Ilflimn'l’i»W1li‘l'l‘iflflfl'mimlil mun: ' 3 1293' 10773 5056 LIBRARY Michigan State University This is to certify that the dissertation entitled SELF ESTEEM MAINTENANCE AND SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF OCCUPATION: BAR PROSTITUTES IN A SMALL MIDWESTERN CITY presented by ADRENA NWANKWO has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Doctoral degree in Sociology Major professor Date April 14, 1988 MS U is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution 0-1277 1 .'- .1- fl.“ \nv'~ ‘ - - I “'7"; ‘ MSU RETURNING MATERIALS: Place in book drop—to l LJBRARJES remove this checkout from -___ your record. FINES will ~——— be charged if book is returned after the date stamped below. u l ' “PAL '6 *w r'. ‘. a f ' i ”5w 3 '10 . 3‘5}? ‘J :1 i E£C J 2 ice; ”TNL - / a .-\.. ' . C ‘ ‘fv‘ ». r as ‘vl Ill . bu V 3' (5'3? ’43. Hie, - a ' l ~‘ ' . ~§ ., (:5 b . H - 5r. 1:; ‘)¥;, f-‘n‘ . r if“: n - . j-.. _ ‘1... .3}! “ "«§ } f:- awr- w‘ 3.. .4; 3 «1191993 ' ‘ .~ 2W ' 4K. ‘ £1— r U “a APR!) 252007 “A I] ' Uri L; if . {if E a. "7 y: .‘g ,. p -., 22 ( SELF ESTEEM MAINTENANCE AND SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF OCCUPATION: BAR PROSTITUTES IN A SMALL MIDWESTERN CITY BY Adrena Nwankwo A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Sociology 1988 ABSTRACT SELF ESTEEM MAINTENANCE AND SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF OCCUPATION: BAR PROSTITUTES IN A SMALL MIDWESTERN CITY BY Adrena Nwankwo This study examines, from the point of view of self investment theory, the effects of a low status occupation on the self esteem of its participants. It also provides an explanation of how it is that prostitution has come to be an economic option for women. The general hypothesis of the study is that a low status occupation produces low self esteem. The focus of the study is on bar prostitutes in the Lansing area. Data were obtained through observation and interviews with fourteen prostitutes in the Midwestern city. A snowball technique was used to obtain the respondents. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (1965) was used to measure self esteem: prostitutes also rated self, tricks, other bar girls, call girls, house prostitutes, streetwalkers, wives, women-in-general, men-in-general, bar operators, policemen, pimps, and madame using the semantic differential technique. Nine bi-polar adjectives were used for the ratings: good-bad, cruel-kind, valuable-worthless, Adrena Nwankwo fast-slow, passive-active, dull-sharp, hard-soft, and weak-strong. Item analysis of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and analysis of variance of the semantic differential were carried out. Findings of this study indicate that most prostitutes express a medium level of self esteem or view themselves as average people. They rated self highest on the evaluative dimension of the semantic differential, and streetwalkers lowest among their occupation group. Bar operators, "dates," women-in-general, and men-in-general were rated equally worthwhile as self. Power-wielders, for example, policemen, were rated low on the evaluative dimension. Prostitutes viewed themselves as the most active group with less power than streetwalkers. The prostitutes also rated their occupation as average on a list of twenty-two occupations. Prostitutes used coping mechanisms, such as developing an occupational ideology and remaining in their work setting, to avoid negative evaluations. It was concluded in this study that this low status occupation did not produce low self esteem in prostitutes. Their levels of self esteem were average or above average thus indicating their ability to avoid negative evaluations or use coping mechanisms. Copyright by Adrena Nwankwo 1988 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my major professor and chairperson, Dr. Christopher Vanderpool, for his time, encouragement, and support which helped to improve the quality of this work. I am particularly grateful to Dr. William Faunce. He spent much time helping me develop my ideas on self esteem for this dissertation. I am also grateful for the insights and assistance of Dr. Marilyn Aronoff and Dr. Peter K. Manning. Although they were not members of my committee, Dr. Ruth Hamilton and Dr. Barrie Thorne provided inspiration and comments on this dissertation. I am grateful for their time and interest shown in my work. My gratitude goes to the women who agreed to be interviewed because their cooperation made this sample and data possible. My sincere thanks also go to my Ghanian family and all of my friends, especially Ellen, Ushadevi, Pauline, and Catherine, for their continued support and encouragement during my work on this dissertation. iii Thanks to my family, and my companion, Uzoma G. Nwankwo, who have always believed in and supported me during my effort to complete this dissertation. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES --------------------------------------- Viii Chapter I. INTRODUCTION ---------------------------------- l Conceptualization of Prostitution ----------- 1 Literature Review --------------------------- 2 Forms, Types, and Categories of Prostitution 4 Summary of Chapters ------------------------- 6 II. PROSTITUTION: DEVIANCE AND SELF INVESTMENT THEORY ---------------------------------------- 10 Freudian Psychiatric Model ------------------ 11 Functionalism and Prostitution -------------- 12 Interactionism/Labeling and Prostitution---- 14 Prostitution as an Occupation --------------- 16 Self Investment Theory and Prostitution ----- 20 Importance of Work -------------------------- 29 III. SEX/GENDER SYSTEM AND THE POSITION OF WOMEN IN SOCIETY --------------------------------------- 36 Women in American Society: An Overview ----- 40 Occupational and Sex Segregation: Some Consequences for Women ---------------------- 47 Male-Female Earnings Gap -------------------- 52 IV. METHOD ---------------------------------------- 62 Midwestern City ----------------------------- 62 Sample -------------------------------------- 63 Data Collection Techniques: Observation and Interviews ---------------------------- 66 Observation ------------------------------- 66 Interviews -------------------------------- 74 Problems Encountered During Data Collection- 80 V. VI. VII. BACKGROUND AND PROFILES OF FOURTEEN PROSTITUTES Daily Round --------------------------------- Background ---------------------------------- Profiles ------------------------------------ Involvement Through Self: Linda, and Stella Involvement Through Others: Connie, Sandy, Jan, Kari, Karen, and Cindy ----------------- Involvement Through a Friend: Sybil, Lisa, Carla, Mona, and Julie ---------------------- Involvement Through a Relative: Candi ------ Summary ------------------------------------- OCCUPATIONAL SETTING -------------------------- Setting ------------------------------------- "Dates": Who Are They? --------------------- Types and Costs of Sex Acts Requested ------- Prostitutes' Personal Sex Life -------------- Occupational Skills ------------------------- Interaction Skills ------------------------ Survival Skills --------------------------- Emotional Management ---------------------- Sexual Techniques ------------------------- Acquisition of Occupational Skills ---------- Occupational Hazards ------------------------ Physical Hazards -------------------------- Legal Costs ------------------------------- PSYChological Hazards --------------------- Justifications for Entrance Into this Occupation with its Accompanying Occupational Hazards ------------------------------------- Summary ------------------------------------- THE PROSTITUTES' VIEWS ON SELF, OTHERS, THEIR OCCUPATION, AND THEIR FUTURE ------------------ Self ---------------------------------------- Career Sequence --------------------------- Comparison of Self With Other Full-Time Prostitutes ------------------------------- Comparison of Self With Part-Time Prostitutes ------------------------------- Prostitutes and Self Esteem ............... Coping Mechanisms --------------------------- Views Toward Others ......................... Views Of Men ------------------------------ Views Of Women ---------------------------- Women as Workers ------------------------ vi Page 86 85 89 91 92 94 100 106 107 111 111 114 116 119 119 120 122 124 125 125 126 127 129 131 134 138 141 141 141 144 148 150 157 158 158 161 161 Page Women as Objects -------------------------- 162 Views on Prostitution ----------------------- 163 Contributions to Society and Explanations--- 163 Legalization Versus Decriminalization ----- 165 Level of Satisfaction and Job Performance- 167 Organization ------------------------------ 169 Future -------------------------------------- 170 Summary ------------------------------------- 173 VIII. DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION, AND IMPLICATIONS ------ 175 APPENDIX A: THEORY OF SELECTED SELF INVESTMENT: MAJOR POSTULATES ------------------------ 202 APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW SCHEDULE ---------------------- 205 APPENDIX C: RATING OCCUPATIONS ---------------------- 226 APPENDIX D: CATEGORIES 0F PROSTITUTES --------------- 228 BIBLIOGRAPHY ——————————— = ------------- 230 vii TABLE TABLE TABLE TABLE TABLE TABLE TABLE TABLE TABLE TABLE TABLE TABLE TABLE TABLE LIST OF TABLES Page SEGREGATION OF WORKING WOMEN INTO FEMALE- DOMINATED OCCUPATIONS: 1900-1980 -------- 50 WOMEN AS A PERCENT OF THE TOTAL EMPLOYMENT IN SELECTED OCCUPATIONS, 1962—1985 ------- 51 INTRAOCCUPATIONAL STRATIFICATION BY SEX, FOR SELECTED SEMI-PROFESSIONS ------------ 53 COMPARISON OF MEDIAN EARNINGS OF YEAR- ROUND FULL-TIME WORKERS, BY SEX, 1955-84 (PERSONS 15 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER) -------------------------------- 54 COMPARISON OF MEDIAN INCOME OF YEAR-ROUND FULL-TIME WORKERS, BY EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AND SEX, 1984 ----------------- 55 PROSTITUTES' EDUCATIONAL LEVELS ---------- 90 PROSTITUTES' PARENTS' EDUCATIONAL LEVELS- 90 SEX ACTS REQUESTED, BY WOMEN PERFORMING THEM AND MINIMUM CHARGES ----------------- 116 FREQUENCY AND TIME OF DRUG USE ----------- 128 PROSTITUTES' KNOWLEDGE OF OTHER GROUPS, IN PERCENT ------------------------------- 144 STATUS RANKING OF PROSTITUTES ------------ 145 ITEM ANALYSIS OF THE ROSENBERG SELF-ESTEEM SCALE ------------------------------------ 151 PROSTITUTES' SELF ESTEEM LEVELS ---------- 153 ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OF THE SEMANTIC DIFFERENTIAL RATINGS --------------------- 154 viii TABLE 7.6: MEAN RATINGS BY PROSTITUTES OF SELF AND OTHERS ON THE SEMANTIC DIFFERENTIAL ------ ix 156 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION WWW Prostitution has long been an area of interest for social scientists. Research studies, however, reflect general disagreement on the place of prostitution in American society, alternately labeling it as: a social problem (Seymour, 1962: Woolston, 1969: Marchant, 1979), a vice (Davis, 1937), deviant work (Miller, 1978), a deviant occupation (Ritzer, 1977), a deviant profession (Reitman, 1941), a deviant career (Bryan, 1965), and an occupation (Hirschi, 1962). Studying prostitution as an occupation is a revolutionary way of examining the phenomenon which began less than three decades ago. Following this conceptualization, this dissertation initially focuses on conceptualizing prostitution as an occupation. On one hand, the decision to view prostitué tion as an occupation is due partly to this historical way of studying self within social structure. On the other hand, the decision is due to this approach being a nonmoral means of studying the phenomenon. It does not make a normative specification of the place of prostitution in society as, for example, when prostitution is viewed as a form of deviance. However, what seems equally or more important than the label is the impact of the occupation on the self esteem of "prostitutes."1 Therefore, the research will also study the worldview of prostitutes in their occupational setting, that is, this study will examine how bar prostitutes construct their social reality. °te v w In the sociological literature on prostitution, attention has been given to various aspects of the life and world of prostitutes, for example, early sexual experience (James and Meyerding, 1977), motivations for entrance (James, 1976), language patterns (Samovar and Sanders, 1978), identity (Davis, 1971, 1978), prostitute- pimp relationships (James, 1973), learning patterns (Young, 1964: Hirschi, 1962: Bryan, 1965), and ideology (Hirschi, 1962; Bryan, 1966). There are few studies, however, which deal with the self esteem of prostitutes. Here self esteem is regarded as one of the significant products of any occupational environment. Pinzer (1977), The_Maimie_Paper§, sheds light on the lives and self perceptions of prostitutes. It is an autobiography, composed of Maimie's letters, which tells of her struggle to maintain her independence and her self respect. Jackman et al. (1963) conducted a preliminary study focusing on the self-image of prostitutes. After conducting interviews with fifteen prostitutes, they concluded that prostitutes maintain a consistent self- image by providing rationalizations for violating a social norm. For example, they may exaggerate other values, such as financial success. Prostitutes provided these justifications described as rationalizations ("Everybody is rotten: or society doesn't really scorn prostitutes.") because they were aware of societal attitude toward their behavior. They held an instrumental view of prostitution as a means to an end, for example, money to support themselves and/or their family. The point of departure in this study is to: 1) measure and specify the level of self esteem of prostitutes, 2) address the low level or high