Prostitution

  1. Farley claims that prostitution is not a free choice because most people involved in prostitution don’t have any other options to get the basic necessities in life. She even goes on to talk about how one prostitute in the Netherlands called prostitution “volunteer slavery”. And that the women involved in prostitution are the ones without the choices. I personally believe that prostitution is a free choice. Yes there are people out there who  are desperate and think they have no other options in life but to resort to bad behaviors but there is always other options besides selling yourself. You could work multiple part time jobs.  You ultimately choose to become a prostitute so it is a choice.
  2. People tend to choose their prostitutes based on what they look like, their preferences so usually there are certain types of prostitutes.  Also people of lower class are more likely to be desperate enough for money to resort to prostitution so the lower class are more likely to be prostitutes. The lower class tends to be made up of minorities like African Americans and immigrants so they are usually more likely to become prostitutes. Prostitution keeps the people involved in it in the class their already in. So it oppresses the minorities, certain races and certain sexes because they are more likely to become prostitutes.
  3. IN legal terms according to Farley legalization would give the state or local authorities the position to control prostitution. They in terms act as “the pimp” in the situation. Offering up zoning areas for certain people. I would be a lot safer because then prostitutes would be required to have STD tests. Also it would gain the state money from taxes and such. Decriminalization, Farley is saying, would give men the right to abuse women and children. Which isn’t true because legalization would make women more able to take legal action against men who have harmed them. And it wouldn’t be legal prostitution for anyone under 18, which the state could regulate.

By Shauna

Not Getting By

  1. In the first paragraph i was surprised to find that someone would give up their comfortable lifestyle to try and see what t like being a poor working class person. I was also surprised to find out that 50,000 mothers entire welfare a day. I was surprised at how dedicated she was to the task she had ahead of her but at the same time someone in her shoes really couldn’t eliminate jobs just because they didn’t wanna stand still all day. What really surprised me was the true stories of the people who she worked with. All of them unhappy with their lives and all of them not making enough money to be satisfied. But yet t the same time none of this surprised me because i know that this is the situation for almost everyday in America right now.
  2. I’ve had about 4 jobs since i was 14. I worked at a supermarket for almost a year when i was 14. Which i had to deal with pleasing rude customers. I briefly had a summer job at the Itam lodge working events to please customers. For 2 years when i was 15-17 i worked at Bennigans Grill an Tavern and my job was exactly  like the one described in the book. I wasn’t a waitress i was a hostess but we still took orders or drink orders and had to keep the customers happy in hopes of making enough tips to pay all my bills i have. Even as a hostess i didn’t make minimum wage.
  3. Minimum wage in the U.S. right now is $8.00 an hour. But that is defiantly not enough to get by. To live comfortably in this country to need to make upwards of $50,000 a year. And i would say the average American is either unemployed to not even making anywhere close to that. They’re making something close to $25,000 which is not enough to survive having a place to live and having food especially if you have a family too.

By: Shauna