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Australian studies in law, crime and justice

Conclusion [from: The working lives of prostitutes]

Published in:
Working girls : prostitutes, their life and social control / Roberta Perkins
ISBN 0 642 15877 0
Canberra : Australian Institute of Criminology, 1991
(Australian studies in law, crime and justice series)

The working world of the prostitute is a complex structure of different operations and methods of trading in sex work, of pricing and management, of services rendered in a supply and demand system, and of men's secret sexual fantasies being expressed and fulfilled. To enter this world is not an easy choice for the women who do so. Some of these women have entered it as juvenile refugees from very unpleasant homelives, the reformatories and teenage street subcultures. But most are women in early adulthood who find themselves in dire financial situations and have someone they trust already involved in the sex industry. Contrary to popular thought, the sex industry is not dominated by mafia-style gangsters and standover pimps, and the women have control over their sexual interactions with clients.

There are the hazards, only too well-known in popular culture, and these include violence, infection, drug addiction and arrest. Occasionally, a prostitute is brutally murdered by a madman, or she is infected with HIV and develops AIDS, or she becomes heavily addicted to narcotics, or she ends up in prison. These are tragic consequences disproportionately "exposed" in the sensationalist press, dramatised in numerous movies, thundered from pulpits as object lessons for wayward women, or argued by politicians eager to show their mettle as strong leaders by calling for tougher legislative measures to deal with prostitutes. The truth, as we have learned, is that most prostitutes protect themselves against potential violence in men and against diseases, avoid overindulging in drugs, and do not involve themselves in crime.

Once again myths have been exploded by the truth of empirical investigation. On the one hand prostitution is a superficial reflection of everyday sex relations with its dominant males gaining access to female bodies through economic power. But, on the other hand, the reality of prostitute women setting limits, gaining in economic strength, and acquiring knowledge of true male sexuality, is a far cry from the common feminist assumptions of prostitutes as the most explicit example of female sexual oppression. I have already alluded to the concept of prostitutes paid to remain silent about the true nature of male sexuality in case men discover one another's secret desires. More threatening still is the possibility of wives and other women learning what prostitutes already know. If they did then the sexual revolution would well be won!