level of self esteem based on self investment theory, 3) determine how prostitutes maintain self esteem in terms of self investment theory, and 4) discuss how it is that women turn to prostitution. When examining, within the self investment framework, the occupation and its effect on the self esteem of prostitutes, the major question becomes: How do prostitutes cope with the potential threat to self esteem produced by this illegal, low status, stigmatized occupation? It is commonly assumed that this low status occupation should produce low self esteem among these women. If it does not, how can this be explained? The other important question is: How is it that prostitution, with its low status and stigma, became a viable economic option for women? W A widely used definition of prostitution2 is "the practise of habitual or intermittent sexual union, more or less promiscuous, for mercenary inducement" (May, 1933: 553). There are various forms of prostitution which have existed in societies. According to Benjamin and Masters (1964), one form is "temple" or "sacred" prostitution which occurred in ancient Cyprus, Babylon, ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, or India. Under this form of prostitution, women were considered "religious ministrants." The money collected for services was used for religious purposes. Another form is commercial, as exists in contemporary societies, with the sale of sex in exchange for money. This research focuses on commercialized prostitution in contemporary United States. Within commercialized prostitution, there are several types of prostitutes cited in the literature: heterosexual and homosexual, female and male prostitution. The focus here will be on heterosexual, female prostitution because it is more prevalent. Most of the occupations which have been the subject of the majority of past research are occupied by men. Prostitution as an occupation is also of interest because of the importance of occupations in individuals' lives in terms of their social identity. The more common categories3 of prostitutes mentioned by Benjamin and Masters (1964: 121-191) are: call girls, streetwalkers, bar prostitutes, brothel prostitutes, and fleabags. Reynolds (1986) uses market stratification when studying prostitution, for example, the call girls' market or the streetwalkers' market. Call girls4 wait for telephone calls, use answering services, make pre-arranged visits to customers or occasionally solicit in the better hotel lobbies or cocktail lounges. Streetwalkers approach customers while walking their "beat". Bar prostitutes approach customers in bars sometimes referred to as "workingmen's bars", although the customers are from all socio-economic levels. Brothel prostitutes work in various types of houses. Brothels, however, are not common and are often hidden from public view in most of America. Lastly, fleabags' customers are skid row males. Bar prostitution is the focus of this research because of the lack of research using bar prostitutes as compared with streetwalkers5 (Carmen and Moody, 1985; Zausner, 1986), house prostitutes (Heyl, 1977), call girls (Greenwald, 1958), and various categories of prostitutes except bar prostitutes (Diana, 1985). This study, then, is designed as an initial step in filling two gaps in the literature relating to prostitution. First, it will deal specifically with a category of prostitutes rarely the subject of investigation in social research. Second, it focuses on the important issue of self esteem among prostitutes which is inadequately addressed in the literature. A measure of self esteem is used and an explanation is provided for the relationship between occupational status and self esteem. W Chapter two looks briefly at the treatment of women in the deviance literature and introduces the theoretical framework for this study. In order to place this study on prostitutes' self esteem in its proper context, Chapter three deals with the position of women in general in society with emphasis on women's position in the workplace. Chapter four provides the methodological framework of the study. Observations were made and interviews conducted with fourteen prostitutes selected using the snowball technique. Chapter five provides profiles of the fourteen prostitutes, detailing their background, age of entrance, and length of time in prostitution. Chapter six presents data dealing with various aspects of the prostitutes' occupational setting, specifically, "dates,"6 types, and cost of sex acts, occupational hazards, and reasons for entrance into prostitution. Chapter seven discusses the prostitutes' conception of others, self esteem, and coping mechanisms. Lastly, Chapter eight includes a discussion, a conclusion, and implications for future research are suggested. NOTES: CHAPTER 1 Imagine "prostitute" throughout this work as nominal. The researcher is attempting to grapple with many aspects of their lives and not simply sex for money. Davis (1937: 746-749) also used May's basic definition and specified that pure prostitution is promiscuous, impersonal, emotionally indifferent sexual response for money. Lemert (1951) considers May's definition the most tenable formulation of the phenomenon. "Prostitution is sexual intercourse characterized by barter, promiscuity, and emotional indifference. ... There must be... exchange of sexual favors for market returns, ...indiscriminate indulgence...,and a dissociation of deeper feeling... in order to have true prostitution" (Lemert, 1951: 238). See also Lewis Diana. Ihe_Prestituts_and_ner_slieats (Springfield, 111.: Charles C. Thomas, Publisher, 1985), pp. 3-42. These descriptions of the various categories of prostitutes were taken for Benjamin and Masters (1964). Arlene Carmen and Howard Moody, Warking_flaman (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., 1985). Michael Zausner, Ih£_§L£§§§§ (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1986). Barbara Heyl, "The Madam As Teacher: The Training of House Prostitutes," Social Problams 24 (June, 1977), pp. 545-555. Harold Greenwald, Ina Elagan;_£ra§;ita§a (New York: Walker and Company, 1958). Lewis Diana, t (Springfield, 111.: Charles C. Thomas, Publisher, 1985). "Dates," lesbian, bisexual, and other such labels were assigned by the prostitutes. "Date" is the term used by some bar prostitutes which is in contrast to .the terms "trick," and "john," used by streetwalkers. Bar prostitutes, as call girls, make a "date" rather than picking up a "date." The bar prostitutes' choice of the term "date" reflect a greater awareness of the service aspect of her profession and maintaining a high "professional standard," namely, the bar prostitutes are perhaps less likely to rob or deceive her "date" than the streetwalker her "trick" or "john." ,The term "date" also increases the status of the prostitutes' clients and provides a recognition of the security her professionalism gives to her clients. Consequently, the term "date" is used frequently throughout this work. CHAPTER 2 PROSTITUTION: DEVIANCE AND SELF INVESTMENT THEORY In this chapter, the theoretical framework will be set forth and prostitution will be discussed briefly as sexual deviance. This interest in the sociological study of deviance, specifically, with regard to female deviance, has led researchers to the conclusion that women have been overlooked, ignored, or omitted from the literature. What literature there is on deviant women is sex-stereotyped in ways that limit the forms and characterization of female deviant behavioral styles. That is, women are in categories that relate to sex or emotion, for example, prostitution and mental illness. Women are described as "being passive, uncritical, unlikely to recognize group interests or have solidarity with other deviant women" (Millman, 1975: 265). Heidensohn (1968), Millman (1975), and Rosenblum (1975) look at women's deviance from various theoretical orientations, and prostitution is one of the categories of deviance they explore. Of the orientations used to study prostitution as a form of female deviance, focus here is 1 on psychoanalysis, functionalism, and interactionism/ labeling.2 10 11 E 1' E l' ! . H 2 1 In the twentieth century, a Freudian psychiatric model has been used frequently to theorize about prostitutes as an occupational group. The literature has described prostitutes as masochistic, mentally deficient, or having infantile mentality.3 Specifically, in his social and psychoanalytic study of call girls, Greenwald (1958)4 describes the call girl as masochistic, having a confused sense of self, lacking inner control, experiencing difficulty in achieving satisfactory relationships with others, lonely, and suffering from feelings of isolation and worthlessness. The prostitutes, however, do not necessarily have personality defects, but are working to support themselves and, in some instances, to support their children. According to Becker (1963, 1964) locating the source of deviance within the individual limits what we can see. The psychoanalytic model's emphasis on the individual neglects the interaction processes. Personality structure is important, but it is only one part of the individual, and it does not develop in isolation. A study of the individual is enriched when the structural factors which impinge upon the individual are considered. 12 E !° 1' 2 E !.! !° A second orientation, functionalism, focuses on stability, integration, equilibrium, and interdependence of social phenomena. One of its assumptions is that the persistence of a social pattern is due to the positive function it serves or its contribution to the ongoing social order. Davis' functionalist analysis of prostitution, consequently, views prostitution as enduring because of its contribution to other institutions, for example, marriage. As Davis indicates, "the ancient justification for this condemned phenomenon is that it protected the family..." (Davis, 1971: 350). Prostitution is viewed as no threat to marriage and as protecting the traditional family system because prostitution may fulfill sexual requests considered "immoral and hence out of the bounds of wives and sweethearts" (Davis, 1971: 346). Thus, Davis recognizes that prostitution can be generated from tendencies within the normative order. Davis also views prostitution as having other advantages: prostitution is economical, impartial, and impersonal. Prostitution also enables "a small number of women to take care of the needs of a large number of men, it is the most convenient sexual outlet for an army and for the legions of strangers, perverts, and physically repulsive in our midst. It performs a 13 function, apparently, which no other institution fully performs" (Davis, 1971: 351). According to Davis (1966), prostitution is considered to be a vice which is defined as "a sinful and/or degrading indulgence of a natural appetite for itself alone rather than for any worthwhile purpose" (Davis, 1966: 347). Consequently, prostitution is condemned since it serves no recognized goal. The norms of society are designed to tie the sexual act to some stable relationship, but prostitution divorces the sexual act from stable relationships. Consequently, women who are prostitutes are condemned and lose social esteem. These women are viewed as promiscuously and willingly trading sex for money in an emotionally indifferent manner. In sum, prostitution is considered by Davis as a vice which makes a contribution to the social order, has advantages and also negative consequences. Defined as evil and condemned in contemporary industrial societies, prostitution is regulated in the interest of institutional stability. Attention needs to be given to the dysfunctions of prostitution. When studied as an occupation, one sees that there are numerous hazards for its victims. 14 MW Whereas functionalism focuses on studying processes which maintain social order, labeling theory studies the problems deviants have in this social order. Labeling theorists, from a symbolic interactionist perspective, are concerned with how the labeling5 occurs (out of the interaction patterns), the consequences of being labeled, and the characteristics of the world labeled the deviant subculture. One treatment of prostitution from the interactionist approach to deviance is by Lemert (1951). Lemert views prostitution as a form of "sexual deviation;" that is, prostitution is unsanctioned sexual behavior. For Lemert (1951) the process by which a primary deviation (e. g., premarital sex acts) becomes a secondary deviation (e. g.,prostitution) varies. An individual may define herself as a prostitute when she comes in contact with other prostitutes, or when she is arrested and convicted, or after engaging in "quasi-prostituting" sex-experiences (e. g., a waitress who has received entertainment or gifts in return for sexual favors). When she begins engaging in prostitution, she is subjected to an exploitative culture regardless of the means by which she becomes or defines herself as a proStitute. As Lemert states, It is here that the functional value of the prostitute's role is perceived and secondary .deviation appears in crystallized form. The sex act is bereft of ambiguous feelings; male-female relationships undergo a rigid structuring to 15 prevent the energy-exhausting interaction of an informal date of courtship event and the frustration following brief 'love' affairs. The girl becomes 'hardened' in manner and speech and betrays the cues of professionalization (Lemert,l951: 270). Lemert deals with the interaction between society and the individual. He demonstrates that an individual is not automatically labeled as deviant by society, nor does the individual view the self as deviant after committing a deviant act. However, societal labeling and self-labeling may eventually occur. Both Davis (1971) and Lemert (1951) studied prostitution in terms of its sexual aspect. The former studying the ways prostitution is bound to other institutions involving sexual relations, and the latter viewing prostitution as sexual deviation. Davis (1971) noted the similarity of prostitutes to conventional wives, in that for economic support, both trade sexual favors. This comparison to conventional women was extended by Lemert to include "shopgirls who have sex relations in return for dinner, and a show" (Lemert, 1951: 238). Millman (1975) attributes this comparison of prostitution with conventional life, through sexual behavior rather than through occupational similarities, to sexual stereotyping. MacMillan (1977: 47) also states that "prostitution is a professional or economic option unrelated to sexual/emotional needs." Other sociologists 16 (Hirschi, 1962: Bryan, 1965, 1966) focus more on the "overlap" between prostitution and conventional life with occupations. Occupation has been variously defined as 1) "that specific activity with a market value which an individual continually pursues for the purpose of obtaining a steady flow of income; that activity also determines the social position of the individual" (Salz, 1962: 58): 2) "activities performed to make a living" (Miller, 1981): and 3) "types or categories of work" (Faunce, Monograph: 33). Faunce defines work as ”compensated employment." 