Selling Sex

What do you think of when you hear about selling sex? Prostitution? Celebrities? Women, men or both? As a young female, I feel that women are used more to sell sex as opposed to men. To broaden this topic lets just say you can see the trade of sex on three spectrums. There is the Western concept of sex, exploitation for popularity, lesser is better (clothing wise), and of course, put sex everywhere because that’s all people are really interested in (not the best concept). Then you have the Eastern side of the spectrum, cover it up, it’s as secretive as the black market (everyone knows about it but act as if they don’t), yet the exploitation of females is common and considered normal (practical?). Lastly, you have the combination of the two, such as mail-order brides (women exploiting themselves to the Western world to gain entrance into it), pornography industry which definitely combines the two, and the well known concept of sex trafficking.

Now in the Western world, selling sex is done almost as easily as it’s said. It’s freely available online to people of all ages, therefore making it a societal norm. When the youth of today grow up, indecent exposure might be considered normal, or even necessary to warrant fame. Sex is used to sell all types of products, it’s in the bud of many jokes, it’s all over television, movies (the general pop culture data base). Why does sex sell so easily? Because the formalities of society has been constantly lowered. Sex went from a liberating concept, to that of indecent exposure over the course of a few decades. Do we want sex to be as easily accessible as it is today? I guess this question may be more difficult for a parent to answer rather than me. The vulgarity and somewhat offensive nature that sexual content produces objectifies women quite severely in the Western world. However, whose choice is it to stop it? I mean, playboy bunnies such as Holly Madison, Kendra Wilkinson, etc feel completely comfortable and liberated going on TV, strutting around naked, and having men gawk at them. They know they’re objects of lust to those men, and they embrace it. I have no problem with that. In fact, I have a little bit of respect for them because they’re proud of themselves inside out (even though the outer parts may be fake). But this does not mean that I want to be viewed in the same context by men. So I them problem that is proposed is the border. Do people know when they’ve crossed the line when it comes to sex?

In the East (I have not been so this may not be completely accurate), I feel that sex isn’t as mainstream as it is in North America. It’s as though cultural restraints have still kept their nations from being fully exploited. Do nation that consist of largely religious populated areas have less risk of this exposure become of their common shared morals? Is North America in faster decay because of its diverse, ever so modern and changing persona? Well not quite, the East is definitely catching up in the exploitation isle. Sex trafficking generates a good part of funds going into these growing economies, but obviously enough is greatly supported by the people of North America. Women are forced into prostitution, brothels, and are commonly sold between pimps and gangs to generate funds from tourists. Thailand and Cambodia hold high reputations for child sex trafficking, and the tourists flock for their piece.

This leads me to ask one more question. When sex is made main stream is it safer? Although sex trafficking, brothels, child pornography, etc all exist in North America, it seems to exist on a much smaller scale than that of the East. Is this because human rights are so greatly honored, or can some of the contribution be because sex is mainstream, therefore the right and wrongs of sex are also acknowledged? Is the selling of sex much more dangerous where it is being ignored? I suppose so.