Gender essay

Sex work is the consensual sexual encounters that take place between two or more adults which, includes some form of payment. Sex work consists of various types of erotic labor such as brothel work, lap dancing, pornography, street work, in-calls, and webcamming. In most cases, sex work may comprise of direct or indirect sexualized interaction between the service provider who are mostly female and the customer who are primarily men. Most of the sex worker have been protesting across the globe contesting working conditions, defending the rights of sex workers and opposing discrimination with the primary aim of minimizing stigmatization on issues associated with sex work. Despite all these movements, the action of the male clients who pay for sex has remained invisible.

The Marxist feminist theory precisely critiques the use of pornography and other various forms of involuntary or voluntary sexual activity in exchange for money or other favors. According to Mackinnon who is a Marxist feminist legal scholar, all sorts of sex trafficking, prostitution and pornography are forms of power that are taken from women and sex abuses (MacKinnon, 1989). Most women do not choose sex work as a career, but rather it is as a result of sexual exploitation. The Reason Why Men and Women Engage in Sex Work Both men and women participate in sexual activities for a different purpose. In most cases, women sell sex while men purchase sex. The primary cause of prostitution is poverty, and it may decrease depending on the income of men.

The male sex ratio and male in transits have a significant impact on sustaining high prostitution levels (Edlund, Korn, 2002). Most women engage in sex work as a result of a change in political, social and economic reality (Robinson, 2007). Just like any other business, commercial sexual exploitation can also be viewed as a system that consists of demand and supply. According to the economic theory, the supply which, is the person that engages in prostitution follows demand the person that purchases sex (Hammond, 2015). In most cases, women who sell sex are arrested regularly while law enforcement does not target or convict men who buy sex. The issue of sex work and prostitution have alienated the feminist thinking in which, most feminist thoughts tend to condemn as a practice, but on the other hand they try to save individual women who engage in sex work.

A significant number of prostitutes do not participate in feminist movements because they feel like feminists provoke their way of life (Kesler, 2002). For a long time, sex work has been controversial. The feminist tends to concentrate on discussing the ambivalent action towards sex work for an extended period (Kissil, Davey, 2010). The neoliberal economic system has normalized the practices of using human body under the financial system (Bindel, 2018). Some countries have legalized sex trade where men can do something for women and get sex as the payment. The society that allows buying of sex and pimping decriminalization proves to the people that women are just vessels for sexual consumption by men. The government and society do not investigate the torture that women endure during sex work which, includes sexual violence.

The gender discriminations expose women in economic and social difficulties that denies them a source of income which, makes them engage in risky behaviors such as sex work. Applying these strategies will help the society to stop tolerating the buying of sex. The government and humanitarian organizations should ensure that there is harm reduction among the sex workers and they should assist those who want to leave for sustainability. Women who engage in sex works need to have significant support them on how they can engage on safe sex and defend themselves from sexual harassment and torture. It is essential for the government and the other institution to formulate and implement initiatives for promoting gender equality such as, extending access to the credit facility, asserting action in education and enforce laws and regulations that are gender sensitive.