Carol Leigh, better known as the “Scarlot Harlot” is an activist, film-maker, and prostitute. She has worked with the COYOTE organization and coined the phrase “sex work” in the late seventies during the sex workers equal rights movement. I learned about Carol’s work when I read the book Sex Work, which is a collection of short stories, essays, and poems from women in the sex industry. The authors give their first-hand accounts doing sex work as exotic dancers, adult film entertainers, and some very “high-class whores”. Carol Leigh’s essay entitled Confession of a Priestitute has forever altered my view of sex work and what it means to go “whoring”.
In her essay Confession of a Priestitute, Carol provides the definition of prostitution as something like: “the selling of one’s goods for an unworthy cause.” There is no mention of an exchange of sex for money in this definition. I was very intrigued when I read this because I had always assumed that prostitution was nothing other than a hussy on the street corner turning tricks for some spare change. Carol’s article challenged everything that I “knew” about prostitution.
According to dictionary.com, the definition of prostitution is: “base or unworthy use, as of talent or ability.” Carol said that prostitution is the exchange of one’s good for unworthy cause. This broad range of prostitution, as mentioned by Carol and dictionary.com, leaves many more women on the unfavorable side of “whoring”. Carol’s essay was fascinating because she asserted that women working in companies that aren’t paying them enough for the great work that they provide meet this definition of prostitution. How many of us get “pimped” by our bosses because we’re afraid we won’t be able to find work somewhere else? How many of us allow our dignity to be compromised by verbally abusive mangers because we’re trapped by our jobs? In other words, we have the service, they have the money. And according to the reasoning of Carol Leigh, folks like this are “prostituting” themselves.
At first, I wasn’t quite convinced by Carol’s argument. I felt like she was taking her definition of prostitution completely out of context. But as I read on, I slowly began to understand the argument that she was making. Carol challenged the idea that prostitution only happens in massage parlors and on street corners. The common scenario that most women find themselves is while out to dinner with a male suitor. On any date where a man pays for a woman’s meal and then spends the night with a woman, an unconventional form of prostitution has taken place, suggests Carol. In many cases, the gentleman won’t go on a second or third date with the young lady, and she’ll be lucky if she gets a courtesy call the next day.
Though it goes against everything that every woman has learned in regards to dating or prostitution, there is some validity to Carol’s argument. An exchange is taking place and more specifically the exchange involves sex and dinner, drinks, and maybe some casual conversation. Carol further probes instances where women prostitute themselves for emotional connections or validation from their partners who they are “intimate” with. With dictionary.com’s definition of prostitution, these young women are partaking in an “unworthy use of their ability or talent”. Women who end dates where they were “treated” by the man who acted like a “gentleman” by paying, certainly were treated but not like the lady that they thought they were. For Carol, these women “are quite ready to start whoring”.
Throughout this Women’s Herstory Series, we have discussed sexploitation in depth. Sexploitation involves the coercion and forced participation of unwilling women, children, transgendered and other marginalized individuals in sex work. Some individuals involved in the debate about sex work may suggest that the efforts of women like Carol Leigh to decriminalize prostitution will actually work to eliminate a black market for buying sex.
I’m not sure if legalizing prostitution is the most suitable solution, but decriminalizing prostitutes will give sex workers more protection under the law, access to services, and bring them out of the dark alleys and covert underworld of sex work. Grotesque sexploitation occurs under such dire conditions because of the laws that are in place to “protect” the good of the people. Who is being protected by these laws, really? Prostitution is the oldest profession and will continue to exist whether it is found socially acceptable or not. Sex workers are set on the periphery of the socio-political agenda and yet their services are sought by people from all levels of the socio-economic strata. Even simply basing one’s opinion off of a fundamental public health concern may be substantial grounds to reanalyze conventional notions of sex work and workers.
In another essay of Sex Work, an essayist quotes a song that she was beginning to write. The lyric was: “My life was so boring til I started whoring.” As we see from Carol Leigh’s essay, “whoring” takes place under many interesting circumstances. After considering the argument of Carol Leigh and reading the definition of prostitution provided by dictionary.com, do you recognize examples of “questionable” forms of prostitution around you?
Even if you aren’t exchanging your talent or ability for sex, are you exchanging them for love, affection, validation, or just to keep a “9-5″?
Has your view of prostitution changed?
On your next date, who will be paying for your meal regardless of if you go home together or not?
Please stay involved in our Herstory Month Series!
What it takes to make a modern woman
Is it still a man’s job to approach a woman?
Women complimenting other women
Other Posts by Eryn:
Human Trafficking Domestic and Abroad
Black History’s Leading Literary Lady
The Black Panther Party For Self Defense
Intelligence of Interference? COINTELPRO and the Black Panther Party
“How they sold Marcus Garvey for rice”-LH
Yes you’re a woman…just a different kind
Vote to Discontinue Black History Month
Where’s my Forty Acres and a Mule
Too black to be white, too white to be black
I don’t date outside my species!
Eryn is a Bostonian native who currently resides in the Metro New York area. She completed her B.A. in Psychology from St. John’s University where she also studied Mandarin, Chinese. Eryn has conducted psycho-social, medical, and environmental research. When she’s off the clock, Eryn spends time learning about world cultures, languages, and the best restaurants in town. She is currently working on her first novel A Beautiful Autymn. You can find more of Eryn’s work ranging from free-writes, poetry, and social analysis at http://autymn.wordpress.com
To me, legalizing prostitution is like legalizing marijuana. the issue is trivial. Legalizing either would do away with some of the dangers that come from the illegal trade, but decriminalizing or not it will continue (and flourish at that). I like the point that was made about prositution coming in many forms. Some women won’t take anything to a physical level until a man has spent enough on them that they don’t feel like a ho, when in actuality they just made an exchange of sex for money. With that said, Big ups to all the girls out there who still sleep with men based on their own merit! -JS and o.. I’m a man.
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Joey,
Thank you for commenting! It’s so great to see a male perspective on women’s issues during this Herstory Month! What you say is very true about how certain women won’t sleep with a man until he spends enough money on them. Prostitution by any other name is still the same thing…selling of one’s goods to an unworthy cause.
Eryn
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WOW….very interesting..definitely never saw prostitution in that way “the exchange of one’s good for unworthy cause”. in some sort of way everyone once in a lifetime prostituted themselves one way or the other. it may not necessary be for sex but like it was mentioned in the article maybe for your boss etc. my question is can you really look down and condone someone for prostitution ( meaning the prostitution everyone knows as sex exchange for money), if everyone is a prostitute in some form or way.
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Tarashon,
You pose such a great point! I think that the point of Carol’s essay was to provoke this exact response. We should all do a thorough look at our lives where we may be exchanging our talents or abilities for an unworthy cause. I’m so glad that you read this article and your perspective changed! Please share this article with other friends!
Eryn
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[...] My life was so boring til’ I started whoring-NA [...]
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[...] My life was so boring til’ I started whoring-NA [...]
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[...] get treated better than the wife I’ve heard. On the surface, that sounds like a decent deal. You get to be treated, doted on with love and kisses, and you don’t have to be restricted to a…. That sounds like a package deal…for some. But what about snuggling in on a Saturday morning [...]
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[...] “My life was so boring til’ I started whoring!”-NA [...]
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[...] “My life was so boring til’ I started whoring!”-NA [...]
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