2I9éIiEBEiQD_A§_AD_QQQHR§§iQn In their studies of prostitution, Bryan (1965, 1966) and Hirschi (1962) view prostitution as an occupation accompanied by an occupational ideology. Each occupation develops "a peculiar set of beliefs, rationalizations, ...that serve to justify the existence of the profession both to those within and to those without. .... Almost all occupational ideologies have a 'functionalist' orientation: 'we contribute to society,‘ 'we perform a necessary social service'" (Hirschi, 1962: 43-44). Prostitution is a service occupation since it "requires direct and personal contact with a customer or client" (Hirschi, 1962: 33). 17 Bryan refers to prostitutes as an "occupational group” and provides information on the training involved in this "deviant career" at the call girl level. In his study, there were 33 respondents ranging in age from 18 to 32 with most of the respondents in the mid-twenties. Entrance into the occupation was through initial contact with a call girl (approximately half of the girls in this study) or a pimp who manages call girls. Thus, the career sequence begins with making contact and making the decision to become a call girl. The second stage of this career sequence is the apprenticeship period. Hirschi also considers the acquisition of certain skills as essential to succeed in this difficult occupation. According to Bryan (1965), during the apprenticeship period, the novice is trained under another call girl or occasionally under a pimp. If the trainer is another working girl, the training takes place in her apartment: however, the pimp and the novice do not share an apartment during the training period, partially because his presence may displease the customers. The training period lasts two to eight months with the trainer controlling referrals, appointments, and type of sexual contact. The content of the training period includes two dimensions: one philosophical and the other interpersonal. The philosophical dimension is the imparting of a value structure which is that of 18 "maximizing gains while minimizing effort;" values such as "fairness with other working girls, or fidelity to pimp" were also taught (Bryan, 1965: 291-292). The interpersonal dimension involves "rules" relating to contact with customers. For example, "working girls" are encouraged not to experience orgasm with customers and to interact with them only to the extent that it was necessary. In this way, less time is required to complete the sex act and the customer is satisfied through the simulation of passion (Anonymous, quoted in Hirschi, 1962: 35). Other interpersonal techniques addressed included telephoning a client (using codes to avoid arrest), specific information about specific clients (special equipment such as whips, canes, costumes, etc.), personal and sexual hygiene fee collection, and prohibition on alcohol and drug consumption while with a customer. This apprenticeship period served to impart ideologies, values, but it also served to build a clientele for the novice. Bryan (1965: 260) feels, however, that this occupation at the call girl level seems to be "technically a low-level skill" because it does not require very much formal knowledge: consequently, he categorizes it as an "unskilled job." .Hirschi (1962) points out that researchers (Maurer, 1939; Lemert, 1951) have argued that the prostitute is 19 "'too lazy to work', needs little skill or training, all it takes to become a prostitute is the decision to accept the social stigma that attaches to the profession" (Hirschi, 1962:~ 33-34). Lemert states that "professionalization carries with it a strong aversion to work:... the house prostitute scorns work" (Lemert, 1951: 272). Or, the researcher may hold the view that "from a purely economic point of view prostitution comes perilously near the situation of getting something for nothing" (Davis, 1937: 750). However, according to Hirschi, if one is to learn the trade, a period of time is necessary to transmit the knowledge. This holds true in prostitution, for it requires that the prostitutes be capable of "finding customers, 'selling' them, providing a place to transact business, pleasing the customer, collecting their money, protecting themselves from disease, pregnancy, physical injury, and avoiding the police" (Hirschi,-1962: 34). Due to diseases, assault, and the police, prostitution is a hazardous occupation. The choice of this hazardous occupation not only affects the prostitutes' personal well being (e. 9., pregnancy), but it also affects the form and pattern of interaction with the broader society as well as the types of individuals the prostitutes come in contact with at work. This interaction and its effect on self esteem is addressed in the next section. 20 WW Prostitution has had various labels in American society, for example, a vice, deviant work, a deviant occupation, a deviant profession, and an occupation. Even when viewed as an occupation, prostitution has a problematic status in society. It is an illegal, low status, stigmatized6 occupation. Yet, it is a form of work and as a form of work the self investment process is involved. As a result of the status of this occupation and the reminders of this status, prostitution potentially has a major effect on self esteem. Underlying efforts to understand work motivation and behavior is the assumption (Hughes, 1958) that work is the criterion by which people are judged and by which they judge themselves. In the lives of individuals, work serves different functions and has different meanings for people; it affects their lives and may or may not be the basis for judging themselves. Work may have instrumental value as a source of income, or it may be an end in itself, an activity valued in itself. This variation in function and meaning has important consequences for behavior not only on the job, but also behavior in other settings or areas outside of work. Of interest in this research is the way the occupation, prostitution, affects the self esteem of prostitutes, the variations in the effect on self esteem 21 among prostitutes, and how prostitutes handle the impact of their occupation on self esteem. This section addresses the issues of self investment theory which are relevant to the research question and gives a brief overview of the theory. A more detailed presentation of the theory of self investment can be found in the work of Faunce (1975, 1982, 1984, monograph). The research topics of interest here are self esteem, social evaluation, frequency of interpersonal contact, interoccupational and intraoccupational social comparison, -and coping response. The theoretical ideas of major importance deal with: 1) the frequency of contact with others of varying occupations: 2) the evaluation by others: and 3) coping responses to threats to self esteem. The general point of self investment theory is to specify the variables that determine whether work is used as the basis upon which people are judged and by which they judge themselves. The theory focuses upon the ways in which the processes of status assignment and self esteem maintenance are related. The major postulates of the theory of selective self investment (Faunce, Monograph: 67-69) are summarized in Appendix A. Self investment theory proceeds from the assumption that-"work may or may not be consequential in status assignment and self esteem maintenance processes, and that 22 it is this variation which is critical in understanding interpersonal and interoccupational differences in the meaning that work has to people" (Faunce, Monograph: 1). From a self investment perspective, prostitution is an occupation which is generally accorded low status in society. We use low status to mean that "relatively few people would be willing to act toward persons in that occupation in ways that would support a favorable self image based upon success at work" (Faunce, Monograph: 9). Thus, the first statement, in our argument based on self investment theory, is that prostitution is a low status occupation. The second statement in the argument is: Low status occupations differ in their effects on self esteem. The most common definitions of self esteem are: "Self esteem consists of attitudes that we hold about ourselves resulting in self evaluations of approval or disapproval" (Wells and Marwell, 1976: 64-65: Rosenberg, 1965: 5). Self esteem refers to "evaluation which the individual makes and customarily maintains with regard to himself: it expresses an attitude of approval or disapproval, and indicates the extent to which the individual believes himself to be capable, significant, successful, and worthy" (Coopersmith, 1967: 4-5). In some occupations, work does not affect self esteem very much and in other 23 occupations it does. Where work does affect self esteem, it may be positive or negative. Self investment refers to "commitment to an activity based on the relevance of that activity for self esteem " (Faunce, Monograph: 4). In other words, it refers to the degree to which an activity affects self esteem. These effects can be a result of interoccupational as well as intraoccupational comparisons. Within the occupational structure, status assignments are made across occupations and within occupational categories. An interoccupational comparison examines status and self esteem across occupations, for example, the effects on self esteem of being in law enforcement versus being in prostitution. Although prostitutes know their status relative to policemen, it is the reminders of their status which is crucial. The central postulate of the self investment theory is: ”the greater the frequency of social evaluation of an attribute or activity, the higher will be the self investment in that attribute or activity" (Faunce, 1982: 174). Important to this postulate is the distinction made between ”knagladga about one's status" and "ramindaza of a status" with respect to a status characteristic. "Reminders" of a status are viewed as more consequential for self esteem. If prostitutes' social experiences call attention to their status, then there should be a lowering 24 of self esteem. Contact with persons in higher status occupations should induce social comparison processes that remind prostitutes of their own occupational status. These evaluations by others may be formal in some occupations, for example, a promotion, or they may be informal, for example, a compliment or an insulting remark about a prostitute by a "date." Whether the evaluation is based on intraoccupational or interoccupational status, the relationship between frequency of evaluation and self esteem will be the same. The concern with interoccupational status leads to the following: The greater the contact with law officials, the more likely is negative evaluation and a consequent lowering of self esteem. Intraoccupational comparison examines status and self esteem within the occupation. There is also the recognition with intraoccupational comparison that any occupation may be composed of a variety of sub- .occupational categories. For example, within the occupation of prostitution there are: call girls, house prostitutes, bar prostitutes, and streetwalkers. Intraoccupational variation in effect of work on self esteem may result from, among other things, differences in the frequency with which prostitutes experience negative evaluations based on the type of prostitution that is their occupation. Variation in self investment in work 25 may be based on the extent to which they are successes or failures within their occupation. Bar prostitutes consider themselves more successful than streetwalkers because they make "more money,” "are cleaner," and their "dates pay more." Even in a low status occupation, success may produce positive evaluation and increase self esteem. Contacts of prostitutes with law officials, though, are likely to involve negative evaluations and to produce self investment, but a lowering of self esteem. How, then, do prostitutes handle the impact of their occupation on self esteem? The possible responses to a manifest need for self esteem produced by negative evaluations are a mobility orientation, challenge response, low self esteem, and a withdrawal of self investment. An individual who employs the mobility orientation would "expend increasing effort to succeed" (Faunce, 1984: 5). The mobility orientation, "try, try again," may be interoccupational and intraoccupational. There are housewives7 who work as prostitutes for additional income: also students8 who work as prostitutes in order to assist in financing their education in preparation for their career. Their interest is in moving to a higher status job, i.e., inter- occupational mobility. Just as waitresses9 or domestic workers,1° many prostitutes view prostitution as merely a 26 temporary job11 or means of increasing income; it has instrumental value for them. According to Jackman, et a1. (1963), prostitutes develop a set of beliefs or rationalizations12 which help them to maintain a consistent self-image in this occupation. Prostitutes may also control or manage the information outsiders have of their identity: that is, to whom and how much to reveal about oneself. Since being in an illegal occupation requires one to deal with what prostitutes refer to as "squares," Goffman (1963) suggests that information others (squares) have about the prostitutes' identity may be controlled or managed as a way of allowing the prostitutes to handle the contact with "squares." Intraoccupational mobility may occur as well, for example, there are streetwalkers who strive to become bar prostitutes. They consider the bar a safer place to work and the pay to be better. There are also bar prostitutes who would like to become call girls because they view the working conditions and the pay to be better. Since there are streetwalkers whose goal is to become bar prostitutes, and bar prostitutes whose goal is to become call girls, "career stage" of prostitutes is useful to mention. As a prostitute moves through her career and ages, she may not aspire to either goal, that is, interoccupational mobility or intraoccupational mobility. 