A very basic question but I've failed to get an apt answer to it from the intellectuals and the not so intellectuals of varied degrees. Includes me too and I often wonder in which category do I fall. I'm not taking any sides on this and just asking you and myself - WHY IS PROSTITUTION treated as a debauched and a libertine profession? What's there in this exchange of service that we find so disgusting and thus look down upon a prostitute as a last grade human being?
Being an Indian I can still quickly put the onus on the prevalent cultural values and say it's because sex itself is seen and treated as a "don't say it" word and thus anything attached to it gets the same treatment (then my question to you would be why sex is treated as such here). And though the west societies have progressed a lot in every f***ing sense but the stigma with the sex workers still remains. Why are we unable to respect a human being who lets us use his/her body to satisfy our need in lieu of a fixed rate that we both decide before doing that act of pure need and desire? What makes it so different from a service of a body massager, a hair trimmer, a pedicure provider etc etc?
We've been witness to many evils in society in past few centuries and slowly and steadily they've been wiped out with the evolution of the society. Prostitution on the other hand has grown in leaps and bounds all over the world right from the 18th century. Does this make it as naturally not so evil for the society? The argument may not impress you much but I fail to recognize the evils attached to prostitution. The one who doesn't want to visit a whore is not being forced and the one who wants to is free to do so. Just like no Sikh guy is forced to visit a hair cutting saloon located in the same locality that he lives and crosses it 13 times in a day.
I think it's enough to tickle your brains on this issue and get some ideas and answers out of you. Sex according to me is a need both physical and psychological for the human body and someone is just giving you food at his restaurant by charging you. It's your wish to have it there or not but can you really look down upon him/her running that business?
Jass Oberroi
P.S.- 1) *** stands for "uck"
2) No offenses meant by the title. The author (wow! happens to be ME) just loves playing with the "god" concept.
