Sex industry - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The sex industry consists of business

Business

A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...

es which either directly or indirectly provide sex-related products and services or adult entertainment. The sex industry includes adult sex-related products and services such as prostitution

Prostitution

Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...

in all its forms, pornography

Pornography

Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...

in all its forms, sex shop

Sex shop

A sex shop, erotic shop is a shop that sells products related to adult sexual or erotic entertainment, such as sex toys, lingerie, clothing, pornography, and other related products...

s, strip club

Strip club

A strip club is an adult entertainment venue in which striptease or other erotic or exotic dance is regularly performed. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or bar style, but can also adopt a theatre or cabaret-style....

s, sex-oriented men's magazines, sex movies and sex channels for television, besides others.

The sex industry is subject to a variety of legal restrictions and regulations around the world. For example, participation of minors in the industry is almost universally not permitted, as is the trafficking

Human trafficking

Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...

of people for the purpose of prostitution. The regulations which apply to the industry vary considerably from one jurisdiction to another.

Industry sectors

The term sex industry can be understood as metaphorical, comprising multiple forms of sex-for-money exchanges. Many people refer to broad categories such as prostitution

Prostitution

, adult entertainment and commercial sex.

Prostitution involves the provision of sexual services to another person in return for payment. The services are labour intensive, usually involving direct contact between the sex worker

Sex worker

A sex worker is a person who works in the sex industry. The term is usually used in reference to those in the sex industry that actually provide such sexual services, as opposed to management and staff of such industries...

and a client. Other participants in the sector are the managers of the sex workers (sometimes pejoratively referred to as "pimp

Pimp

A pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...

s") and those who provide facilities where the sexual services are provided, sometimes referred to as brothel

Brothel

Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...

s. Some businesses, such as massage parlours and saunas, also provide sex services. Prostitution can also be provided from locations chosen by the client, sometimes referred as by escort agencies

Escort agency

Escort agencies are companies that provide escorts for the agency's clients. The agency typically arranges a meeting between one of its escorts and the client at the customer's house or hotel room , or at the escort's residence . Some agencies also provide escorts for longer durations, who may stay...

, such as at a client's hotel room or home and at other locations. Another form is street prostitution

Street prostitution

Street prostitution is a form of prostitution in which a sex worker solicits customers from a public place, most commonly a street, while waiting at street corners or walking alongside a street, but also other public places such as parks, beaches, etc. The street prostitute is often dressed in a...

.

Adult entertainment includes live performances. These can be in sex show

Sex show

A sex show is a form of live performance that features one or more performers engaging in some form of sexual activity on stage for the entertainment or sexual gratification of spectators. Performers are paid either by the spectators or by the organisers of the show. A performance would involve an...

s or strip club

Strip club

s and can involve lapdance

Lapdance

Lapdance may refer to:* Lap dance, a specific type of erotic dance offered in some strip clubs* "Lapdance", a single by N*E*R*D from their 2001 album In Search of...* LAPDANCE, a design for distributed computing...

or other erotic dance

Erotic dancing

Erotic dance is a major category or classification of dance forms or dance styles, where the purpose is the stimulation or arousal of erotic or sexual thoughts or actions....

. These generally do not involve actual contact between the performer and the audience (with the exception of lapdances). Non-contact interaction between the sex worker and a client can also be made through webcam

Webcam

A webcam is a video camera that feeds its images in real time to a computer or computer network, often via USB, ethernet, or Wi-Fi.Their most popular use is the establishment of video links, permitting computers to act as videophones or videoconference stations. This common use as a video camera...

or telephone

Phone sex

Phone sex is a type of virtual sex that refers to sexually explicit conversation between or other persons via telephone, especially when at least one of the participants masturbates or engages in sexual fantasy...

. Live performances can also be taped and distributed through the Internet in a variety of forms.

Adult entertainment can also involve portrayals through any media

Multimedia

Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...

of material which provides sexual excitement and erotic satisfaction to the viewer, usually referred to as pornography

Pornography

or erotica

Erotica

Erotica are works of art, including literature, photography, film, sculpture and painting, that deal substantively with erotically stimulating or sexually arousing descriptions...

