Christyn Wietholter

Dr. Field

WGS-329

15 April 2017

Final Paper

Rachel Moran is a victim of the life of prostitution and started at a young age. She had a

story to tell about her life and why she fell into prostitution. She also speaks to why prostitution

should not be decriminalized. She gives a compelling argument into how prostitution really

affects women and the consequences of what would happen if it was decriminalized as well.

Throughout her book, you get a sense of the patriarchal notions of society in stories that she tells

and examinations of why prostitution exists. At times, she calls out the patriarchal society for

what it is. She speaks from a radical feminist point of view and this theory seems to influence her

story. She also speaks from an intersectional view of feminism when she explains the reasons

that women end up prostituting themselves. Her voice is potent in the disagreement with liberal

and libertarian feminists views of prostitution. She discusses there argument and also why she

disagrees with what they are saying. Feminists have disagreed about legalizing prostitution for

many years and there are a multitude of reasons why, but one of the largest concerns is how to

keep these women safe. In telling her life story, Rachel Moran really depicts the real world

experience of prostitution and the effects that it has on women. This compels readers, such as

myself, to see it as most persuasive because she gives real life stories that resonated for me. The

issue of legalizing prostitution is a complex problem that must be addressed.

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 Radical feminism is the idea that society as whole is the reason for oppression and must

be redone in order for women to gain equality. They believe that it is the patriarchy that holds

women down and that because much of the power in society has been in the hands of males this

has caused the subordination of females (Millet, 1969). In this sense, radical feminists do not

advocate for the legalization of prostitution. This includes Rachel Moran who can be seen as

taking a radical feminist theory in her reasons for not legalizing prostitution. Radical feminists

see most any type of sex market, including prostitution, as a form of subordination on the

woman's part. Prostitution also goes against radical feminists views on sexual autonomy, because

the woman is placed into a job that makes them have an obligation to have sex, this eliminates

their control of when and who they have sex with (Shrage, 2004). Prostitution conceives the idea

that women are of lesser status than men, due to the patriarchal nature of how society values

women.

For radical feminists, prostitution can not be seen as a job because it is very different

from other jobs and shows the inferior social status of women (Shrage, 2004). In many ways,

prostitution is a form of subordination but mainly because this job cannot be reciprocated. When

women are delving into prostitution, they are not performing sex work because it cannot be

considered work. Rachel Moran believes this to be true, as she says in her book that society

cannot normalize prostitution because work is incongruent with sex (Moran, 2015). She also

explains how prostitution cannot be work because in prostitution, a person is the product and the

service provider. This does not constitute work in the traditional sense, because a farmer is

providing a service but he is not also the corn who will be consumed. Rachel Moran also

believes that in order for people to say that prostitution is work, they must talk about the skills

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that are involved. In her notion of the skills involved to be a prostitute, it includes the ability to

not vomit, the restraint of crying, and to dissociate yourself for what is happening to you (Moran,

2015). Believing that prostitution can be depicted as work is negating the very nature of what is

happening in prostitution and the effects it has on the people involved.

Radical feminists believe that sexuality in a patriarchal society involves danger because

these sexual practices, like prostitution, perpetuate violence against women (Ferguson, 1984)

Violence against women is a large factor in why Rachel Moran does not want prostitution

decriminalized. In her depiction of what prostitution is in the first place, it is that when you

prostitute yourself what you are really doing is accepting payment for the sexual abuse of your

own body (Moran, 2015). In this sense, anyone who uses a prostitute is actually sexually abusing

them but because society says that the women are the ones sanctioning it, that it is okay. Another

problem radical feminists, along with Rachel Moran, have is the idea of consent. A lot of

prostitutes start as underage girls, such as Rachel Moran, this being said there has to be an

explanation of the fact that in most societies underage girls cannot consent to having sex with an

adult. Also, as Rachel Moran (2015) expressed its not possible to consent to a lifestyle that you

cant understand until you are completely immersed in that lifestyle. Aside from the act of

actually prostituting themselves that is sexual abuse, women in prostitution are also raped and

abused physically, mentally and spiritually. Rachel Moran (2015) states that the threat of

violence was almost more terrorizing because it is encountered more than physical violence

itself, but prostitutes always know that there is a possibility of violence and that it is not if but

when. This examination of violence in prostitution is what makes legalizing prostitution not

applicable, simply because prostitution itself is violence against women.

