Prostitution has been called "the world's oldest profession". That truth is based on a power imbalance which derives from the physical nature of human bodies. Simply put, women have an opening in their bodies that men need permission to get into and whenever permission is required for something important, the person who gets to give permission has power over the person who has to ask for permission. Furthermore, women have several other physical features that men strongly desire, while men really only have one major feature that women truly need. The result of that power imbalance is that women can almost always get some kind of sex when they want it and men cannot do the same thing. If a woman walks into a bar or club and beckons "come here" with her first finger, every man who can still stand up will jump at the opportunity. If a man were to do the same thing, the female yawn would be deafening.
In ancient Greece, a classic play was written called "The Trojan Women". It took place in the City of Troy, and at that time, all the men were warriors who were constantly leaving their wives to go off to fight in various battles in foreign lands. The Greek wives in those days did not even think about cheating on their husbands and like all women, they had powerful sexual needs but their needs could not be met because their husbands were not there to do it for them. As their sexual frustration increased to an intolerable level, they became more and more unhappy about the situation. One day the wives called a city meeting to discuss their problem and they all agreed on a very simple solution. They decided to withhold all sexual favors from their husbands until every single one of the men agreed to stop going off to war once and for all. When the husbands came home to their wives and wanted to have sex with them, they couldn't believe the situation they were confronted with. Of course they got extremely angry and even violent about it. But every single one of the wives stuck to the agreement they had made with each other and none of them surrendered to their violent husbands. The eventual result was that the husbands caved in to the will of their wives and they all agreed to stop the wars. Too bad American women are not prepared to do the same thing.
Many people believe that men have the power in this world simply because they are bigger than woman and physically stronger than women. Of course, men have always been willing to use their overwhelming physical strength to dominate and control women. But while it is generally true that men are physically stronger than women, there is an even more powerful truth behind that truth which was dramatized by "The Trojan Women". Have you ever heard the old saying, "Behind every powerful man, there is a woman"? Hitler had Eva Braun, and even Mickey Mouse had Minnie. Exceptions to that rule are male homosexuals who achieve positions of power and a very few powerful men who never marry or have long term relationships.
Ever since the beginning of recorded human history, men have found two simple solutions to their problem of intolerable sexual frustration. I don't include happily married men who are able to maintain their marriages without ever cheating, but I am including the married men who do cheat. The vast majority of divorces are directly related to infidelity, and most of it is committed by men. One solution men found before recorded history began is rape, which they do not need permission for, and male anger over the power imbalance is certainly one of the reasons behind rape. Please don't mistake me - I believe rape is an inexcusable violation of women's natural human rights. The other solution for men is prostitution and it is extremely common for men to use prostitutes so that they can live out fantasies which they cannot or will not enjoy with their wives. Women discovered that they could use the power imbalance to solve a big problem for themselves, and it's not a sexual problem. Throughout history, women were simply not allowed by men to earn money by working at a job but they could make money secretly by being prostitutes. An unspoken agreement was formed which worked for both sides and that's the reason why prostitution has flourished in all societies even though it is almost always against the law. Nowadays women are able to earn money by using their non-sexual talents and abilities, but many women still choose to do it by renting their bodies and that's self evident because of the great number of very intelligent prostitutes. I'm not saying that prostitution is an easy job, but historically it was the only money making job available to women.
Pornography is a relatively new development in human history because it really began to flourish after the development of the Kodak camera. Prior to the invention of photographs, all that existed were drawings created by horny men who were not very good artists. Many women believe that pornography is all about degradation of women by men who are exploiting them. Betty Page, the very first photographed "pin-up girl", would have disputed that theory from her own personal experience. Betty discovered that she was extremely turned on by being photographed in sexy poses. Men quickly discovered an almost universal desire to look at photographs of nude women. Almost immediately after Betty's photos were published, many other women discovered the same desire in themselves and began to fantasize about being able to do the same thing that Betty did.
Hugh Hefner was in the right place at the right time with the right concept, and he accumulated an enormous fortune by publishing the first mass magazine that featured beautiful nude women. Do you remember who the first centerfold was? It was Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn was already becoming a movie star and she certainly didn't need to put herself out to the public that way. Within a very short amount of time, other pornographic magazines sprung into existence because so many men were jealous of Hefner and were attempting to do the same thing. There was never a shortage of willing female models and it's ridiculous to believe that all of them allowed themselves to be degraded. By the late 1970's, video production exploded and pornography moved into the new medium because it is so much more expressive than photographs can possibly be. Many female pornographic superstars were created by the new medium. Just ask Annie Sprinkes, Candy Samples, or Ushi Digart why they participated in so many of the early classic porno videos. Their answers would be the same, and Annie is actually a philosopher on the subject. Annie believes that it's all about female self expression that results in freedom and independence from male domination.
One serious problem for prostitutes has traditionally been how to get paying clients without the risk of physical danger. The newest solution to that problem is the internet. The number of women who have posted pornographic photos to the internet is beyond calculation and there are a prodigious number of prostitutes who have discovered its safe marketing power. By using the internet, many prostitutes are able to earn well over $100,000 per year and they don't even have to accept a client who does not physically attract them. Talk about sexual power! There are countless personal web sites where women are collecting clients like Japanese fishermen who drag mile long nets through the ocean picking up every single fish who are caught by the net (net pun intended).
