PROSTITUTION

Prostitution has been an institution which has made women a commodity throughout the social evolution of humanity around the world. The practice has been reported in virtually every culture and described throughout recorded history. As a form of deviance, prostitution has been of interest to sociologists as a reflection of various social processes and phenomena. Sociologists have studied prostitution as a form of sexual deviance and a reflection of the basic values, norms, and institutions within a society. Sociological studies of prostitution have been concerned with the function it serves in a society, the gender inequality and double standard implicit in the practice, and the social dynamics involved in becoming a prostitute. Prostitution represents a form of sexual deviance in that it is a sexual practice which is widely viewed as socially undesirable and degrading. Colloquial terms used to refer to prostitutes, such as hooker, hustler, and whore, carry negative connotations.

An important issue is defining what constitutes prostitution. Most definitions stress the relatively indiscriminate exchange of sexual activity for economic gain. Prostitution is one of the branches of the sex industry. A prostitute is a person, “who allows her body to be used for lewd purposes in return for payment.” For the prostitute, the practice represents a means of supplementing an income. A person who trades sexual activity for a job promotion would not be labeled a prostitute by most observers, although this situation includes some of the same elements as prostitution. What separates prostitution from the previous example is the repeated, indiscriminate nature of the exchange. More than an isolated deviant act, prostitution entails a deviant profession.

A “prostitute” is derived from a composition of two Latin words: pro and statuere implying “to expose”, “to place up front”. A variety of terms are used for prostitution, some of which distinguish between different kinds, or imply a value judgment about them. The Greek word for prostitute is porne. The English word pornography, and its corollaries in other languages, are directly derivative of the Greek word porne. In ancient Rome, a registered prostitute was called a meretrix while the unregistered one fell under the broad category prostibulae. Common alternatives for prostitute include escort and whore, although not all professional escorts are prostitutes. The word “prostitute”, or more frequently “whore”, is also used as an insult towards a person (typically a woman or girl) who is perceived as being sexually promiscuous. Those seeking to remove the social stigma associated with prostitution often promote terminology such as sex worker, commercial sex worker (CSW), or sex trade worker. A hooker or streetwalker solicits customers in public places; a call girl makes appointments by phone.

In the report prepared by the Advisory Committee, League of Nations, Geneva (1943:8) the following observations were made which indicate tenacity with which prostitution persists in civilised communities: “Prostitution has outlived every social, economic, ethical system which the West has known since the time of the Greek City States. It has had its vicissitudes; but, flourishing or languishing public or clandestine, it has existed in large towns for the last years, thereby proving how deeply it is rooted in human social life.”

Correctly or not, prostitute without specifying a gender is commonly assumed to be female; compound terms such as male prostitution or male escort are therefore used to identify males. Those offering services to female customers are commonly known as gigolos; those offering services to male customers are hustlers or rent boys.

Organizers of prostitution are typically known as pimps (if male) and madams (if female). More formally, they practice procuring, and are procurers, or procuresses.

The customers of prostitutes are known as johns or tricks in North America and punters in the British Isles. These slang terms are used among both prostitutes and law enforcement for persons who solicit prostitutes. In some places, men who drive around red-light districts for the purpose of soliciting prostitutes are also known as kerb crawlers.

Prostitution is commercialised sex and, as such, it involves two parties- seller and buyer. It can be described as indiscriminate sexual activity without the normal motives i.e procreation or pleasure, but is economically motivated so far as the seller is concerned. The seller generally is a woman and a man the buyer; the reverse roles are, however, not unknown. As per section 2(f) of The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 “prostitution” means the sexual exploitation or abuse of  persons for commercial purposes or for consideration in money or in any other kind, and the expression “prostitute” shall be construed accordingly. Also there is, though much rarer, male prostitution in which gratification is by one male to another. In the discussion which follows, the subject is in the most usual context, the commercialised heterosexual practice. Thus the most common form of prostitution involves women who sell sexual services to heterosexual men. The second most common group comprises male homosexual prostitutes who cater to gay men. The consistent pattern in society and throughout history is for the customers of prostitutes to be men. Male prostitutes who make themselves available to women (termed as gigolos) are uncommon, and lesbian prostitutes are considered extremely rare.