. The media through which pornography can be presented includes films, animation, photographs, drawings, literature and other ways. They are distributed in a variety of ways, including publication in adult magazine

Pornographic magazine

Pornographic magazines, sometimes known as adult magazines, sex magazines or top-shelf magazines are pornographic magazines that contain content of a sexual nature. Adult magazines are mainly aimed towards men, and in some parts of the world, many men's first sight of a naked woman has been in an...

s, books, DVD etc, and can be sold through sex shop

Sex shop

A sex shop, erotic shop is a shop that sells products related to adult sexual or erotic entertainment, such as sex toys, lingerie, clothing, pornography, and other related products...

s or over the internet. Adult films can also be obtained or rented through sex shops or over the internet or viewed on DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

, on pay-tv, in adult movie theaters and adult video arcade

Adult video arcade

Adult video arcades are X-rated movie previewing areas. They arealmost always attached to a sex shop or an adult book store , where magazines,movies, and sexual aids are sold. An arcade consists of typically a dozen...

s. It is also available on home video

Home video

Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...

and DVD, pay-per-view

Pay-per-view

Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...

, live streaming video

Streaming media

Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...

and video on demand

Video on demand

Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...

.

The industry also includes businesses which produce and distribute sex toy

Sex toy

A sex toy is an object or device that is primarily used to facilitate human sexual pleasure. The most popular sex toys are designed to resemble human genitals and may be vibrating or non-vibrating...

s and which enable people to meet to engage in sexual activities, such as sex club

Sex club

Sex clubs are either groups that organize sex related activities or an establishment where patrons can engage in sex acts with other patrons. A sex club differs from a brothel in that, while sex club patrons typically pay a fee to enter the club, they have sex with other patrons rather than with...

s, gay bathhouse

Gay bathhouse

Gay bathhouses, also known as gay saunas or steam baths, are commercial bathhouses for men to have sex with other men. In gay slang in some regions these venues are also known colloquially as "the baths" or "the tubs," and should not be confused with public bathing.Not all men who visit gay...

, darkroom

Dark room (sexuality)

A darkroom or dark room is a darkened room, sometimes located in a nightclub, gay bathhouse or sex club, where sexual activity can take place...

, and others.

In the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, the pornographic film industry is centered in the San Fernando Valley

San Fernando Valley

The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...

of Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, with an estimated 200 production companies in the region employing as many as 1,500 performers, making up to 11,000 films and estimated to earn as much as $13 billion

1000000000 (number)

1,000,000,000 is the natural number following 999,999,999 and preceding 1,000,000,001.In scientific notation, it is written as 109....

a year. In 2002, there were at least 2,500 strip clubs in the United States generating an estimated revenue of US$3.1 billion, 19% of the legal

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

adult entertainment. By 2010, the number of clubs in the U. S. has grown to approximately 4,000.

Researcher Laura Agustín

Laura María Agustín

Laura María Agustín is a sociologist who studies undocumented migration, informal labor markets, trafficking and the sex industry. She is critical of the conflation of the terms "human trafficking" with "prostitution", arguing that the Rescue industry often ascribes victim status to people who...

has called for a cultural study of commercial sex that would document all participants and locations associated with the sex industry, de-centre and thereby de-stigmatise sex workers and reveal the extent to which ordinary society is involved.

Participants

The sex industry employs a multitude of people. These range from the sex worker

Sex worker

, also called adult service provider (ASP) or adult sex provider, who provides sexual services, to a multitude of support personnel. Sex workers can be prostitute

Prostitution

s, pornographic actor

Pornographic actor

A pornographic actor/actress or a porn star is a person who appears in pornographic film. Most actors appear nude in films...

s, pornographic model

Pornography

s, sex show

Sex show

performers, erotic dancer

Erotic dancing

Erotic dance is a major category or classification of dance forms or dance styles, where the purpose is the stimulation or arousal of erotic or sexual thoughts or actions....

s, telephone sex

Phone sex

operators, or webcam sex operators.

