Why Commodification of Sex is Harmful
Prostitution is the practice or occupation of engaging in sexual activity with someone for payment, commodifying sex as a good or service. The legality of prostitution often falls into a grey area. While some countries declare prostitution legal, related activities such as public soliciting, operating brothels, and pimping are frequently prohibited. Similar to the legal perspective, feminism has long debated its stance on prostitution. This discussion can generally be divided into two contrasting views. First, there are anti-prostitution feminists who argue that prostitution exploits women and perpetuates male dominance over them, actively contributing to the maintenance of a patriarchal societal order. They assert that prostitution reinforces the notion of women as objects, specifically sex objects, to be used by men. As John Berger observed in his book Ways of Seeing , "Men 'act' and women 'appear.' Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at....
