Comprehensive Guide to Sex Work, Pornography, and Legality

Erotica

Sexually explicit material with literary, historical, artistic merit and can be educational or used for relationship improvement.

Pornography

Used to sexually stimulate viewer and not generally historical or artistic.

Obscenity

Hard to define but generally related to excess sexuality.

Prostitution

Transactional sex.

Brothels

House run by madam and safer, $2 a minute.

gigalo

Male manager who works with prostitutes.

Sex worker

Someone engaging in prostitution.

Street walkers

Solicit sex on street or at bars, high risk of arrest and assault, lowest pay ($5-$50).

Hustlers

Offer sex through solicitation.

Call girls/boys

Offer companionship or sex $1,000 a night.

Erotic masseuses

$50-200 for 'extra services' (manual manipulation or intercourse).

Strip clubs

Professional dancers and legality shift by locality.

Western Christianity

Books were mostly written by monks so there was little to no sexual content.

Development of printing press and photography

Widespread availability of pornography and photos lead to the Comstock laws.

Playboy

Brings pornography into the mainstream.

Home videos/internet

Explicit videos are now available and private.

Commission on Obscenity and Pornography

Intended to find result of porn on youth.

Meese commission

A study in 1986 which found some porn is dangerous.

Reno vs. ACLU decision

The internet has a right to pornography.

Feminist pornography

Made more for women and has safe sex practice portrayed.

Variations in pornography preferences by gender and sexual orientation

Heterosexual = more focus on sex than plot, males chosen for dick size, women eager; gay porn = eroticism of male body; lesbian = realistic encounters with real couples, usually safer sex message.

Freedom of speech and obscenity

Hard to define obscenity, generally protects access to obscene material.

Legality of child pornography

Anything with children under 18 is illegal.

Effects of violent and nonviolent pornography

Some correlation with violence towards women if porn is violent and nonviolent porn does less harm but still can lead to aggression, sexism, dissatisfaction with bodies of self and partner, and relationship dissatisfaction.

Reasons for being a sex worker

No other option is generally the most common.

Human trafficking

Modern day slavery, about 800,000 (80% female) abducted per year.

Nordic model

Sex work is legal and provides significant increase of revenue.

Characteristics of male sex workers

May cater to men or women and includes a range of prostitution practice.

Characteristics of female sex workers

Usually young, poor, cater to men.

Teenage prostitutes

Survival sex, 95% are victims, very high risk of suicide.

Effects of being a sex worker

Higher risk for disease, pregnancy, abortion, suicidal thoughts, depression, homelessness, murder.

Characteristics of customers

White, middle class, married, most are occasional some are habitual or chronic customers.

Motivations of customers

Sex on demand, no commitment, variety.

Prostitution and HIV

High risk for pregnancy, abortion, suicidal thoughts, HIV so younger girls preferred due to assumed lower risk.

Arguments for legalization/decriminalization of prostitution

For = transactional relationship with consenting adults, legal makes easier to add protections, more tax revenue, criminal justice system can focus on more important issues; Against = it is easy to take advantage of the people, often not completely voluntary, more sex work which is viewed as negative.