Ch. 18 Sexually Explicit Materials, Sex Work and Sex laws Flashcards
Define: Sexually explicit material (SEM)
materials whose primary themes, topics, or depictions involve sexuality that may cause sexual arousal.
Define: Obscenity
generally implies a personal or societal judgment that something is offensive
Define: Erotica
sexually explicit material that can be evaluated positively—often involving mutuality, respect, affection, and a balance of power; and may be considered artistic
Define: Pornography
sexually explicit material that may be evaluated negatively and might include anything that depicts sexuality and causes sexual arousal in the viewer.
Major Themes of Sexually explicit material (SEM)
- Objectification- predominantly of women’s bodies
- Power - men in dominant roles, women in submissive roles
- Violence
○ often depicted or implied
○ Porn hub reports “rape porn” as a top 3 searched term
Sexually Explicit Material (SEM): The Producers
○ The largest component of the industry is X-rated videos
○ Online sites have replaced DVD sales with X-rated videos
○ More than 1 million students may be employed in the industry in the U.S.
○ Sexual orientation of the performers may not be consistent with that of the target population
○ Development of hand-held cameras and portable equipment led production away from studios; amateur pornography production has flourished
Sexually Explicit Material (SEM): The Customers
○ Motivated by curiosity and sexual arousal
○ More men than women
○ Men who are younger and non-white are more likely to report viewing
○ Online survey of undergraduate students ages 18 to 26: 70% of the men but only 10% of the women view porn more than once per month
The Effects of SEM: Pornography addiction
○ 10% of respondents in a PBS survey indicate viewing more than once per day
○ 12% spent more than 16 hours per week
○ Some commentators and health professionals believe exposure at high levels is problematic
○ May affect performance in school, work, and interpersonal relationships
○ It may affect the ability to get a partner pregnant
○ Critics of the addiction perspective: It is another effort to medicalize sexual behavior
Why Are There Sex Laws?
- Most societies regulate sexual behavior by custom and by law
- In the U.S., there is no consensus about which morals should be codified into law
Crimes of Exploitation and Force
- Rape
- Incest
- Sex with Minors
Criminal Consensual acts
- Fornication (illegal in 7 states)
- Adultery (illegal in 23 states)
- Sodomy (was illegal in 24 states, overturned in 2003 by Supreme Court)
Crimes Against Good Taste
- Exhibitionism
- Voyeurism
- Solicitation
- Disorderly conduct
- Public nuisance
- Lewdness
Criminal Commercial Sex
Prostitution
Obscenity
Discriminatory Laws related to sexuality
- Public services cannot discriminate against sex or gender for purposes of employment or housing
- Military discrimination
○ Should the military be able to ban participation based on gender or sexual preference? - Benefits for gay/lesbian partners
○ Family leave, inheritance rights, insurance benefits, etc
Same-sex marriage
Call girl
- Works out of her residence
- Often from a middle-class background
- Maybe a college graduate
- Dresses expensively and lives in an upscale neighborhood
- May also provide such services as accompanying clients to business and social gatherings
- Can earn a great deal of money
Brothels (houses of prostitution)
- mostly have been replaced by in-call services
- Workers have regular shifts in an apartment or condo
- They provide sexual gratification to clients
- Charge on an hourly basis
- A sex worker has less autonomy than a call girl
- The percentage of profits goes to their manager or madam
Massage parlor (M-and-M parlor)\
- Some provide legitimate massage therapy
- others sell sex services (masturbation or fellatio most common)
Out-call service
- Escorts go to the clients
- More risky
○ Escort cannot control the setting in which services are provided
Streetwalker
- Sells her wares on the streets of cities
- Charges much less
- In some cities more likely to be arrested
- Greater risk of disease and violence
Pimp
○ Prostitute supports pimp with earnings
○ Pimp may provide companionship and sex
○ May provide food, shelter, or drugs
○ Provides bail if in jail and may provide protection
○ Pimp exercises considerable control
Madam
○ A woman who manages or owns an in-call or out-call service, a brothel, or an escort service
○ Usually experienced and skilled at managing sex workers and businesses
○ May be socially skilled, with a network of contacts in the community
Sex Trafficking
- the recruitment and control of persons, by threat or use of force or deception, for the purposes of sexual exploitation
- Women become captives
- Money earned goes to controllers, who threaten to harm the women or their families
- Often work in bars, brothels, and massage parlors
Reasons for Entering Prostitution
Economics
□ Means of upward economic mobility
□ Necessity in order to survive
□ To support drug addiction
Force or coercion
- Physically or psychologically coerced by a husband or lover into selling sex for money
- A major factor in sex trafficking
Apprenticeship; learns
○ Sexual techniques
○ How to hustle
○ How to successfully negotiate for services and pricing
○ How to control interaction
Sex Workers’ Well-Being
- One-fourth of prostitutes had few physical or psychological complaints (Vanwesenbeck, 1994)
○ Used problem-focused coping strategies
○ Were satisfied with their lives - One-fourth had many ailments, including headaches, backaches, anxiety, and depression
○ Coping strategies involved dissociation and denial
○ Dissatisfied with prostitution - The remaining 50% were in the middle
Risks
- Risks vary according to the venue worked
○ Working the streets is associated with greater risk of arrest and violence
○ Women who are trafficked are at risk of abuse, injury, illness, infection and medical neglect - In all venues
○ Risk of exposure to such sexually transmitted infections as
HIV/AIDS
Coping Strategies
- Drugs and alcohol
○ to increase confidence and decrease guilt - Shutting down feelings and focusing narrowly on the task
- Separating private sexual and familial relationships from sex work
- Networking with other sex workers for support
The Role of Early Abuse
- A history of victimization and trauma as children or adolescents was associated with poorer well-being (1994)
- Unsure of how important a history of abuse might be in a person’s entry into sex work
- Coercive sexual activity in adolescence or young adulthood associated with adverse health and social outcomes (2004)
Reasons for Using Prostitutes
○ Want sex more frequently
○ Want to engage in specific practices (such as fellatio)
○ To satisfy exotic sexual needs
○ To “prove their manhood” (especially among adolescents) or gain sexual experience
Referred to as “johns”
○ About 50% of the clients are occasional johns
○ Nearly 50% are repeat clients
○ Remainder are compulsive johns who use prostitutes for major sexual outlet (1991)
Male prostitutes
○ Escort services
○ Massage parlors
Gigolo
A male who provides companionship and sexual gratification to a woman on a continuing basis in exchange for money
Hustler
○ A male sex worker who sells his services to men
○ Outdoor workers
○ Bar workers
○ Hustlers
○ Escorts or call boys
Sex Tourism
Varieties of leisure travel that have as their purpose the purchase of sexual service
Social forces that make sex tourism possible
○ migration
-Men and women moving from less developed and rural areas in search of jobs
○ commodification of sexual intimacy
- Sex for sale
○ globalization
- Movement of information and people freely across national boundaries
