Typically, in oui society, piostitution is vieweu as wiong
anu most uefinitely ueviant fiom oui noims. Theie is a hieiaichy of piostitution that fuithei
uictates the way the people involveu aie vieweu anu tieateu. Accoiuing to labeling theoiy,
ueviance is a label attacheu to some people which then has consequences foi how they aie
tieateu, how they iuentify themselves anu then foi theii subsequent actions in life (Beieska,
2u11). Within the hieiaichy, fiom 'stieetwalkei' to 'call giil' the uiffeience of label uiastically
changes the way these people aie vieweu within society, anu within theii own 'tiaue', which
can in tuin leau to uiffeient ieasons why they may continue (oi not continue) piostitution anu
the countless factois that ueteimine they path theii life may leau. Foi example, a stieetwalkei
may be thought of as uiity, uespeiate, pooi etc. anu typically these aie the people who sell
themselves out of necessity (the thought of no othei option) moie than choice. As you go
fuithei up the hieiaichy, the choice piece becomes a laigei factoi anu the lifestyle anu pay
changes gieatly.
0ne huge unueilying piece thioughout the whole of the uiscussion anu infoimation on
this topic that stanus out foi me is genuei. When uiscussing piostitution most people tenu to
talk about the women oi giils involveu. The womengiils aie vieweu as ueviant, paitaking in
ueviant behaviouis, "tioubleu" etc. anu the ieasons they aie involveu aie lookeu at,
sometimes juugeu. Why is it that it is much less common to speak of the men paitaking, the
"johns", as ueviant. If it is sexually ueviant foi woman to exchange sex foi money (oi mateiial
goous), is it not the same foi a man to exchange money oi mateiial goous foi sex. It seems the
gieatei stigma falls upon the woman in most cases. Fuitheimoie, theie aie male piostitutes
but when this uiscussion comes up in the meuia, in the uiscussion of changing laws, anu even
within oui class, we lean moie towaius the steieotype of female piostitutes anu male johns.
Taking one moie step, we can say it is also typically heteiosexual encounteis being uiscusseu
although we can be suie theie is homosexual piostitution going on as well. These facts aie of
gieat inteiest to me because essentially we have a "noim" foi what is also labeleu a sexual
ueviance. So if we aie to again look at oui "noim" of a female piostitute anu a male "john", it is
unfaii to give piesciiption to the female anu not the }ohn. If caught a man may be sent to "john
school" but no ieal iepeicussions aie seen, anu it is something that they aie able to hiue anu
not attach to theii iuentity. It seems to be moie "okay" foi men to pay foi sex, which may have
something to uo with the cultuial genuei association that men "neeu" sex anu theiefoie have
the iight to puichase it. This biings about anothei siue to piostitution - although in some
cases the women aie giving full consent, at what point aie they still becoming objects to these
men anu becoming an expectation within society. It seems almost as though because theie is a
uemanu foi theii seivice that it becomes an expectation that sex shoulu be able to be bought
anu solu anu intimacy becomes a business tiansaction, which has much fuithei ieach than the
immeuiate 'issue', foi these specific women as well as society as a whole.
Similaily, we can consiuei the ielationship of pimps to this topic. As in the WS viueo
"Not a Love Stoiy: Rescuing the uiil Next Booi", often piostitutes may woik foi a male
(typically) pimp anu can begin to lose contiol ovei theii situation anu theii choice in the
mattei. The contiol exeiteu by some of these pimps is a scaiy thought anu leaus to a toughei
ioau foi many women, especially if they woulu like to leave the 'tiaue'. A shift shown in the
uocumentaiy that auuiesses this issue anu the steieotypes mentioneu befoie is that of law
enfoicement beginning to tieat the womengiils as victims iathei than ciiminals. They aie
taigeting the pimps anu tiying to help the women get out of negative situations (2u12).This
shows the stait of a possible shift in the peiception of some of these situations - that no
longei is the piostitute always the "bau" oi "wiong" one; that theii ueviance may be uue to
othei ciicumstances, sometimes beyonu theii contiol. Things aie not always as they seem oi
as one may have been socializeu to see. As seen in the 16x9 viueo "Piostitution Constitution:
Sex Tiaue in Canaua", theie still seems to some people who paitake in fully consensual
piostitution anu want that to be theii occupation, which biings anothei piece to the
complicateu uebate ovei how to pioceeu, legally oi otheiwise (2u12). 0veiall, the main
concein in my opinion, neeus to be the safety of those in the situation anu at this point I think
the move towaius ieaching out to those piostituting, not as ciiminals but as people, anu
ieaching those who aie unueiage is a step in the iight uiiection.
Refeiences
Beieska, T.N. (2u11). Beviance, confoimity, anu social contiol in canaua. (Siu eu). Toionto,
0N: Peaison Canaua.
Bwyei-}oyce, u. (2u12, Febiuaiy 2S). !" $%&'()*+ ,-% .+)/0 *%1, 233/4 5/36 ,-% &%1 ,/72%
|Television Bioaucastj. CTv News Canaua.
Konynenbel, B. (2u12, 0ctobei 2S). 891: ; </3&,),(,)3* =3*&,),(,)3*> ?%1 ,/72% )* =7*727
|Television Bioaucastj. ulobal News Canaua.