In addition, like any other industry, there are people who work in or service the sex industry as managers, film crews, photographers, those working in development and maintenance of websites, processing orders, producing and selling DVDs and other sex articles, printing magazines and books, etc. Some create business models, traffic trading, press releases, negotiate contracts with other owners, buy and sell content, technical support, servers, billing, payroll, organise trade shows and various events, marketing and sales forecasts, human resources, taxes and legal.

Usually, those in management or staff do not have direct dealings with sex workers, instead hiring photographers under contract who have a direct social network with the sex industry and sex workers. Pornography is a product that management and staff in the adult industry professionally markets and sells to adult webmasters for distribution on the Internet.

Brothel business models

Brothel

s operate using a variety of business model

Business model

A business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value...

the prostitutes can operate as contract workers who split their earnings with the brothel. They can at times be expected to "tip" support staff (cleaners, limo drivers, etc.). They will usually receive no benefits, such as health insurance, and no withholding for taxes.
the prostitutes can be employees who receive a small fixed salary and a portion of the money paid by the customer, the balance of which is retained by the brothel.
the prostitutes pay a fee for use of the facilities, with the brothel owner not being involved in the financial transaction between a prostitute and client. In cases of illegal brothels, this arrangement provides some level of plausible deniability
Plausible Denial
Plausible Denial is the title of a book by American lawyer, Mark Lane that chronicles his legal defense of Victor Marchetti, a former-CIA agent who wrote an article for The Spotlight about the JFK assassination and was sued for defamation by E...

to the facility owner, who maintains that the facility is legitimate, such as a massage parlor
Massage parlor
A massage parlor is a business where customers can receive a massage. Sometimes the term is synonymous with brothel as the term "massage" may be used as a euphemism for paid sexual favours....

, bar
Bar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...

, strip club
Strip club
A strip club is an adult entertainment venue in which striptease or other erotic or exotic dance is regularly performed. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or bar style, but can also adopt a theatre or cabaret-style....

or similar business.

Pornography

is the explicit portrayal of explicit sexual

Sexual intercourse

Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...

subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal

Sexual arousal

Sexual arousal, or sexual excitement, is the arousal of sexual desire, during or in anticipation of sexual activity. Things that precipitate human sexual arousal are called erotic stimuli, or colloquially known as turn-ons. There are many potential stimuli, both physical or mental, which can cause...

and erotic satisfaction

Orgasm

Orgasm is the peak of the plateau phase of the sexual response cycle, characterized by an intense sensation of pleasure...

. A pornographic model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....

poses for pornographic photographs. A pornographic actor
Pornographic actor
A pornographic actor/actress or a porn star is a person who appears in pornographic film. Most actors appear nude in films...

or porn star performs in pornographic films. In cases where limited dramatic skills are involved, a performer in pornographic films may be called a pornographic model. Porn is be provided to the consumer in a variety of media, ranging from books

Erotic literature

Erotic literature comprises fictional and factual stories and accounts of human sexual relationships which have the power to or are intended to arouse the reader sexually. Such erotica takes the form of novels, short stories, poetry, true-life memoirs, and sex manuals...

, magazines

Pornographic magazine

, postcard

Postcard

A postcard or post card is a rectangular piece of thick paper or thin cardboard intended for writing and mailing without an envelope....

s, photos

Photograph

A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...

, sculpture

Sculpture

Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...

, drawing

Drawing

Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...

, painting

Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

, animation

Animation

Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...

, sound recording, film, video

Video

Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...

, or video game. However, when sexual acts are performed for a live audience, by definition it is not pornography, as the term applies to the depiction of the act, rather than the act itself. Thus, portrayals such as sex show

Sex show

s and striptease

Striptease

A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner...

are not classified as pornography.