27 Consequently, the longer the woman has been a prostitute, the less likely is a mobility response. A second response, challenge response, is "an attempt to change the criteria on which the evaluation is based" (Faunce, 1984: 5). Prostitutes may attempt to challenge the criteria on which the evaluation is based, but they are not likely to succeed with some groups. Police officials, for example, evaluate them based on their occupation. Since there is probably a high degree of consensus among police officials as to the low status of their occupation, this response to negative interoccupational evaluations is unlikely to be successful. There may be an intraoccupational response, for example, if a prostitute is being negatively evaluated because she uses drugs, she may challenge this criterion and force others to evaluate her performance or honesty. To the extent that she can get others to evaluate her in terms of how well she does her job or in terms of the fact that she does not "rip off" dates, then a proper fit can again exist between status assignment and self esteem maintenance. Or, there might be what Skyes and Matza refer to as "condemnation of the condemners" (Sykes and Matza, 1957) through which there is a shift of attention from one's own act to the behavior of those who disapprove. 28 If a mobility or a challenge response is not effective in an attempt to avoid negative evaluation, then low self esteem or withdrawal of self investment are the only other alternatives. "To the extent that we are able to choose our associates, we tend to pick people who are willing to evaluate us on the criteria on which we wish to be judged and to suspend judgment on criteria we prefer to ignore" (Faunce, 1984: 4). Prostitutes, then, look for people who share their view that there is nothing wrong with prostitution, or there is nothing wrong with what they are doing. Prostitutes do know that society evaluates prostitution negatively, but some do not seem to care. They avoid the interoccupational evaluation by associating as much as possible with other prostitutes and bar operators. The reference groups, according to a study by Jackman et al. (1963), provide support for the justifications prostitutes offer for violating social norms. "There are, however, structural constraints upon our freedom to choose people who will evaluate us as we wish to be evaluated" (Faunce, 1984: 4). For example, in prostitution which involves meeting the public, it may be difficult to avoid people whose occupational status is higher. Therefore, it is inevitable that some prostitutes will experience negative evaluation based on their occupational status. Since prostitution does involve 29 contact with people whose occupational status is more often higher than their own, this contact serves as a reminder of their own occupational level. This frequent contact with others of higher occupational status makes withdrawal of self investment difficult as a way of coping with low status. This may be offset in part, however, by the fact that a prostitute who has regular contact with high status "dates" will be regarded as more successful intraoccupationally which may be a source of self esteem. IE29IL§D£§_Q§_KQIK Building on the notions of self investment, self esteem, and occupational status other researchers have focused on the following themes: a) work as a central life interest, and b) job involvement as related to the kind of relationships which exist between individuals and the workplace. Dubin (1956) focused on the extent to which work and the workplace are a ”central life interest" .of industrial workers. Central life interest is defined as "the expressed preference for a given locale or situation in carrying out an activity" (Dubin, 1956: 134). Dubin's study of 491 workers in three middle- western plants, used the "Central Life Interest" schedule composed of 40 questions. Each question contained a job- oriented response, a non-job-oriented response, and indifferent response. For example: 30 I would most hate -missing a day's work -missing a meeting of an organization I belong to -missing almost anything I usually do. Dubin found that 24 percent of the workers were job- oriented or viewed work and the workplace as central life interests. Using the same Central Life Interest schedule, Orzak (1959) found that work was a central life interest for 79 percent of the professional nurses in his study. Additional evidence of interoccupational variation, using the CLI schedule, is provided by Maurer (1968) who found that 54 percent of a sample of supervisors were job- oriented. Lodahl and Kejner (1965) define job involvement as "the degree to which a person's work performance affects his self esteem" (Lodahl and Kejner, 1965: 25). To measure job involvement they developed a 20-item instrument with a Likert type format. Studies using the job involvement scale reviewed by Rabinowitz and Hall (1977: 284) stated that the job-involved person -is a believer in the Protestant Ethic -is older -has internal (vs. external) locus of control --has strong growth needs -has a stimulating job (high autonomy, variety, task 31 identity, and feedback) -participates in decisions affecting her or him -is satisfied with the job -has a history of success -is less likely to leave the organization. Based on central life interest and job involvement findings, the major implication regarding the effects of work on self esteem of prostitutes is the expectation that the job would be unimportant to prostitutes, if they can avoid negative evaluation based on working in a stigmatized occupation. Central life interest and job involvement provide some information about self investment in work, but work may be important for a variety of reasons. One of the reasons is the effect on self esteem: other reasons are, for example, the need for money, maintenance of a high living standard, etc. High central life interest or high job involvement does not necessarily mean self investment in work, but low scores mean low self investment because self esteem is important to the person. Prostitution is an illegal,13 stigmatized occupation which is dominated by females: therefore, a meaningful approach would be to consider the phenomenon as such and then study how it has become an economic option for women, and how women manage self esteem in such a low status, stigmatized occupation. Chapter three deals with a few of 32 these issues by examining the position of women in general in society through the use of the sex/gender framework and labor force participation. 33 NOTES: CHAPTER 2 For more on functionalism see Talcott Parsons, Ina §aaial_§ya§am (Glencoe, 111.: The Free Press, 1951): and Robert Merton, §QQi3l_IhEQIY_BBQ_§QQiel_§EIBQEB£§ (New York: The Free Press, 1957). Additional explanation of the framework may be found 'in George H. Mead, Migd. Salt, and Soaiaty (Chicago, Ill: University of Chicago Press, 1934); Herbert Blumer. fixabelie_lnterastieaism (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1969): Jerome G. Manis and Bernard N. Meltzer, eds., 2nd edition, Symbalia IDEQIQQEIQD (Boston, Mass.: Allyn 8 Bacon, Inc., 1972). See Harry Benjamin, "Prostitution Reassessed, ” o , 4(February, 1951): 154-159: H. Benjamin and A. Ellis, "An Objective Examination of Prostitution," _£_§axalagy, 8(November, 1954): 100-105. See Harold Greenwald. The_Elegant_£r2stitute (New York: Walker Publishing Company Inc., 1958). "Social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitutes deviance and by applying those rules to particular people and labeling them as outsiders. From this point of view, deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an 'offender'. The deviant is one to whom that label has successfully been applied: deviant behavior is behavior that people so label" (Howard 8. Becker, 1963: 9). Another definition of deviance from a different perspective is "behavior which violates institutional expectations, that is, expectations which are shared and recognized as legitimate within a social system" (Cohen, 1959: 462). Goffman uses stigma as a personal factor in -individuals lives which refers "to an attribute that is deeply discrediting,..." (Goffman, 1963: 3). Goffman differentiates between the discredited and 10. 11. 12. 13. 34 the discreditable. The discreditable's stigma is not immediately apparent; it can be concealed. This is the group to which prostitutes belong as opposed to "discredited" whose stigma is visible. In any case, the stigma is a means of degrading individuals who are not, in this instance, in a socially acceptable job through which the income can be legitimately obtained. See Norman R. Jackman, Richard O'Toole, and Gilbert Geis, "The Self-Image of the Prostitute," Ina Socielesisal_ouarterlx (Spring. 1963): 150-161- See Kate Hillett. The_2r2§titutien_£a2§r§ (New York: Ballantine Books, 1971). Ingrid "... was going to college, (and) didn't expect to be in the business that much longer," or, Jeanne, ”I've never really identified myself as a waitress. You can be in it for twenty years and still think it's a temporary thing" (Howe, 1977: 94-125). Domestic work was viewed as a "temporary stopgap:” for example, the Yoshidas (had the) "intention of accumulating a nest egg and returning to Japan ... Because the sacrifice was seen as short term, ... wage work could be viewed as a temporary expedient ..." (Glenn, 1980: 445-446). See Simone De Beauvoir, Ina_§aaand_§ax ( New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1971), pp. 555-574. Techniques of neutralization as discussed by Sykes and Matza (1957) may be mentioned here. Through rationalizations or techniques of neutralization "the individual is freed to engage in delinquency without serious damage to his self image" (Sykes and Matza, 1957: 667). Prostitution is illegal in the United States except for parts of Nevada. Although prostitution is illegal, there are varying degrees of community toleration (See Reynolds, 1986). In the social construction of reality bar prostitution, the bar insulates the prostitutes from the general public, possibly making it more tolerable. A stigma is also attached to this occupation: it is a stigma which is not "immediately apparent" (Goffman, 1963). N. Davis .