Another Aspect from which to View Prostitution

by fulltimestudent 11 Replies latest jw friends

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  fulltimestudent

  If we put on our western cultural (you know, the ones that say Jesus made the world) eye-glasses we will 'see' prostitution as something bad.

  The 'christian' influenced view is that prostitution is a criminal racket run by gangsters, and the women (and sometimes men) have either been bullied by their pimps, or drugged until they become addicts and forced to work in brothels.**

  Some of that is likely true (at times), but is it always 'truth'?

  Australia's government owned ABC Media Network, has an article that invites us to take off our western cultural eye-glasses and see the world as it really is. And the view can be dramatically different.

  

  This lady is Tara Taylor, tagged as a mother, grandmother and sex - worker who believes she provides a neccesary service, in particular for lonely men.

  Quote: "Ms Tara said many of the men she saw were lonely and struggled with their mental health. "The majority have some form of depression," she said.

  Naturally compassionate, her job meant she could play a role in supporting isolated, vulnerable men."

  But read the ABC'c web-site coverage of her story for yourself, and see what you think after reading Tara's stroy.
  Link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-12/regional-sex-worker-speaks-out-kalgoorlie/9247818

  ** The perspective we 'see' a topic from will influence our opinion of that topic.

  For example, everyone thinks marriage is good. But last year in Australa, an average of one woman a week was murdered by her husband.

  Looking at marriage from that perspective, marriage can be toxic.
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  sparrowdown

  I have never had such a narrow stereotyped view of prostitution I think that view comes just as much from hollywood cop shows and movies as it does from church horrror stories.

  I imagine with any profession there are many different levels of the business from the grimy to delux high-end and everything in between. Also, the reasons for getting into would be many and varied.

  I can see there would circumstances in a person's life where it provides a useful service. Including the reasons cited lonelieness, depression etc disability would be another reason someone may avail themselves of such a service.
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  JaniceA

  Sorry, I'm not so compassionate.
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  stan livedeath

  ive never used the services of a prostitute,---simply because ive never met one--or know any.. ive dated loads of women. some have cost a lot of money in wining and dining--all for nothing. some have had sex with me for free--just for the asking.

  would i have used a prostitute--? course i would--if she was attractive and i had the money to spend.
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  fulltimestudent

  stan livedeath : ive never used the services of a prostitute,---simply because ive never met one--or know any.. ive dated loads of women. some have cost a lot of money in wining and dining--all for nothing. some have had sex with me for free--just for the asking. would i have used a prostitute--? course i would--if she was attractive and i had the money to spend.

  Cool mate - and if you were much less good looking, or with a personality problem, or just old, and without a partner, you may also wish to use such a service. Again if you were physically damaged in some way, 'a sexual services carer,' ( a much nicer expression than the word 'prostitute') visiting you once a month would be quite acceptable, I'm sure.

  And, yes! you usually get to choose one that is 'attractive' (I'm sure you mean in both a physical and spiritual sense) to you. In fact friends tell me that in many establishments you can arrange to talk briefly to a number of available women (or men, if you're a woman)
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  Diogenesister

  know of at least two men who have fallen in love with their sex worker, after very long relationships. The men, and occasionally women, who avail themselves of this are very often suffering from low self esteem, diabetes, depression and loneliness. There are also men that got fixated as young kids on one particular aspect of sexuality - like shoes or urine - and cannot get that need met anywhere else, and that is a form of mental illness, a kind of OCD.

  Iys funny we talk about 'western' I guess Christian eyes, And how we view the subject. Because I've always thought most of the important female biblical characters were prostitutes of one kind or another. Rahab, of course, Judahs daughter-in-law played one, Ruth was one, basically, creeping into cousin Boaz bed for rent and board. Even Sarah was.

  And Jesus has a few in his lineage....I mean even Mary was a kind of rent-a-womb. Gomer Hosea's wife, Jephthah the daughter-killer's mother was a prostitute ( might explain a few things).