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 Rachel Moran also takes an intersectional feminist theory on the reasons that women end

up in prostitution. She does this by examining why she herself ended up in prostitution.

Intersectional Feminism is the idea that not only is the fact that someone is a woman a form of

their oppression but also there race, ethnicity and social status. In Rachel Morans account of

how she got into prostitution, she describes how she was of poor socioeconomic status and had

parents who were mentally ill. She found herself homeless with no money and a boyfriend who

encouraged her to prostitute herself. In this sense, she believes that her life circumstances as a

child and teenager primed her to enter a life of prostitution (Moran, 2015). This shows that

minority groups have a higher chance of entering prostitution because of their class. This creates

an intersectional view that not only are women being oppressed and subordinated into

prostitution but other groups are as well. This dimension of classes creates a group of people

who see no other option than to prostitute themselves in order to survive, which is a form of

oppression.

On the other side of the argument are the people who are fighting for the

decriminalization of prostitution. Liberal feminists are one of these groups. Liberal feminism is

the belief that women need to gain equal power in the already socially constructed dimensions of

society, such as education and politics (Baehr, 2007). For Liberal feminists, they believe that a

person should have complete personal autonomy and be able to do what they please with their

bodies. Libertarian feminists also hold this to be true for sexuality because it can be a liberating

experience of pleasure for consenting people (Ferguson, 1984). One of the liberal feminist

opinions comes from Amnesty International. While they are liberal in the sense that they want to

create equal opportunities for women, they are also intersectional because of their views on how

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racial and economic status can affect womens involvement in prostitution. They created a policy

to protect the human rights of sex workers and influence people to decriminalize it in order to

protect these rights. They have many reasons for wanting to decriminalize prostitution.

Prostitution will be here on referred to as sex work because that is what Amnesty

International depicts the consensual exchanges of money for sex as. Amnesty International

explains one of the problems with sex work is that people criminalize and stigmatize it, this

forces sex workers to operate outside of society and puts them in dangerous environments

(Amnesty International, 2016). Along with stigmatization is the discrimination of sex workers

because of their gender, race, sexual orientation, etc., this creates a group of discrimination

because of a multitude of intersectional issues. Sex workers face shame and judgement because

they are seen as transgressing the societal norms, this can cause them to be denied their freedoms

at times. This is one reason that Amnesty International wants to decriminalize sex work and

pushes for governments to protect sex workers from this discrimination and stigmatization so

that they can do their work safely.

Following the stigmatization and discrimination is the violence that these women face.

For this fact, Amnesty wants all of sex work to be decriminalized, including the clients who use

sex workers and third parties. They also want the laws such as loitering to be revoked because

these laws also discriminate against sex workers. Amnesty International (2016) explains that

these laws that incriminate sex workers causes them to be susceptible to violence because they

have to be covert, it prohibits actions that sex workers may use for safety and it denies them

protection from the government. Another big issue throughout Amnesty international is the fact

that criminalization of sex work can lead to law enforcement officials to act violently, harass and

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extort sex workers. When violence is committed against sex workers, police tend to not

investigate it either (From Margin to Center: Sex Work Decriminalization is a Racial Justice

Issue, 2016). This makes it easier for perpetrators of violence against sex workers to get away

with it as well because they know that the sex workers can not do much if police will not

investigate it, creating more violence against sex workers due to the criminalization of it. Aside

from the violence that women face due to prostitution being criminalized, they also face other

repercussions. Amnesty International (2016) also explains how sex workers may be penalized in

their housing and health opportunities as well because of their work. They also do not receive

proper protections that other people receive under labor laws, that they would if sex work was

legalized. These factors are the reasons that Amnesty International wants to legalize sex work in

order for it to become safe and regulated to eliminate the instances that have been previously

stated.