Pornography is classified into softcore

Softcore

Softcore pornography is a form of filmic or photographic pornography or erotica that is less sexually explicit than hardcore pornography. It is intended to tickle and arouse men and women. Softcore pornography depicts nude and semi-nude performers engaging in casual social nudity or non-graphic...

and hardcore

Hardcore pornography

Hardcore pornography is a form of pornography that features explicit sexual acts. The term was coined in the second half of the 20th century to distinguish it from softcore pornography. It usually takes the form of photographs, often displayed in magazines or on the Internet, or films. It can also...

categories, based on whether or not penetration

Sexual penetration

Sexual penetration is a sexual activity that involves the entry into a bodily orifice, such as the vagina, anus or mouth, with a body part or an object....

is depicted, and laws and social attitudes are not as critical of soft core pornography.

The first home-PC

Computer

A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...

s capable of network communication

Computer network

A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information....

prompted the arrival of online services for adults in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The wide-open early days of the World Wide Web

World Wide Web

The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...

quickly snowballed into the dot-com boom

Dot-com bubble

The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...

, in-part fueled by an incredible global increase in the demand for and consumption

Consumption (economics)

Consumption is a common concept in economics, and gives rise to derived concepts such as consumer debt. Generally, consumption is defined in part by comparison to production. But the precise definition can vary because different schools of economists define production quite differently...

of porn

Pornography

and erotica

Erotica

Erotica are works of art, including literature, photography, film, sculpture and painting, that deal substantively with erotically stimulating or sexually arousing descriptions...

Sex tourism

Both men and women travel away from their home to engage in sex tourism

Sex tourism

Sex tourism is travel to engage in sexual activity with prostitutes.The World Tourism Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, defines sex tourism as "trips organized from within the tourism sector, or from outside this sector but using its structures and networks, with the primary...

, though the pattern of attraction tend to the different between them. Male sex tourism can create or augment demand for sex services in the host countries, while female sex tourism

Female sex tourism

Female sex tourism is travel by women, partially or fully for the purpose of having sex. The practice differs from male sex tourism in that women do not typically use the structures of the sex industry Female sex tourism is travel by women, partially or fully for the purpose of having sex. The...

tends not to use existing sex facilities. Like tourism in general, sex tourism can make a significant contribution to local economies, especially in popular urban centers. Sex tourism may arise as a result of stringent anti-prostitution laws in a tourist's home country, but can create social problems in the host country.

Location

Businesses that provide sex services tend to cluster around military bases. The British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

naval port of Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

had a flourishing local sex industry in the 19th century, and until the early 1990s there were large red light district

Red-light district

A red-light district is a part of an urban area where there is a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, adult theaters, etc...

s near American military bases in the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. The Monto

Monto

Monto was the nickname for a one-time notorious red light district in Dublin, the capital of Ireland...

red-light district of Dublin, one of the largest in Europe, gained most of its custom from the British soldiers stationed in the city; indeed it collapsed after Irish independence was achieved and the soldiers left. The notorious Patpong

Patpong

Patpong is an entertainment district in Bangkok, Thailand, catering mainly, though not exclusively, to foreign tourists and expatriates. While Patpong is internationally known as a red light district at the heart of Bangkok's sex industry, it is in fact only one of numerous red-light districts...

entertainment district in Bangkok

Bangkok

Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...

, and the city of Pattaya

Pattaya

Pattaya is a city in Thailand, located on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about 165 km southeast of Bangkok located within but not part of Amphoe Bang Lamung in the province of Chonburi....

, Thailand, started as R&R

R&R (military)

R&R, military slang for rest and recuperation , is a term used for the free time of a soldier in the US military or International UN staff serving in non-family duty stations. R&R includes various forms, including mail, sports, film screenings, using the services of prostitutes and leave time...

locations for US troops serving in the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

in the early 1970s.

Opposition

The sex industry is very controversial, and many people, organizations and governments have strong moral objections to it, and, as a result, pornography

Pornography

, prostitution

Prostitution

, striptease

Striptease

A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner...

and other similar occupations are illegal in many countries.

The term anti-pornography movement

Anti-pornography movement

The term anti-pornography movement is used to describe those who argue that pornography has a variety of harmful effects, such as encouragement of human trafficking, desensitization, pedophilia, dehumanization, sexual exploitation, sexual dysfunction, and inability to maintain healthy sexual...

is used to describe those who argue that pornography

Pornography

has a variety of harmful effects, such as encouragement of human trafficking

Human trafficking

Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...