  My favourites are oHOlah and her sister oHOlibah, the two Ho's in Ezekiel. Tamar famously played the prostitute to get Judah, then there's Solomon's baby mothers ( well not his, you understand, although...) who wanted him to decide who the child belonged to. Another of my favourites are the gory prostitutes who bathed in the blood of Ahab.
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  scratchme1010

  Personally I never view prostitution of any kind as a one-size-fits-all thing. The "western" view of it has its validity. Some women, men and children are sold into prostitution against their will. Judging them as such as something less than human is not something I agree with, especially since in my observation most people who have something to say about other human beings in such way are never a role model I want to follow (to put it mildly).

  Also, I wouldn't say it's a "Christian" view of prostitution. First, Christians are not the only ones who share a demeaning perspective towards prostitutes, and second, as much as they hate to hide it and pretend that such things didn't exist, the truth is that during the time when Jesus of Nazareth lived on Earth, it was common for prostitutes to hang around the temple. Prostitution at that time was not seen the way Christianity does today.

  I used the service of a female prostitute once (long story, and not an interesting one), and I'm still yet to see what exactly is the crime there, and what is different from two consenting adults having sex just for fun without money being involved.

  At the end of the day, who are we to judge any kind of people? We all do that, but at least I try to be kind and open to be wrong in my judgement.
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  truth_b_known

  "I've paid for every piece of ass I have ever gotten." - My jaded friend

  Marriage is a horrible institution that has no place in a modern, free society. That's a different subject.

  Two consenting adults get paid by a third party to have sex while being filmed - legal.

  One consenting adult pays another consenting adult to have sex - illegal.

  It has nothing to do with prostitution. It has to deal with human trafficking and compelled prostitution. Much like the "War on Drugs", if prostitution were regulated there would be no issue.
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  Outahere

  If we put on our western cultural (you know, the ones that say Jesus made the world) eye-glasses we will 'see' prostitution as something bad.
  The 'christian' influenced view is that prostitution is a criminal racket run by gangsters, and the women (and sometimes men) have either been bullied by their pimps, or drugged until they become addicts and forced to work in brothels.**
  Some of that is likely true (at times), but is it always 'truth'?

  You've got it completely backwards.

  The truth is that prostitution was almost always and everywhere legal until women got the right to vote in the 20th century.

  Even in the church-dominated middle ages it was tolerated because the alternatives to making it illegal were considered worse.
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  fulltimestudent

  Clearly, prostitution is a complex profession as all the views expressed so far indicate. May I expand on some comments.

  scratchme1010: Also, I wouldn't say it's a "Christian" view of prostitution. First, Christians are not the only ones who share a demeaning perspective towards prostitutes.

  Quite true, but within the anglosphere ( Anglo-American sphere) wouldn't you agree that the main negative influence is the church. And there's a lot of nuances in it, as it all get's mixed up with the church's attitudes toward sex.

  I know other groups also take a negative view of prostitution. The Chinese government (as an instance) prohibits prostitution, despite the fact that one of the most common offences a senior public servant can be wrist-slapped for, is using prostitutes (usually disguised as too many girl friends). Yet in many hotels in which I've stayed in China, I've experienced (within a short time of checking into my room) a phone call asking me, "Did I want a girl for the night?" When you say, No! they'll ask if you want a boy? Although to be honest, the CPC's attitude to sex may be sourced back to the christian Taiping rebellion (in the mid eighteenth century) that nearly defeated the Qing government.

  And the christian church (not just the J-double u's) loves a reformed sinner. The best story reformed prostitute story, I've come across in studying church history (in this case the Eastern Byzantine church) is the story of St. Mary of Egypt.

  This St Mary, ran away from home at age 12 and became a street girl who loved sex so much that (sometimes) would not charge the men who used her services. Years later Mary decided to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. She did'nt have enough money to pay for the boat trip, so worked her passage to Palestine laying on her back for the whole voyage.

  When they got to Jerusalem and everyone off the boat (including the men who used her services) poured into the church for the festival. But when poor old Mary got to the church, some unseen force kept her out. In the story, she then realises what a terrible sinner she was, and on seeing an image of Mary Theotokos (mother of God Mary) she repents, praying for fogiveness and decides to give up the world. This Mary spent the rest of her life running around the desert as a hermit in constant prayer.