Prostitution: A School of Human Inequality

Abstract

The objective of this paper regarding the present discussion on the prostitution of women is that of contributing to shift the debate from the matter of consent of those prostituted, to a deeper reflection on male buyers. We maintain that focusing on the issue of consent prevents the visibility of the main basis on which the institution of prostitution is built: Men who demand satisfaction of their sexual desire and the ideology which considers pursuing it as something normal, natural and desirable. The article reflects on the consequences of the free and regulated access to women"™s bodies for the male character, men"™s perception of relationships with women and their socialization in such values as equality and sexual reciprocity. Finally it is held that by addressing the prostitution of women in a trivial manner which normalizes and idealizes it, society is reinforcing the very roots of human inequality.