Prostitution as an Economic Activity

This paper deals generally with the treatment of female prostitution within a capitalist economic structure. The use of the terms "prostitution" and "prostitute" in this paper may be assumed to refer to female prostitution unless a contrary meaning is stated. Further, this paper stems from participation in a sociology seminar dealing with "the ethnic economy." Examining in the context of "the ethnic economy" the evolution of prostitution as an economic activity in a developing country requires some extensions and modifications of the concepts inherent in the theory of "the ethnic economy." Rather than detailing or cataloging such extensions and modifications at this point in the paper, these exceptions to theory are identified and explained at appropriate points in the narrative of the discussion topic.

The findings of the examination of the evolution of prostitution as an economic activity in a developing country are presented in three major discussions. The initial discussion considers prostitution as a concept, together with the treatment of prostitution by political and social leaders and theorists. The discussion of prostitution is followed by the development of the economic framework within which the evolution of prostitution as an economic activity in a developing country is pursued. The last of the three discussions traces the evolution of prostitution as an economic

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development are widely but diversely accepted. These three theories are (1) the diffusion model, (2) the structuralist model, and (3) the dependency model (Wallerstein, 1985, pp. 101154). The diffusion model holds that progress is a function of the spread of modernism to backward, archaic, and traditional economies, and that the principal factors leading to development are (1) advanced technology and (2) an infusion of foreign capital (Jameson, 1985, p. 57). In this model, development is equated with industrialization and increased economic diversification. The diffusion model views development as a gradual process. An infusion of foreign capital may occur in a variety of ways. One way that many developing countries employ is the development of a tourism industry. In some Southeast Asian countries, as an example, the promotion of foreign tourism is heavily reliant on the simultaneous promotion of prostitution (Wood, 1981, pp. 212). The structuralist model of economic development attributes under development to structural deficiencies in a country's economy (Jameson, 1985, p. 63). These structural deficiencies are most often defined in the contexts of (1) the need for land reform, (2) problems associated with singlecr
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Approximate Word count = 4633
Approximate Pages = 19 (250 words per page)

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