If you were to go a career’s advice meeting and announce ‘when I finish uni, I want to go into prostitution’, you would likely be met with a flood of worry, confusion and general discouragement. In our society, to become a prostitute is considered a social, career and health-related failure. But where does this stigma come from? You might say that prostitutes don’t respect themselves as they sell their bodies, but perhaps, in some way, don’t we all sell our bodies?
If you are a coal miner, you will be exposed to coal dust, which is known to cause black lung disease. Over the past 10 years, more than 10,000 miners have died from illnesses linked to this coal dust. It can therefore be argued that these miners have effectively sold their bodies by compromising their health for their job.
The same could be said about athletes. Arguably, the job description of all Olympic athletes is to test what they can do with their body to the limit to earn a living. Many of these top athletes gain sponsorships because of the things that they are able to do with their body, effectively selling themselves to make money. Does this make Usain Bolt, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Michael Phelps the equivalent of prostitutes? What about people with office jobs? According to research by Microsoft, over two thirds of office workers suffer from repetitive strain injury. So, by compromising their health to earn money, are these office workers selling their bodies, and are they therefore prostitutes? Consider flight attendants, radiographers and those who work in nuclear power plants. All of these occupations involve radiation exposure which leads to an increased risk of cancer- again, exchanging physical health for money.
Considering that all of these common occupations, and many more, involve elements of physical sacrifice to make money, why do we view prostitution so negatively? If we all effectively sell our bodies in one way or another, maybe the negative attitude towards prostitution doesn’t come from the concept of selling your body, but the stigma around sexuality in our culture. Perhaps our derogatory view of prostitution stems from an old-fashioned awkwardness around the subject of sexuality, particularly female sexuality, viewing it as unnatural, sinful and impure. This raises the question; are we right to shame prostitutes, or is it really our attitudes to prostitution that are shameful?
Edited by: Tia Ralhan
Sources:
https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/358739926545021330/
http://howtrend.com/usain-bolt-wins-100m-complete-first-part-triple-triple/
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Health_effects_of_coal
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Health_effects_of_coal
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/world-news/how-much-countries-around-world-11786703