, desensitization, pedophilia

Pedophilia

As a medical diagnosis, pedophilia is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or late adolescents typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children...

, dehumanization, exploitation, sexual dysfunction

Sexual dysfunction

Sexual dysfunction or sexual malfunction refers to a difficulty experienced by an individual or a couple during any stage of a normal sexual activity, including desire, arousal or orgasm....

, and inability to maintain healthy sexual relationships.

Sociological objections

Dolf Zillmann asserts that extensive viewing of pornographic material produces many sociological

Sociology

Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...

effects which he characterizes as unfavorable, including a decreased respect for long-term, monogamous

Monogamy

Monogamy /Gr. μονός+γάμος - one+marriage/ a form of marriage in which an individual has only one spouse at any one time. In current usage monogamy often refers to having one sexual partner irrespective of marriage or reproduction...

relationships, and an attenuated desire for procreation. He claims that pornography can "potentially undermine the traditional values that favor marriage, family, and children" and it depicts sexuality in a way which is not connected to "emotional attachment, of kindness, of caring, and especially not of continuance of the relationship, as such continuance would translate into responsibilities"

Additionally, some researchers claim that pornography causes unequivocal harm to society by increasing rates of sexual assault

Sexual assault

Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....

, a line of research which has been critiqued in "The effects of Pornography: An International Perspective" on external validity grounds, while others claim there is a correlation between pornography and a decrease of sex crimes.

Feminist objections

Many feminists

Feminism

Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...

object to the sex industry, which they argue is exploitative of women who work in it and contributes to the male-centered objectification

Sexual objectification

Sexual objectification refers to the practice of regarding or treating another person merely as an instrument towards one's sexual pleasure, and a sex object is a person who is regarded simply as an object of sexual gratification or who is sexually attractive...

of women, increases sexual violence

Sexual violence

Sexual violence occurs throughout the world, although in most countries there has been little research conducted on the problem. Due to the private nature of sexual violence, estimating the extent of the problem is difficult...

against women and undermines the objective of gender equality

Gender equality

Gender equality is the goal of the equality of the genders, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality.- Concept :...

. They argue that prostitution

Prostitution

is a form of male domination and violence against women

Violence against women

Violence against women is a technical term used to collectively refer to violent acts that are primarily or exclusively committed against women...

. Feminists argue that, in most cases, prostitution is not a conscious and calculated choice. They say that most women who become prostitutes do so because they were forced or coerced by a pimp or by human trafficking, or, when it is an independent decision, it is generally the result of extreme poverty and lack of opportunity, or of serious underlying problems, such as drug addiction, past trauma (such as child sexual abuse) and other unfortunate circumstances.
Based on these arguments, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

and Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

have criminalized the buying, but not the selling, of sexual services (the client commits a crime, but not the prostitute).

Some feminists are opposed to pornography, arguing that it is an industry which exploits women and which is complicit in violence against women

Violence against women

Violence against women is a technical term used to collectively refer to violent acts that are primarily or exclusively committed against women...

, both in its production (where they charge that abuse and exploitation of women performing in pornography is rampant) and in its consumption (where they charge that pornography eroticizes the domination, humiliation, and coercion of women, and reinforces sexual and cultural attitudes that are complicit in rape

Rape

Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

and sexual harassment

Sexual harassment

Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...

). They charge that pornography contributes to the male-centered objectification of women and thus to sexism. However, other feminists are opposed to censorship, and have argued against the introduction of anti-porn legislation in the United States - among them Betty Friedan

Betty Friedan

Betty Friedan was an American writer, activist, and feminist.A leading figure in the Women's Movement in the United States, her 1963 book The Feminine Mystique is often credited with sparking the "second wave" of American feminism in the twentieth century...

, Kate Millett

Kate Millett

Kate Millett is an American lesbian feminist writer and activist. A seminal influence on second-wave feminism, Millet is best known for her 1970 book Sexual Politics.-Career:...

