Prostitution
Jack had a relationship with a woman who used to prostitute herself. There were a vast array of complexities and levels of understanding. At first his partner wouldn’t admit to her past. Eventually he earned her trust and she felt able to talk of it; part of her wanted some kind of openness and acceptance even with her past. Strangely it never bothered Jack. They got on with it, and the thought that he was having sex with such a woman never crossed his mind once. But he learned a lot about a woman with a past diametrically opposite to his own.
Who wins in prostitution? Is it selling your soul as well as your body? Do prostitutes want to do it, or are they forced into making a deal they really don’t want to do because of the financial shit they happen to be in? Almost all of us don’t really want to go to work, that’s why they have to pay us to get us in there. So doing something against our will – if there wasn’t any pay we wouldn’t choose to operate that machine or whatever. Same with prostitutes. Given a choice, if they could get that pay without shagging a stranger they probably would opt not to do it. So the prostitutes are actually being manipulated by people with money in the same way as we all are in our jobs. To some extent they are being coerced, and that it a wrong being carried out against them. But who’s is using who? Often it seems the prostitutes are being used. There are some who argue the opposite – that it is the prostitutes who are using the punters. But imagine actually being a prostitute, or having prostitution as your past story. Empathise to understand. It is possible to place oneself into that mind-set, and feel the feelings that a prostitute might feel. The stigma. The guilt. Racking your conscience to try to justify one’s actions. Denial creeps in. It is easier for some to put on a false front and pretend that actually they want to be doing it. And when they’ve done many questionable things for some years, they might end up in a tight spot, where if they admit even to themselves that they don’t like what they have done then they are in risk of opening the flood gates to a tidal wave of guilt and self loathing. Easier for some to maintain the illusion it is they who are in control of the punters. Sad for many. And risky to even suggest that many people who have done such things may feel bad about it – opening up many deep feelings for some. But perhaps that is for the best. The best way to go about things is to create memories to be cherished for ever, not guilty images that you will spend the rest of your life struggling to suppress. Be nice.
There’s no blame to be apportioned on any person who has sold their bodies. It is their choice alone, and they deserve love and respect as we all do.
Empathy. Imagine being a prostitute. Jack’s prostitute ex- once said she often needed drugs to get through it. The drugs cut out the depressing reality of her way of life. And prostitution