(1971) stated that "the consequences of 35 stigmatization may lead to further mechanisms of deviant adaptation for this prostitute group (30 jail, streetwalkers)" (N. Davis, 1971: 319). CHAPTER 3 SEX/GENDER SYSTEM AND THE POSITION OF WOMEN IN SOCIETY Through the use of self investment theory, we can address prostitution as an illegal, low status, stigmatized occupation which may affect self esteem. The issue which needs to be addressed more clearly is: Why or how is it that prostitution became an economic option for women? Rubin, Chodorow and Barrett agree on the social construction of gender. Chodorow (1974) argues that masculine and feminine personality and roles are due to social division of labor, family structure and not to biology. Barrett (1980) states that sexual relationships are socially constructed, that is, by individuals within a society, and they are political. They are political (Millett, 1969: Barrett, 1980) because of their social construction which means that they could be different in terms of the roles designated for males and females. On one hand women, for example, have been assigned the role of housewife, and the responsibility for child rearing. On the other hand, men have been assigned the role of "breadwinner," however, there are no biological reasons 36 37 for women or men being assigned these roles. Sexual relationships are also political in that they involve social conflict and differences in power. The nature and genesis of women's oppression and social subordination which prostitution seems to reflect is a major concern for Rubin (1975). Rubin (1975) uses sex/gender system "to refer to that part of social life which is the locus of the oppression of women, of sexual minorities, and of certain aspects of human personality within individuals" (Rubin, 1975: 159). Rubin begins with a preliminary definition of the sex/gender system as "a set of arrangements by which a society transforms biological sexuality into products of human activity, and in which these transformed sexual needs are satisfied" (Rubin, 1975: 159). Finally, the sex/gender system is defined as "a set of arrangements by which the biological raw materials of human sex and procreation is shaped by human, social intervention and satisfied in conventional manner, no matter how bizarre some of the conventions may be” (Rubin, 1975: 165). That is, the biological distinctions are transformed into socially constructed categories through which the sex division of labor is created. Oppression, according to Rubin, is not inevitable in this domain which is labeled the sex/gender system, but "is the product of the specific social relations which 38 organize it" (Rubin, 1975: 168). Economic Oppression of women, then, is a part of the general subordination and oppression of women based on social relationships and divisions which produce gender. Every society does have a division of tasks by gender, but there is societal variation of the assignment of a task to any one gender. According to Chodorow, who shares Rubin's focus on the social construction of gender,1 “women's motherhood and mothering role seem to be the most important features in accounting for the universal secondary status of women" (Chodorow, 1974: 45). In order to describe this sex/gender system, Rubin uses the works of Levi-Strauss and Freud because they view the social experiences of men and women as different and attend to the place of sexuality and gender in society. Rubin emphasizes Lévi-Strauss' concept of the "exchange of women." The fact that in a kinship system men have certain rights in their female kin which women do not have in themselves or in their male kin is demonstrated by this concept. It is the type of social relations in which a woman is the "gift" given to a man, for example, in marriage. Since women are the gifts given by men, then women can not give themselves away: consequently, men, but not women, are the partners in the transaction. Power is bestowed on the partners, the givers, and not on the gifts. Through this idea of the "exchange of women" one 39 sees that "the oppression of women (occurs) within social systems, rather than in biology" (Rubin, 1975: 175-176). Moreover, it suggests that the "ultimate locus of women's oppression (be sought) within the traffic in women, rather than within the traffic in merchandise" (Rubin, 1975: 175). According to Rubin (1975: 175-176) women are trafficked not only as slaves, serfs, and prostitutes, but also simply as women: whereas, men are trafficked not as men, but through various statuses, for example, slaves, hustlers, athletic stars, and serfs. Since gender is socially constructed, it is important to look briefly at how the conventions of gender are transmitted. Barrett views the historical development of family as important because "it is within the family that masculine and feminine people are constructed, and it is through the family that the categories of gender are reproduced" (Barrett, 1980: 77). Chodorow also argues that "certain features of social .structures, supported by cultural beliefs, values, and perceptions, are internalized through the family and the child's early social object-relationships" (Chodorow, 1974: 54). Children are introduced, for example, to the mode of dress and roles that are "appropriate" for males and females in a society. Children also learn that men are the "breadwinners" and women's place is in the home. Today many of these ideas are changing: however, there are 40 still those who hold fast to and impart the traditional roles for males and females. Since there is some general agreement that gender is a product of social relationships and not biological, we can use the sex/gender perspective in an attempt to explain how prostitution became a viable economic option for women and is related to the oppression and subordination of women in contemporary American society. WWW An in depth understanding of the phenomenon of prostitution and why it is an economic option for women requires a discussion of how society is structured, specifically, as related to the position of women in society, because prostitution is predominately a female occupation. It can be viewed as mirroring the oppression and control of women by men in society. Women occupy the subordinate position in society while men occupy the dominant position. This same relationship between the sexes is reflected in prostitution. The prostitutes do exercise some control, but men basically control the economic aspect in that they have the money. Consequently, we need to look at the general position of women in society and in the labor force in an attempt to understand prostitution as an illegal occupation from which a large number of women derive economic support. 41 Historically, the family has been a primary institution which was the center of production and other activities.2 Goods and services were produced in the home: this production included food, clothing, and furnishing (Kessler-Harris, 1981: 22). The family was also the center for child rearing, educating children, and caring for the aged and sick. During the period that Pleck and Pleck (1980) refer to as "agrarian patriarchy" (1630-1820), men worked in the fields accompanied by some women. Women were responsible for household activities, care of children and the sick. "When sickness interfered, the housewife collected herbs, prepared medicine, and nursed the ill" (Kessler-Harris, 1981: 23). Women also manufactured goods, for example, clothes, shoes, soap, for daily consumption. According to Kessler-Harris (1981) men, along with women, spent hours at the loom. Division by gender was not rigid, for example, through the eighteenth century boys and girls were taught to spin and weave. There were regional variations in the patterns of work, for example, due to a milder climate in the south, white women spent less time spinning and sewing and more time gardening or outdoors. As for the wealthy women, these tasks were done by slaves or servants. Black women worked in the fields and were responsible for household work. 42 The social relations of this period were characterized by dominance of men over women and fathers over sons and daughters. Even though women and children made important economic contributions to the family, this social hierarchy of male dominance or male rule, anchored in a patriarchal system, was sanctioned by social traditions, religious norms as well as legal codes. Men were the primary land owners with few women holding titles to land: primogeniture was the system of property inheritance practiced. Schooling was a special privilege for men which served to widen the sexual gap in education. The canon of sexual conduct was the double standard with the male showing the sexual initiative (Pleck and Pleck, 1980). The ideology of the time was that of woman as wife- mother who was judged by her husband's standing or her home role because of the absence of an identity derived from her own wage work. Women were characterized as nurturing, supportive, timid, and passive. Men were the "movers,” and "doers," the "actors" (Welter, 1973: 230): while women (white, upper class) were viewed as the "responders,” pious, pure, submissive, and domestic (Welter, 1973: 225). Under the existing social arrangements the double standard of behavior stipulates certain behavior as appropriate for women and certain behavior as appropriate 43 for men. On one hand, women are supposed to be chaste, sexually monogamous, faithful, and obedient as wives and not interested in sex or having sexual desires. On the other hand, men are viewed as having uncontrollable sexual urges and allowed to engage in premarital sex. Therefore, a double image of women was created which has been described as madonna/whore or good/evil. Positive attributes were given to the madonna/good and negative attributes to the whore/evil. Men wanted to be certain of paternity and ensure inheritance, and at the same time provide for their own sexual pleasures. The dichotomy, then, allowed some women to be held in high regard and at the same time created a group of "fallen" women to satisfy the sexual needs of men. This group of "fallen" women, prostitutes, were viewed as evil, degrading, yet exciting. According to Roby and Kerr (1972: 464) prostitution was considered necessary throughout the 1870 because "abstinence was thought to cause impotence, and 'refined' prostitutes were the only solution." This service was only provided to upper- and upper-middle-class men. Because of society's ideology regarding the role of women as sexual beings to serve the needs of men, a market has been created for sexual services. MacMillan (1977: 41) states that by assigning women a primarily sexual function and limiting their economic mobility, men have insured 44 that women, almost exclusively, will fulfill this demand. Consequently, it becomes easier for women, rather than men, to turn to prostitution as an economic option because of women's socialization as suppliers of sex and men's to demand sex. In addition to limiting the economic mobility, also limiting economic alternatives is another reason women turn to prostitution. And as Simone De Beauvoir (1971: 556) states "...in a world where misery and unemployment prevail, there will be people to enter any profession that is open: as long as a police force and prostitution exist, there will be policemen and prostitutes, more especially as these occupations pay better than many others.” These prostitutes market sex as a product. They are viewed as sex objects or commodities to be bought and sold by men. Not only are prostitutes defined as sexual objects, but women in general are primarily defined alternately as objects of lust and of chastity (Gornick, .1971: 139). Men are defined as Subject and women as Other or object. Women have not been allowed to change this situation, although struggling, because men occupy the privileged position and certainly will not willingly relinquish or share it. Prostitution, not only makes clear women's status as object, but also as property or commodity. 45 Society's double standard justifies "male sexual access to a class of 'fallen' women yet penalize women for engaging in the same vice as men" (Walkowitz, 1983: 421). Women bear the stigma to a greater extent than the male patrons; women are arrested while most men are infrequently arrested. Consequently, men's interest being served in both instances. In this occupation, there is no equality between prostitutes and their clients. "Prostitutes and their clients share a common interest only in the most immediate sense that the two parties wish to transact business together. ...the power differentials divide them and allows one person to buy physical intimacy with the other" (MacMillan, 1977: 47). The customers buy, for a limited time, power over the prostitutes. In Millett (1971: 60) one prostitute said that "but what they're really buying, in a way, is power. You're supposed to please them. They can tell you what to do." Even in the case of a masochistic client, the prostitute is following the customers' orders given to her. The coming of the industrial revolution meant the widespread development of factories, thus the production of goods and services moved outside the household and there was an increase in wage workers. According to Kelly (1981), the household was no longer the center of production, although it continued to be the center of 46 family life; the household, instead, became a home. Now groups of workers produced clothing, machinery, and other goods in factories. Although women worked in factories, this social production would eventually help to create separate spheres for men and women by separating paid work from the home. ' With this change in production from the household into factories, offices, and stores, there was also a change of tasks with women clearly responsible for household tasks (for example, caring for children, food preparation, cleaning ): also there was a shift in "perceptions of what constituted work." "Contemporary American society is a market- and capital-based economy, in which work is assessed in wages, output, and employment, and in which productivity is defined in terms of capital (money and wealth) created" (Fox and Hesse- Biber, 1984: 5). Those who were paid for their work were workers: consequently, women who remained at home and were not paid for their housework were not defined as workers (Kessler-Harris, 1981: 4): housework was not considered "real" work. Defining women's work in the home as auxiliary and as "not working" ignored or devalued housework and consequently, allowed that work to be "shunted aside." Thus, low pay and menial conditions of women's work outside the home could be justified "by considering their 47 wage work as mere preparation for home roles. It confirmed women's status as subordinate or auxiliary to that of men" (Kessler-Harris, 1981: 17). This ideology of women as daughters, wives, mothers and dependent, then, contributed to their labor force position being inconsequential in the study of work (Fox and Hesse-Biber, 1984: 5). Women, being defined in terms of the kinship structure, were still present even when they were wage workers. Consequently, female labor (wage and domestic) was under-valued since women were not the primary wage earner, and they were considered unreliable. Thus, it can be clearly seen that patriarchal relations carried over from the domestic sphere into the economic sphere. Occupational And Sag Sagregagion: SOQQ Canaagaengaa IQI' ngen ' As a result of our sex/gender system, through which women's sphere has become defined as private and domestic