SOCIETY, ETHICS, MORALITY & MORAL JUDGEMENT
I’ve always been fascinated by how the world views Sex Work/Prostitution. Firstly, let me start off by saying that I don’t believe that Society can decide what’s inherently right or wrong. Morality, Moral ethics & Judgement aren’t things that Society can decide on. Am I saying that Society decides on what’s good & wrong, well, yes, we are mortals & on a microscopical level, Ethics, Morality & moral judgement define our views about what’s right and or wrong. Society decides on what’s civil which is where the inherent flaw lies.
I love how Karl Marx aptly put it in The German Ideology , he says “The ideas of the ruling class in any given epoch in History is its ruling ideas”, so essentially, all we’re doing is making the rules as we go along. To elaborate on how Society can’t decide on what’s right or wrong, those whose conscience remains pure irrespective of subjecting themselves to Prostitution; the morality around Prostitution is an infinitesimal matter to them and as such view it as any other service, whereas, for the morally decadent, yes; for them prostitution as a practice is regarded as an abject dissolution of God; hence inherently wrong.
In the truest sense, our world’s constituent components; inherently expose that the world’s nothing more than a glorified Brothel. We’re individually nothing more than glorified pimps selling ourselves for something for the sake of pecuniary satisfaction. Which has a direct link to why we form Relationships- for the satisfaction of needs, whether monetary, psychological etc, we’re all selling ourselves to the next person. You can read my take on Relationships here.
Which is why I find it absurd that there are countries that criminalize Sex work. In fact this pecuniary satisfaction has existed for ages, Catholics & Bishops have persecuted millions at the altar in the name of Christ; Muslims have & continue killing in the name of the Prophet & society has defined laws that allow many to sell themselves as “brands” which is considered moral.
When a Man marries a Woman; he’s nothing more than a glorified barter. At the truest sense; when a Man receives a Wife; he asks her for legal consent for having sexual intercourse with her whenever he wishes. This is nothing more than a glorified exchange that has been inherently embellished with attraction, love, mutual consent & marriage. But, a woman who’s either forced to or prefers selling her own body for carnal pleasures in exchange of money; is deemed immoral.
PATRIARCHY: A HUNGER FOR CONTROL & THE ENDLESS HUNT
Now I ran a poll on my Socials were I posed the below question…
The results I got (& the research done), brought to my attention a sense of entitlement that many Men (& Women) have towards the use of Women’s bodies. There seems to be this one-sided belief that stems from traditional patriarchy that bases the level of respect a Woman deserve’s on their genitals.
Men have this need to control & restrict access to Women’s bodies & over the years have managed to disguise & maintain this under the ideology of chastity as virtue. These attitudes have baked over time in our society & have also & greatly influenced how Women view & act towards other Women who rebel against this. Essentially, in part, Women aren’t promiscuous because they are trained NOT to be. Which obviously directly influenced (& still does) their approach towards Sex Workers.
Another thing I’ve found is that Men devalue Women who easily or readily give them Sex: Sex Workers & or lovers that share non-religious views pertaining to sex. On a microscopic perspective, they prefer & value Sex when it comes with some sort of struggle. The struggle could be the resistance of a Woman to give them sex on the first try, they prefer having to manipulate, charm or use deceit to get into Women’s pants. Essentially, Men view sex as something they can “give” (& ultimately take away) from a Woman & not as something that they can have with Women. Sex for Men is a flex of power of power.
Furthermore, the above view shows that Men are still viewing women as “prey” & not as equals. This is extremely dangerous. Jarrod Bock & Melissa Burkley in their article “On the Prowl: Examining the Impact of Men-as-Predators and Women-as-Prey Metaphors on Attitudes that Perpetuate Sexual Violence” cover this well.
I personally think that Men in particular detest prostitution because it takes away the dominance that they feel they possess over Women. Sex has been used as a tool over Women for eons; the ideology of chastity as virtue that I mentioned above being one of the ways that they’ve pushed their agenda. The issue is that Sex workers defy these patriarchal norms & use the same standards & systems for their own benefit which in infinitesimal increments help dismantle patriarchy. Also, Prostitution isn’t a reflection of the Woman’s standards, worth, value or moral standing but a reflection of how the Government & society has failed them & continues to.
If Men really inherently thought we were these pure & mystical creatures that deserve protection & safe-guarding, there wouldn’t be such an exponential increase in the number of Abuse, Sexual Offenses, Rape & Killings against Women that’s been steadily increasing with time. There wouldn’t be a whole patriarchal system placed to upkeep toxic views towards the policing of Women’s bodies. There wouldn’t be such a high number of Single Mothers & Women filing for divorce.
Prostitution rips away the power that the patriarchal, male-chauvinistic system, decriminalizing it would pose a threat for Men & the systems in place for the upkeep of their sexual views pertaining to Women. This threat for them would be a victory for most Women & not just Sex Workers. A victory to a Moral war that both sexes have been fighting against each other.
So really, does Society think Sex Work is inherently wrong, because of the lack of power that it will give them over Women!? or is their refusal to legalise & fix the assumptions around Prostitution based on ethics, morality or moral judgement? And if so, who are you to tell others what’s good or wrong!?
I need y’all to dig deeper, ignore what society & our parents taught us about the use of Men & or Women’s bodies. From a neutral point of view just be HUMAN, ignore your gender & or sexuality & ask yourself this;
Would you like it if someone told you what you CAN or CANNOT do with your body?