The Second Oldest Profession

That’s right! Prostitution is not the oldest profession in the world, no matter what people say.

So what’s the oldest??

Farming! Read your Bible if you don’t believe me!

So if farmers are being taken care of by the government and are protected, why aren’t the “working girls” also protected? Is it because there is a stigma attached to prostitution that is not attached to farming?

The sex industry has many needs, beginning with health. I’m not the first and certainly won’t be the last to rail against the discrimination in our country. Other countries require health exams and take good care of the ladies of the night.

Many need treatment for abuse of alcohol and other drugs. They need to be able to have an insurance that helps to pay for such things, as well as access to counseling.

They need legal protection instead of harassment. There is a relevant article that was posted on alternet.org about violence against sex workers. No one seems to care if a prostitute is beaten, robbed, or even murdered.

Someone told me of a female Episcopal priest who took a white tablecloth, candles, and a full meal down to Waikiki one Christmas Eve. She put the cloth over a garbage bin and served the women who were working the streets that night. That kind of caring is rare.

Sex is something we all need. It is a vital and natural part of our lives. For those who have no partner, what is wrong with paying someone for the illusion of love, just for a short while? This goes for women as well as men. But it’s as though even loving or doing something that natural becomes the forbidden act. It suddenly becomes naughty if you pay for it, or do “it” with someone you shouldn’t.

Sometimes I think married women are nothing more than prostitutes. They stay home and clean, care for children, and are expected to be available for sex whenever the husband wants it. They are paid by being given a home and a “name.” At least they are considered righteous and deserving, but often with as little legal protection and rights as a prostitute.

I remember finding a slip of paper for sale in a Tombstone AZ store that was a copy of an old “permit” to be a prostitute. Several of us who were wives took them home and put them up on our kitchen wall. Our husbands didn’t appreciate it one bit.

I think perhaps husbands can feel prostituted, as well. They work to provide a home and income, and in return they are granted a bit of sexual pleasure.

So who are the advocates for the sex workers? Men don’t speak up for fear of being accused of … what? Frequenting brothels? Having caught a disease? Women don’t speak up for them because “it just isn’t the right thing to do.”

Who then will speak up for them?

There is a poem written by Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) who was a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp. He writes about our political apathy until finally there is no one left to speak up for us.

No, I am not a prostitute. It is not a life I choose. So why should I be standing up for them? I have always been an advocate for those who needed me to be – the gays, the lesbians, the blacks, the poor, the children. I could go on and on. Like Niemöller, I must ask, “who will be there for me when I need it?”

This has rambled, I’m afraid, but I hope you understand my intent. Even in hard economic times, sex is something we all need – perhaps even more so, if we are to have that fleeting feeling of belonging and love, even if we have to pay for it.

I blow you a kiss ~ ~ ~
Fanny

Pearl Harbor Commemoration

Today marks another anniversary of the bombing at Pearl Harbor. I had no problem in finding a connection between the intentions of this blog and that event, an event that ushered the United States into a second World War that was already going on in Europe. Prostitution immediately came to mind.

While I was doing the research I needed to write this, there were several issues that surfaced. While prostitution is an “evil corruption” in the minds of most people, there is a subtle change during wartime – or maybe it’s not so subtle.

During war, it becomes a lucrative industry because, after all, we need to give the troops something to live for, we need a way to take care of a man’s needs, we need to let the men have their fun, and even provide it for them - don't we? Not only that, as long as a virile young man is away from his family, having prostitutes around keep these men from latching on to the more “respectable” women. This seems to go back to the "raping and pillaging" of olden times.

When women wanted to join the WAACs (Women's Army Auxiliary Corps), the rumors started to fly that they were all either lesbians or prostitutes. Any Army man caught dating a WAAC was immediately and automatically given medical treatment.

One article I found stated: “In WWII Hawaii, prostitutes were inspected by the vice squad, licensed, and given a strict set of rules (the breaking of which resulted in a severe beating by police).” If you have an interest in this topic, I highly recommend this article. It goes into the legality of brothels, quotas for servicing the servicemen, and rates to be charged.

Victory Girls, Khaki-Wackies, and Patriotutes: The Regulation of Female Sexuality During World War II is a book I tried to find for this post, but my local library didn’t have it. If you can find it, the book would probably be worth a read for those of us who are interested. The title alone sounds like fun. Here are two quotes from the book that I did find online. I don't know the exact pages, but I can give credit to the author, Marilyn E. Hegarty.

“During World War II, prostitutes and many waitresses were required to carry health cards that stated they were free of venereal diseases.”

“Apparently it was not always necessary for a woman to be unescorted or to be displaying blatant sexual availability to be viewed with suspicion.”

I cannot leave the Pacific Rim without mentioning another controversial practice. I have seen estimates that range from 100,000 to 400,000 women who were taken as sex slaves and forced to service as many as fifty Japanese soldiers a day during the war. At least 80-90% were from Korea. These women were euphemistically called “comfort women.” The soldiers would go to “comfort houses” maintained by the Japanese government.

I have a Korean colleague who refuses to call them “comfort women.” She said, “Let’s call them what they were – sex slaves.” Song of the Exile is an excellent novel by Kiana Davenport that focuses on one Korean-Hawaiian woman and her painful life during that period of time.

Meanwhile, on the mainland of the United States, Tampa, Florida became an important staging ground during World War II, and became famous for its prostitution and venereal disease. In the spring of 1943, Florida passed laws prohibiting prostitution and pre-marital sex. I suppose the assumption was that if you were not married and having sex, you were a prostitute! If a woman was thought to be “immoral,” she was grabbed and given an invasive vaginal examination.

In the European Theater of World War II, the Nazi state forced prostitution in order that the German soldiers could be sexually satisfied. It is estimated that a minimum of 34,140 women from occupied states were forced to work as prostitutes during the Third Reich in the camp bordellos or confiscated hotels. These were known as German Soldier's Houses.

So where am I going with this fragmented history? One instructor states that “today we condemn female prostitutes without acknowledging that a large tourist and military presence supports sexual services.”

While I do not condone forced prostitution, I do believe that those who engage in sex as a career need some sort of health care regulations in order to reduce the rate of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. We need to create a supportive environment for these workers (women and men) that provides them with legal, economic and social services.

I blow you a kiss ~ ~ ~
Fanny