or in the home and men's sphere as public and in the marketplace, women are at a disadvantage both in the home and in the workplace. First, in the home most of the work is done by women. Berk (1985: 64-66) reported that wives spent a mean number of 504.27 minutes, about 8 and a half hours per day on household labor.3 Employed wives spent 429.36 minutes on household labor as compared with the mean for all wives. Men, on the other hand, spent about 48 190 minutes per day on household labor. Men with employed wives spent an additional five minutes per day on household labor. Secondly, in the workplace women and men are segregated into different occupation groups. Women work in fewer occupations than men (Howe, 1977: Blau and Hendricks, 1979: Fox and Hesse-Biber, 1984). Ten occupations accounted for almost two-fifths of all women workers employed in 1973. These occupations were: secretary, retail trade salesworker, bookkeeper, elementary school teacher, waitress, typist, cashier, sewer and stitcher, registered nurse, and household worker (U.S. Department of Labor, 1975: 91). In the 19803, two occupation groups accounted for more than half (54.1 percent) of all employed women. These two occupation groups were clerical (34.7 percent in 1981) and service work (19.4 percent in 1981). Although there was no change for women in clerical positions from 1972 (34.7 percent) to 1981 (34.7), women made gains as professional and technical workers (from 14.5 to 17.0 percent in 1981): also gains were made as managers and administrators (from 4.6 percent to 7.4 percent in 1981).4 Women have made gains in nontraditional5 occupations, for example, women physicians rose from 10.1 percent in 1972 to 13.7 percent in 1981, dentists from 1.9 percent to 4.6 percent, lawyers from 4.0 percent to 14.2 percent, 49 pharmacists from 12.7 percent to 25.7 percent, accountants from 21.7 percent to 38.5 percent and engineers from 0.8 percent to 4.4 percent for the same period (U.S. Department of Labor, 1983: 58). Despite the gains in some nontraditional occupations, women remain concentrated in occupations which have a disproportionate number of women in them or what has come to be known as "female" occupations (Blaxall and Reagan, 1976: Howe, 1977: Waite, 1981; Fox and Hesse-Biber, 1984). Time has not changed the composition of these occupations, for example, in 1900, 60 percent of employed women were in occupations in which 50 percent or more of the workers were women (See Table 3.1). This trend continued such that in 1980 76 percent of working women were concentrated in jobs in which 50 or more percent of the workers were female. Howe (1977) refers to these as pink collar occupations. Table 3.2 lists the "pinkest of the pink collar occupations" (Howe, .1977: 11). Women are not only concentrated in ”female" dominated occupations, but also suffer intraoccupational segregation in that there are fewer women in higher level positions within "female" dominated occupations. According to Fox and Hesse-Biber (1984) even within the "female" occupations, for example, in elementary school teaching 50 .mm "Lamas .smzv on mwwmaamflldeMMdmmdN :.xhoz no :0503 .m.D= .ouwoz .b ocean "mousom me me me om om ouoa no on mm mm am me on duos no om mo om me me cm ouos no on me we as me me duos no om mm mm em Hm mm whoa no om omma some cams omaa some masses coeumesooo Ho ovoucooumm omaauooaa "accessesooo pouocflaooloanaom OOCM c0803 asexuoz no cowuomoumom ”H.m manna 51. .Aa .e .Assaa .uxoom co>¢ “snow aozc uuuauqmluaaaauluqqm .oaom mean amazon Anna” .~eaa “amino .ee ..nmaa .ooquuo aceuceua ucoasuo>oo .m. a ..o. a .coumcesuazc saw neuoassm aHaMHamIadIduIddlaaamuadfllfldfldll4NUGGAUIHdluHHH .soousm 0.:0l03 .uonnq no saunas .m.= .oaas .aFT mes .ee ..eaas .66auuo maeuceum pea-suu>ou .m .o ..o .o .eoumcanuos. «unequauluaaluausxuau-u .uoeumsucum honed no season .uonda uo acoluuonoo .m .D .noma .noousom a.aa a.aa uncensoao: «.oa m.oa 4.em «.sa nausea: eaoeouaos oua>eua 6.66 «.ma H.4a anaconda. can uuaaum a.ao 6.6o o.no «.ne amass nouusz c.4o H.6a H.Ha H.ou uouaouuqus can assume: a.ao n.ao n.oa H.oo . usuauouuuea: a.oo a.~a n.na n.oa uuouuuoeo ocoseosoe o.ma n.om n.6a c.4a uuueaae 4.6a , 6.no «.ma m.oo auusooou season sumucusmsm A.ma n.6a o.ea m.oa nouns: eououuemos mean same name Nome accessesouo 0 H 080% 0 H 059m 0 H flfiflh 0 H 030nm ”200.” Oh ”COUHOQ ”CUUHOQ “COUHOQ mmmaimmma .ncoauonnooo pouooaom aw ucoa>oHQBm Houoa any no ucoouom 4 ad conos u~.n dance 52 men disproportionately hold the upper level positions (See Table 3.3). W Occupational segregation is an important source of women's low earnings. The earnings gap between women and men has been increasing (See Table 3.4). In 1955 women who worked full time and year round earned 63.9 percent of the median earnings of men: in 1980 these women earned only 60.2 percent or 60 cents for every dollar earned by men. The gap has narrowed slightly in 1984 with women earning 64.2 percent of men's earnings; however, female workers have not attain earnings parity with males. The male-female earnings gap persists even though an increasing number of women are securing higher level and better paying positions. The gap has persisted primarily because of a predominance of women in lower status occupations and the increasing numbers of women in the labor force has meant more women at the entry level (U.S. Department of Labor, 1979: 1). The earnings gap does narrow with women in highly skilled jobs, but does not disappear. Comparing the sexes on education indicates the same trend of women earning less than men by educational attainment (See Table 3.5). 53 .ena .e .Aqaaa .aeaeeoo easemesnsm sameuaazv mums ma mmammr.uonfimiommom osoaunnm use xom xcnum and: Bonn coxoa "oousom we on em on s.mq sofluaosooo swnuwa cowumuu newsflaoo as cos Ho ommucoouom an an om as H.H sosuaesooo cfinufi3 see no omoucooumm xuoz macmcnfluounflq anaconda mcflnoooa mafimusz assoom ofiaooooc humpcooom humusoaoam Godunosooo mcowumomoum Iaaom pouooaom now .xom >9 cofiuoOHufiumuuw HonoHummsooomuucH "m.m manna 54: .~o .a .Anmma .oowuuo usaucuum use-sue>oo .m.D u.O.o .souususnesv new causaasm .uuuauqmlddlqulddladauuaqnlduudllduuaunUquIUIHH .soousn a.c0Ioz .uonaq uo season .m.o “ooaanmmaa «sauna .ea ..oaaa .oo«uuo acaucsue ueoleuo>oo .m.D «.0 .o .couvcdcuozv seams «seesaw moves: 0:» cu usouuoe use .noaawnah .nuaosoasoz no aloocu honor: .ana .0: .001m museum .uM“unduladdudddflumluaduuau .ISIGOO and no saousm "vamn "noousom ..oo.am I soon. unseen nulsacoo one uo meson usunocouaa ecu an poow>wo n slouoo I o ssdaoo .H sleaoo an cocw>wc .a clsuoo nasal a cloaoo I m cesaoo .u slogan ma occu>dp H Cladoo I v slsaoo .H alsaoo nasal a :IsHoo I n cssaoo Ham.” v.6m a.no nnm.a ~mn.v aas.~ mmas can.~ m.vo o.oo was." sav.m na~.n some oop.~ o.oo o.oo ~mn.« men.o nuo.n mums nna.n v.ow v.mm nvo.n ooa.o nun.m chad am~.n o.os o.om 4m~.n one.~a vom.e mama voo.n ~.ow n.oo mav.e «Ho.oa eon.aa omma o.mm «.co «on.» voo.c~m -v.mam «was so. an. be. an. Lao .. Add new» muoaaou some a.cOIoa u.s0l uo auaaaop so: salon ucmuncoo cocoooxo ucoouom Ca ago udqddudulddfluun ca mum squashed a an mocacuom unsecuou 0.:0l nonsense ucoouom a.coaoz Auo>o use can no nueoa ma acouuomv coummma .xom he .nuoxuoz oeaauaasm ccsomuumou uo nonficuom cease: uo coawuoaloo "v.n canoe £55 mcaucuum use-:uo>ou .m.D ".o.a .eouue«a¢us. seams .saaoa .ee ..oaaa .ooeuuo “cocoon nausea or» as moo-hem one .no«~«l¢m .nvaononsoa no eloocn assets .nnd .oz .ooum nowuom ~ uAunadulqdduuddaauludduuqu .asnseo can no season .m.D "cousom .couoHnloo Hoonon no one.» e>«naooosn cooauon oocoaouuwv ununoo AcaavOIV ousuoand I b one o salsaoo .a clonoo an popa>uv .H slsaoo nasal n slsaoo I n slsaoo .n cloaoo an covw>au a sleaoo I v slsnou .H CIflHOO O’CHI N GIGHOO I n CIGHOO ”0.902 men.n aao.v o.oo H.oo eoe.na one.on oso.nn one: no use.» m one.» onu.n c.nn n.vo onu.aa sov.an en~.o~ nun-a 4 men.“ one." «.sn o.mo vac.o ”no.n~ soo.sa one.» n on A amoesoo awa.v owe." e.an o.~o oos.o ao~.n~ aon.¢a use.» 4 mon.~ moo v.fio a.ao pea.» oua.aa ave.aa annex n o» A season sues oma.~ oao.a «.sn m.vo soa.m neo.oa owo.oa one.» a nu nu o.ov «.eo oas.vm «No.4am ewo.mm need no nun-a o doonoa xhoucoson ..sc loo .6. 14. .n. .N. La. uouoaanoo :0! £0.03 0.60.03 I.GOI «0 IMQHHOV :08 £0.03 H0020. acoscaouua monsoon. ucouuoa a ca nan Glauudldddudll uo nude» poaaouocw cloned as alooca eloosn no osua> a.:os 0.:0loz seduce accouom Hangman: vmma .xom use uselcqouut decoduooaoa ho .muoxuoz osaeuaaam pssomuuooa no aloocH soaps: uo coaauonsou “m.n canoe 56 Women who work full time and year round at the same educational level earn less than men. Women who completed high school earned less than men who have less than 8 years of school, earning $14,569 and $14,624 respectively in 1984. In 1984 women with 4 years of college earned less ($20,257) than men ($23,269) who have only completed high school. Women who had 5 years or more of college earned less than men with 1 to 3 years of college, earning $25,076 and $25,831 respectively in 1984. One possible explanation is the socialization process for women which has directed women into "female," low-paying jobs. This is also compounded by the discrimination in hiring and promotion practices which are built into the structure of occupations. Women who are participants in the labor market increasingly have to cope with the hazards of the job, for example, sexual harassment. Females, for example, office workers, whose employers make advances toward them have a decision to make, a problem to solve. The employers have power and control over the workers by virtue of their positions in the socially constructed sex/gender system. Research has shown that historically there has been a change in the number and characteristics, (for example, marital status, age of children) of women entering the labor force. Although there have been changes in these characteristics, many factors have remained resistant to 57 change. Such factors are, for example, occupational segregation, sex-typed jobs, low wages, and low status positions. Although pressures for changes have been brought by the women's movement and legislation, there is resistance to the enforcement of laws which run counter to ingrained attitudes and institutionalized conventions about the differential treatment of women and men (Hesse, 1979: Fox and Hesse-Biber, 1984). Equal opportunity and equal pay are yet to be realized. Consequently, women continue to be overrepresented in low status (Hesse, 1979), low-paying (Pifer, 1979: Fox and Hesse-Biber, 1984), low-prestige, and low-power positions (Fox and Hesse-Biber, 1984) and underrepresented in high prestige jobs (Fox and Hesse-Biber, 1984), for example, physicians, lawyers. Thus, women's career opportunities are limited by occupational and sex segregation. Access to and retention in a large number of occupations, especially those professional, managerial, craft, and operative occupations usually held by men, could improve women's earning ability (Waite and Berryman, 1985: 35). Why do women work in these low status, low-paying jobs with numerous problems to be faced? These women are single, divorced, widowed and married working to fulfill an economic need: the latter, however, are also working for a second income. In other words, these women must work. "...In the absence of a husband ... the 58 participation (for divorced women) rose only moderately from 72 percent in 1960 and 1970 to 75 percent in 1981, reflecting the fact that, if divorced, women may have little option about working or not working" (U.S. Department of Labor, 1983: 13). In addition to the economic reason, some women work because it "performs social functions and provides social and emotional rewards" (Fox and Hesse-Biber, 1984: 2). According to Hughes (1958) and Miller (1981) occupations are clues to individuals' social beings and identities. They are activities performed to make a living and means by which individuals give meaning to their lives. These meanings are based on relationships developed, not only at work, but at home, in the community and in other settings (Miller, 1981). This would indicate that contacts with people at work may lead to relationships outside of the workplace. Associations or friendships may develop which would link individuals to a wider number of people in the broader society. Work is central to our lives and is used as a measure of evaluation by others in various situations, for example, when people meet they may ask the type of work that one performs. To better understand the effects of a low status occupation on self esteem, prostitution is studied as a low status occupation. Data were collected on women in prostitution, specifically, bar prostitutes, which will 59 enable us to address fundamental issues concerning women in prostitution. These issues of concern here are: How is it that prostitution has become a viable option for women? What is the ideology developed to justify prostitution as an occupation? What are the occupational hazards? What is the level of self esteem in this occupation? And, what are the coping mechanisms women use in this occupation? 