, Karen DeCrow

Karen DeCrow

Karen DeCrow is an American feminist attorney, author, and activist. Beginning her career as a journalist, she joined the National Organization for Women in 1969, and in 1969 she ran for Mayor of the city of Syracuse, New York, becoming the first female mayoral candidate in the history of New York...

, Wendy Kaminer

Wendy Kaminer

Wendy Kaminer is a lawyer and writer. She has written several books on contemporary social issues, including A Fearful Freedom: Women's Flight From Equality, about the conflict between egalitarian and protectionist feminism; I'm Dysfunctional, You're Dysfunctional: The Recovery Movement and Other...

and Jamaica Kincaid

Jamaica Kincaid

Jamaica Kincaid is a Caribbean novelist, gardener, and gardening writer. She was born in the city of St. John's on the island of Antigua in the nation of Antigua and Barbuda...

Conservative and religious objections

The Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

considers pornography grave matter, meaning that its use and production are mortally sinful

Mortal sin

Mortal sins are in the theology of some, but not all Christian denominations wrongful acts that condemn a person to Hell after death. These sins are considered "mortal" because they constitute a rupture in a person's link to God's saving grace: the person's soul becomes "dead", not merely weakened...

if done with full knowledge of its gravity and full consent.
Social and religious conservatives condemn the sex industry. They argue that this industry undermines the family and leads to the moral breakdown of society. They say that these professions are amoral, weaken family values

Family values

Family values are political and social beliefs that hold the nuclear family to be the essential ethical and moral unit of society. Familialism is the ideology that promotes the family and its values as an institution....

, and are contrary to the religion's teachings and human dignity.

Other objections

The sex industry often raises objections because it is sometimes connected to criminal activities, such as human trafficking

Human trafficking

Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...

, illegal immigration

Illegal immigration

Illegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In...

, drug abuse

Substance abuse

A substance-related disorder is an umbrella term used to describe several different conditions associated with several different substances .A substance related disorder is a condition in which an individual uses or abuses a...

, and exploitation of children (child pornography

Child pornography

Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...

, child prostitution

Prostitution of children

Prostitution of children or child prostitution is the commercial sexual exploitation of children in which a child performs the services of prostitution, for financial benefit. The term normally refers to prostitution by a minor, or person under the local age of majority...

). The sex industry also raises concerns about the spread of STDs

Sexually transmitted disease

Sexually transmitted disease , also known as a sexually transmitted infection or venereal disease , is an illness that has a significant probability of transmission between humans by means of human sexual behavior, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex...

External links

AVN, Adult Entertainment Video News, world's largest adult entertainment B2B company.
NAASAS, The National Association for the Advancement of Science & Art in Sexuality (NAASAS) is the adult trade organization which provides professional and educational resources to unify and positively impact adult businesses.
AdultWork, a large independent directory of Adult Service Providers
Sex Industry adult daily deals Rated R Deals, Adult entertainment advertising], world's largest adult daily deal company providing services to the sex industry and adult service providers.
XBIZ, Adult Entertainment Industry News & Information, provides up-to-the-minute coverage of the adult entertainment industry at XBIZ.com and in two monthly magazines - XBIZ World for the Online sector and XBIZ Premiere for DVD/Video, Toy/Novelty and Retail.
Rose Garden Project, a website dedicated to women working in the adult entertainment industry and providing a community and life coaching services. (this is a dead link)
Adult Industry News (AINews.com), is the only non-pornographic news service to cover the Adult Entertainment Industry. This database contains over 10,000 searchable interviews, stories, articles and press releases.
Principles for Model Sex Industry Legislation
Sex Industry - A Guide to Occupational Health and Safety in New Zealand
"City’s sex industry worth £6.6m a year and growing", news article from The Herald
The Herald (Glasgow)
The Herald is a broadsheet newspaper published Monday to Saturday in Glasgow, and available throughout Scotland. As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 47,226, giving it a lead over Scotland's other 'quality' national daily, The Scotsman, published in Edinburgh.The 1889 to 1906 editions...

, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Industry sectors

Participants

Brothel business models

Pornography

Sex tourism

Location

Opposition

Sociological objections

Feminist objections

Conservative and religious objections

Other objections

See also

External links