In the issues brought up from each radical and liberal feminist theory and the people who

support these theories, it is clear to see that feminist groups disagree about certain issues

especially prostitution. One large reason for why they disagree is because they have trouble

deciding what is the best way to keep women safe. For feminism as a whole, it is the idea that

women are equals and deserve to have equal opportunities, including not being victims to

violence because of sex discrimination. In regards to keeping women safe, prostitution poses a

big question because it in itself can be seen as violence towards women. For liberal feminists,

they believe it should be up to the person who is consenting into the sex work and it should be

decriminalized so that it can be regulated, not secret and therefore less violent. Amnesty (2016)

brings up the issue of consent, and states that consenting to sell sex does not mean consenting to

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violence and that this issue of consent can be rescinded at any time. Previously stated in this

paper though, was Rachel Morans version of consent, that prostitution could never really be

considered consent. This also shows how in disagreement with the liberal feminists, Rachel

Moran brings up the important issue of prostitution itself being a form of sexual abuse and

violence, and therefore can never be normalized into work. These feminisms disagree on

prostitution also because of how they see the world, for radical feminists, the patriarchy is what

rules society, so for them prostitution can only be seen as the subordination of women. For

liberal feminists on the other hand, they believe that women should be able to do what they want

with their bodies and that this form of control does not subordinate women. Prostitution is a

complex issue and as you can see, there are many reasons why it is disagreed upon by feminists.

Prostitution can be seen in many lights and people have different opinions on how to

address prostitution. In my opinion, people should be able to do whatever they want with their

bodies as long as they are consenting to it but when it comes to prostitution Rachel Morans

argument was the most persuasive. In any circumstances, when a person hears a life story and

every gritty detail, it tends to resonate with them because you can put a face on it and not just

negate it as a group doing societally abnormal things. For me, Rachel Morans story not only was

the most persuasive because she explained what happened to her but also because she related it

into her reasons of why prostitution should not be decriminalized. She basically took every

argument that pro-legalization advocates had and ripped it apart. Her use of real life experience

with how people tend to explain broad terms, such as consent, resonated with the fact that we use

these terms in recognition of what people want to be happening when prostitution is legalized,

but not what happens in reality. Also, her depictions of women actually being forced into

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prostitution because of their life circumstances resonated with me in how other societal issues

could actually be the cause of prostitution and maybe everybody is looking at the wrong issue.

Rachel Moran gave an accurate and potent depiction of how prostitution affects women and why

it should not be legalized.

In conclusion, prostitution is a complex issue that needs to be addressed. Many of the

feminist groups tend to disagree but until there is a compromising ground, prostitution issues will

never be solved. All feminist theories hold to value that women should be safe from violence and

this is the goal for them. Rachel Moran held a compelling argument against legalization in the

real effects that it had on her and most other prostitutes. Her intersectional views also played into

the large emphasis that life circumstances such as low socioeconomic status, have on a womans

decision to prostitute herself. This brings up a larger intersectional issue of how prostitution can

be perpetuated because of many other factors in life and is not simply a choice. Feminists will

continue to disagree about this issue until they find a safe balance for what they are all fighting

for.

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References

Amnesty International. (2016, May 26). https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/

pol30/4062/2016/en/

Baehr, A. R. (2007, October 18). Liberal Feminism. Retrieved February 02, 2017, from http://

plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-liberal/

Ferguson, A. (1984). Sex War: The Debate between Radical and Libertarian Feminists. Signs:

Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 10(1), 106-112.

From Margin to Center: Sex Work Decriminalization is a Racial Justice Issue. (2016, December

14). http://blog.amnestyusa.org/us/from-margin-to-center-sex-work-decriminalization-is-

a-racial-justice-issue/

Millet, Kate (1969). Theory of Sexual Politics. Retrieved from https://www.marxists.org/

subject/women/authors/millett-kate/theory.htm

Moran, R. (2015). Paid for: my journey through prostitution. New York, NY: W.W. Norton &

Company, Inc.

Shrage, L. (2004, February 18). Feminist Perspectives on Sex Markets. Retrieved April 24, 2017,

from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminist-sex-markets/#Pros

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