60 NOTES: CHAPTER 3 See Chapter 10, "Sex-Based Stratification" in Laurel Walum Richardson. WW (Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1981). Richardson discusses sex stratification or sexual inequality by using biogenetic and biocultural theories. "The biogenetic explanations are based on the idea that social behavior is biologically caused and genetically based. ...bioculturalists argue that sexual inequality exists due to a complex interplay of biological, technical, and sociological factors. Bioculturalists ask: 'What are the social arrangements between the sexes in this particular society'" (Richardson, 1981: 175, 185). See Joan Kelly, "Family Life: A historical Perspective" in Amy Swerdlow, Renate Bridenthal, Joan Kelly, and Phyllis Vine, Haaaanald_and_zin (New York: The Feminist Press, 1981): 1-45. For additional information on household labor (time and tasks), see Sarah Fenstermaker Berk, £aatary_(N. Y.: Plenum, 1985). According to Berk the total mean time reported in this study approximately doubles the mean for the question: "How many hours per day do you spend on household work?" Berk attributes this to the ”varying definitions of household labor." She considers her definition to be "much more inclusive than the definitions used by respondents. Household tasks that carry large leisure components (e.g., some tasks of child care) are likely to be systematically excluded from respondents estimates of the time spent on household labor, but..., they 'count' in all calculations from diaries” (Berk, 1985: 65). The data are taken from U.S. Bureau of Labor, Women's Bureau, - flarkara, Bulletin 298 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1983). 5."Nontraditiona1 jobs for women are those in which women make up 25 percent or less of the total number of workers. There is, however, no clear-cut consensus 61 on this definition among researchers" (U.S. Department of Labor, 1983: 54). CHAPTER 4 METHOD This section begins with a brief description of the study locale, followed by a discussion of the sample, the method and the instruments used, and data analysis procedure. HEW Midwestern city is a tri-county Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA). It is a capital city with offices for regional or state trade and professional organizations. It is serviced by various means of transportation. There are several airlines, a major train service, and bus companies. In addition to transportation other services are: 1) communications which include telephone, newspapers, television, and radio stations, 2) churches, 3) convention facilities, 4) medical services, 5) parks and recreation facilities, 6) hotel and motel accommodations, and 7) restaurants and bars. Also located in Midwestern city is a community college with a major university in close proximity. 62 63 Midwestern city had a 1980 census population of 471,565 (3.1 percent foreign born) and a median age of 26.1 The sex ratio is fairly even: 239,743 females and 231,822 males. Of the females, 26,031 are between the ages 15 and 19, 31,153 between 20 and 24, 42,523 between 25 and 34 years old. The marital status of adult females (15 years and older) is as follows: 54,225 single, 97,379 married, 3,320 separated, 16,298 widowed, and 14,670 divorced. Thus, a little over fifty percent of the adult women in this city are married. The marital status for males is as follows: 62,747 single, 97,697 married, 2,498 separated, 2,774 widowed, and 9,646 divorced. 5311212 This study was based on 14 complete, in depth interviews with bar prostitutes.1 The 14 respondents range in age from 20 to 32 with an average age of 25: 12 are white,2 1 Hispanic, and 1 Native American. All of the respondents reside in Midwestern city. The respondents were selected using the snowball technique. The snowball technique is one in which an individual is interviewed and gives information which leads to another contact, producing in the end a chain of contacts. The fact that a prostitute referred another prostitute to the researcher in not to imply that these women were friends. They were all in the bar at one time 64 or another at the same time, but they tended to sit separately except for the lesbian couple. In many instances, they sat together. There were no intimate friendships between the prostitutes as a group. Therefore, the attitudes expressed on the questionnaires were independent. This type of technique was used because of the illicit nature of the activity of the group under study, consequently, the unavailability of the usual sample frame. Through the use of the snowball procedure, the researcher attempted to conduct 50 interviews with full time3 female heterosexual4 bar prostitutes in Midwestern city. On September 21, 1982 the researcher had a conversation with a "player" named Doug who said, "It's unrealistic. There aren't 50 bar prostitutes..." The researcher was successful in conducting 18 interviews. Four of the respondents were eliminated because two worked the streets most of the time: that is, they said that they .went into the bar and if they did not get a "date," then they would go on the street: one interview was incomplete, and one respondent worked part time. There were several problems with the snowball technique. The major problem was the unavailability of a list or sampling frame: consequently, the researcher had to rely on the prostitutes interviewed. Some of them did refer the researcher to prospective respondents. The 65 researcher, however, had no control over who was in the sample and could not set any criteria for selection except that the respondents worked full time out of a bar. Therefore, bar prostitutes who were willing to participate in the study regardless of age, race, or other characteristics were interviewed. Interviews were conducted in two settings between August, 1982 and April, 1983. Nine of the interviews were conducted in the homes of the respondents. Five interviews were conducted at Mickie's‘, a neighborhood bar,5 located on a major avenue in Midwestern city. The bar is owned and operated by one family with a few outside employees. The bar was selected based on the recommendation of a colleague who was conducting a study on gay males. He was knowledgeable about the area and the places frequented by prostitutes who would constitute the sample. There were three refusals. One of the reasons for these refusals was personal, for example, "I can't handle it right now. ... too many problems." Another respondent simply said, "No, I just can't do it." Another reason involved concern for an existing relationship: "Carol (her lover) does not like me doing it (being a prostitute) or talking about it." This respondent was also concerned about problems with the court with regard to her daughter or even losing custody of her daughter. Consequently, I 66 conducted 18 interviews although, there were these refusals. I. C- 01 1; 01 ' 'OS‘ . '1 '1' 1 Q W5 s at Data were collected from female prostitutes through observation. As McCall and Simmons (1969) indicate, observation is not a single method, but a number of methods and techniques. Both observations and interviews were used in this research. First, a "pilot reconnaissance" using observation was conducted in the work setting of the prostitutes. Second, personal interviews were conducted. The preliminary observations were made over a period of two years (1978- 1980). These observations were made at varying times of the day and on varying days of the week. The purposes of this ”pilot reconnaissance” was first: to observe the demeanor, dress, work hours, and the activities which occurred during the work hours of the prostitutes. Secondly, it was to observe interaction between some prostitutes and "dates"7 (Who initiated the conversation? What occurred afterward? Did they remain in the bar, leave together or separately?) Thirdly, the "pilot reconnaissance" enabled a recording of activities which occurred. After completing this stage, a final interview 67 schedule was devised. Then, I focused completely on gaining entree. Gaining entree into this subculture in a manner that would permit the women to agree to an interview was very difficult. They knew who the researcher was, but there was still an element of mistrust. It was only after the researcher met Doug that entree was made easier. Doug is a single, black, unemployed male about six feet two inches tall. He was always very neatly dressed in slacks and pullover sweaters with a neck chain. After spending time at the bar everyday, one day (August 3, 1982) Doug was at a table with a "date" (I learned from him, the "date," later that he was a "date"). The researcher was talking with Denise, the bar operator, at Mickie's about the difficulties setting up interviews. She said, "Oh, there is Doug. He knows all of the 'girls.' Do you want me to introduce you to him?" I said, "Sure.” When she got a few minutes we went over to the table: she introduced me and said that I was a student who wanted to do some interviews with some of the ”girls." She had to leave to go and serve some customers. Doug invited me to sit with him and another man. Doug asked me to tell him more about me, and what I was doing. I told him that I was a student in the Department of Sociology at Michigan State University. He said that he had attended Michigan State University. I asked what he studied. We spent some time 68 talking about that then I proceeded to explain my research interest. I then asked Doug if he would help me schedule some interviews. He said, *Sure. You can start with Sybil and Lisa." I was elated: for the first time I was reminded that although these "girls" do not have pimps they have a "man" or someone who "protects" them from possible undercover police: this person tells them it is alright to do an interview: this is someone they know and trust. Doug was going to be my link with the women. As I came to know him and spent time where he lived with Sybil and some family members, I came to know more names of prospective respondents and more about their world. It was very important to spend time in that subculture to learn the language and other aspects of the culture. I would go to the bars with Doug and would meet other people through him. For example, I went to see Doug because he was supposed to introduce me to someone whose "woman" was a prostitute. At 4:30 p.m. Doug came downstairs. As he was going out the door he called me. I went on the porch. He said, ”I have some place to go for a minute. I'll meet you at Sammie's8 at 5:30." I said, "O.K." He said, ”Sybil is upstairs..." I went upstairs. I said, ”Hi. How are you?" Sybil said, "Tired." She asked if I had seen Doug. I said, "Yes. He went out. I am supposed to meet him at Sammie's at 5:30 p.m." She asked if I would 69 mind if she went to Sammie's with me. I said, "No. I don't mind." She got up, took a quick shower and got dressed. Later we went to Sammie's: when we arrived Doug and his friend, Ike, were talking in the back booth. Sybil and I went to join them. This was the person Doug wanted to introduce to me. Doug explained to Ike that I was a student at Michigan State University doing some research on women and work, and that I wanted to interview some of the "working girls." He told Ike that Sybil, Patti, and Lisa had given me interviews. Ike said, “O.K. Sure my old lady can do an interview." He called Carla and introduced us. He told her about the interview. She said, "I don't know.” I explained to her that it was confidential. She asked who would see the information. I told her the information would be written in my dissertation for my committee, my department, and the university. I also told her that I would change names so that no one would recognize who I was referring to, and ~the data would be group rather that individual unless I used statements to illustrate a point. Even then I would not use her name. She said, "O.K. When did you want to do it?" At this point preparation was continuously being made to conduct the pre-test of the interview schedule. Once I had gained entree a pre-test of the interview schedule (See Appendix B) was conducted between August 16, 1982 and 70 November 3, 1982. After completing the pre-test with eight respondents, ambiguities in questions were eliminated: additional questions were added, and more of the questions were precoded for the researcher's convenience. After an interview was completed with a respondent, the researcher continued to maintain and establish rapport by going to the bar, sitting and talking with that respondent to be seen with the person and to meet prospective respondents. A substantial amount of time was spent with the respondents. McCall and Simmons (1969) stated, "the practical problems met by the researcher having to substantially live among (though not necessarily to reside with) the very subjects of his study require considerable thought and human relations work if months of effort are not to be distorted, jeopardized or invalidated." The researcher's intention for the favors, for example, buying drinks, giving prostitutes rides, and the amount of time spent among the respondents was to develop a rapport with them in their subculture and to gain their trust. I also needed to be able to spend time with them without them being hostile to me or my presence. A few accounts of the time spent with the women, their families and friends in order to maintain contact, build trust and meet prospective respondents are presented here. 71 Doug asked me to take Sybil to Larry's for her to get something to eat because she had not eaten all day. I said, "O.K." He had talked with Sybil and said, "You go to Larry's and eat something before going to Mickie's. I will call you at Mickie's." Sybil said that she didn't want anything to eat, but finally told him o.k. We left for Larry's. We were there less than five minutes when Sybil said, "I don't want anything to eat. Let's go to Mickie's." I asked, "Are you sure you're not going to eat?" She said, "No." I said, "O.K. Let's go." I drove to Mickie's. Sybil said, "It's dead here." I said, "I thought it might be crowded because there are a lot of cars: I guess everyone is riding alone." Sybil ordered beef jerkey and a beer. I had potato chips and a pop. Sybil had called Doug on his beeper: Doug didn't respond to the call in 20 minutes, and Sybil was ready to go back to Larry's. We walked. Ike, Carla and another "working girl" (street) were there. We stayed for 20 or 30 minutes, and Sybil was ready to return to Mickie's. Ike, Carla, and the other "working girl" left to return to Sammie's. Shortly after they left, we walked back to Mickie's. Sybil said, "Let's play pac-man." I said, "I'll watch because I have never played the game." She played until 12:00 midnight. At the end of the game, I said, "I am going to leave now." She said, "There ain't no 'dates' in here tonight. I'm 72 going home. Do you mind taking me?" I said, "No. I don't mind." We left: I took Sybil home and returned to the dormitory. Tuesday: November 2, 1982 I had an interview scheduled with Shelly at 4:00 p.m. We were to meet at Larry's. I went there at 3:45 p.m. and stayed until 5:30, but Shelly did not come. Lisa came in and I asked her if she had seen Shelly at Mickie's, she said, "No." Lisa invited me to come by to see her place because she had just moved. I told her I would come by later. Eventually, I left Larry's and went to Lisa's. We talked about the apartment and her receiving general assistance. Later, we went to Mickie's. Doug and Sybil were there playing shuffleboard. I said, "Happy birthday." Doug said, "Hi. I am drinking a shot of tequila." I ordered him a shot and went to talk with Sybil. Sybil told me that she was upset because she didn't have any money to get Doug a gift. She borrowed $20.00 from Denise for drinks and $20.00 from a "date" to buy Doug a gift. She didn't want to give him the gift because she didn't think he would like it. I asked her if Doug knew she didn't have any money. She said, "Yeah, but you know Lisa gave him the ring and I couldn't make any money to get him anything." I asked why she had not made any money. She said, "There hasn't been anything in 73 Mickie's." I asked why she thought there weren't any "dates" in Mickie's? She said that there were too many vice hanging in there. I said, "I thought the removal of the barricades9 would have made things better." She said that the "dates" were still cautious. She continued to play shuffleboard. I sat at the table and observed. Thursday: November 25, 1982 I had Thanksgiving dinner with Patti, Lisa, Joe, John, and Kari. They were still in bed when I arrived at 2:00 in the afternoon. Kari, Patti's daughter, answered the door. She invited me in and turned on the television. After fifteen minutes Patti came downstairs. They live in a beautiful townhouse with the living room, kitchen, dining room and bathroom on the ground level. The living room is beautifully furnished with a sofa, love seat, and chair in an orange, gold and green combination. There are two lamps with gold crush velvet shades and gold antique looking bases on the end tables, a large plant in one corner between the sofa and chair and a color television. The draperies are orange and brown with a brown centerpiece. The dining room table has a brown leather top: there is a wall unit with stereo equipment. The draperies are beige and brown. The kitchen cabinets are brown: the counter tops are orange: the curtains are white with brown curtains for the sliding back door. The 74 basement is large, but empty except for items to be unpacked. There is a bathroom upstairs and two bedrooms. The bedrooms are partially furnished with a bed and a crib in one room and a bed and dresser in the other room. There is orange and brown carpet throughout the apartment. We sat and watched television and played with John, Patti's son. By the time everyone got up and got dressed it was 3:15 in the afternoon. Joe went to pick up his brother, Jeff, and Jeff's "woman." Joe returned about 4:30. Jeff and Krystal came later. By that time we had begun eating. Patti served turkey, ham, collard greens, sweet potatoes, apple pie, and ice cream with pop or milk to drink. When Krystal and Jeff came, I was introduced. Patti told Krystal what I was doing. She said that Krystal might agree to do an interview. I asked her where she worked and if she would do an interview for me. She said, "Yes." I asked where she was living. She said, "With 'Jeff's mother.” After dinner we watched television and talked about sale items in the paper, and Christmas gifts. I left at 8:00 p.m. Mess The interview schedule was divided into sections based on the research questions of interest. The sections 75 (See Appendix B) dealt with: 1) background information, 2) the nature of the work and entrance, 3) skills and knowledge involved in prostitution, 4) interaction and the work, 5) the beliefs as to why prostitution exists, 6) advertising, and 7) the future. A combination of precoded and open ended questions were used. All of the interviews were recorded with the respondents' permission. The tapes were transcribed: initially, they were handwritten shortly after each interview. Later the data were typed on index cards. The following instruments were used in the interview schedule: Likert type scales (See Appendix B): Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965: 305-307) was used to measure self esteem. Measures were also made of the ranking of the occupation (See Appendix C), and ranking of other groups of prostitutes (See Appendix D). Briefly a Likert type scale (Moser and Kalton, 1958) is one on which the respondents indicate their strength of agreement or disagreement with an item. Each item has basically the following categories: ”strongly approve" (strongly agree), "approve" (agree), ”undecided," "disapprove" (disagree) and "strongly disapprove" (strongly disagree). These categories were assigned. scores of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 when strongly agree indicated an unfavorable response and 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 when strongly agree indicated a favorable response to an item. By summing the 76 scores for the categories a respondent's attitude was measured (Moser and Kalton, 1958: 361-362). The second scale was the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale. It is an adaptation of the Likert scale and the scores are derived by the same procedure. The Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale used had only four categories of responses: strongly agree, agree, disagree, and strongly disagree. An item analysis of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was used to determine whether the items discriminated between the respondents. Cronbach's Alpha (a: 0.79) was also computed to assess the reliability of the scale. The third technique used was the semantic differential which was developed as a technique for measuring meaning. The meaning of the concepts was indicated on nine bi-polar scales with polar opposite adjectives at the ends of each scale. Nine semantic differential scales (Osgood et al., 1957) were used for the prostitutes to rate self and twelve other concepts. The three scales used for each dimension loaded high on the evaluative, activity, and potency dimensions respectively: good-bad, cruel-kind, valuable-worthless, fast-slow, passive-active, dull-sharp, hard-soft, large- small and weak-strong. These were the same items used by Bryan (1966) in his study of call girls. The prostitutes rated thirteen concepts: self, "dates," other bar girls, call girls, house prostitutes, streetwalkers, wives, 77 women-in-general, men-in-general, bar operators, policemen, pimps, and madams. The instructions given based on Osgood et a1. (1957) were: Now I would like you to make your judgments on some words based on what they mean to you. You are to rate each word on each scale. For example, if the concept is very closely related to one end of the scale, not closely related to one end of the scale, slightly related to one end of the scale, or neutral you would mark as I will show you. After the subjects rated the concept's position on each scale, the numbers assigned to those positions were summed, and that total score was the measure of the respondent's attitude. Like the Likert scale, the semantic differential is a summated rating scale requiring consistent numbering, for example, low scores at the unfavorable end and high scores at the favorable end or vice versa. Analysis of variance of the semantic differential ratings was used to determine whether the respondents held differential attitudes on the dimensions and toward the concepts being rated. T tests were also calculated for specific means of interest here. In addition to the above scales, the respondents were asked to rank prostitution among 22 conventional occupations and to rank the various types of prostitutes, for example, call girls, bar prostitutes, house 78 prostitutes, streetwalkers, male homosexual, and male heterosexual prostitutes. Categories were created from the data gathered. Categorization aided in the manageability of the data, in the ease of recognizing the emergence of patterns in the data and in noting direct quotes to be used in this project. After selecting the categories, only frequencies and percentages were calculated since there was a small n of 14 cases. The interviews conducted were on a voluntary basis and the respondents signed Informed Consent forms. The respondents were asked to sign a name on the consent form which allowed the use of the data and fulfilled the requirement of protecting the respondents. One of the respondents appeared concerned when I handed her the consent form. After I said that she could sign any name, it seemed to alleviate her fears. She wanted to know if the other respondents had signed their names. I told her that I only knew first names, so I did not know whether 'they had or not. The interviews were scheduled in advance and conducted by the researcher at a place, bar or home, of mutual agreement. The researcher had a number of problems with respondents not keeping their scheduled appointments: consequently, the interviews had to be rescheduled for 79 some respondents and one was never completed. Examples of the scheduling problem based on fieldnotes: August 16, 1982: I talked with one respondent and scheduled an interview appointment for August 17 at 12:00 noon. On that day I went to conduct the interview with the prospective respondent, but she was not at home. One of the informant's nephews told me that she went out and would return at 3:30 in the afternoon. I went back, but her "man" said that she was asleep. He said she would be home the next day. I asked him to tell her that I would come at 1:00 p.m. since he said that she gets up about 1:00 p.m. because she works until 3:30 a.m. On August 18, I went to conduct the interview. The respondent and her "man" were on their way out to pay some bills. She said that she would be back in an hour. I waited. She came home and went upstairs. She sent me a message with her "man's" niece that she could not do the interview today. She wasn't going to do it anymore. Later I asked Sybil about it because they share a house. Sybil said that she is moody and hostile, also that she works the streets. I did not pursue it because my research interest was with bar prostitutes. .I had also rescheduled an appointment with Lisa twice. Once she was asleep (August 20), and the second 80 time she was on her way to the bar (August 24). I rescheduled it for August 25 at 12:00 noon which was when I conducted the interview. I eventually lost contact with the possible respondent whose interview was incomplete. On August 19, 1982 I went to schedule this interview with Patti for August 20 at 1:30 p.m. When I arrived August 20 at 1:30 Patti was in bed. She said that she was sick and felt bad: she felt as if she was dying. I told her that I would talk with Lisa and come back. Lisa was asleep: so I rescheduled the interview for August 25 because I had another interview scheduled for 5:30 p.m. On August 25, I completed a portion of the interview with Patti. The problem with completion was due to her moving twice and asking me to wait until she was settled. WW Several authors have discussed the expensiveness of participant observation in terms of money. I will mention the problems encountered during the field research and during the interview sessions. These problems were: 1) length of the interview schedule, 2) gaining entree, 3) interruptions, and 4) cost. The length of the interviews ranged from 2 1/2 hours to 6 hours: 7 interviews ranged from-2 1/2 to 2 hours and 50 minutes, 4 interviews ranged from 3 hours to 3 1/2 hours, 1 interview was 6 hours. I 81 neglected to record the time for two interviews. The schedule was long and some of the respondents would ask, "Are we almost finished?" Many of them would be ready to leave for work. Time is a valuable commodity to the prostitutes because it could make a difference in income. Also, the nature of the prostitutes' job means that when the interviews were conducted at the bar, people were likely to stop and talk. The respondent would usually tell the person that she was doing an interview with me and would talk with her or him later. As for the one interview which took 6 hours, there were lengthy interruptions by Doug. Data collection through participant observation was expensive in terms of money and time. It required some means of transportation. A car was used rather than the bus because bus service ended early. Money was required for gasoline to and from the bar and the respondents' homes. Some days I went to the bar twice: other days I made several trips between the bar and the prostitutes' homes. If an interview was scheduled for her home and she was not there, I would go and check the bars. In addition to transportation and gasoline, money was spent for food and drinks. Several days I went to the bar before lunch, in order to save my time I ate there or nearby. While sitting in the bar waiting one is expected to buy something to drink, and I did. When I conducted 82 interviews at the bar I offered the respondents a drink: occasionally, I would offer a drink while sitting with them at the bar. One costly experience from which I learned occurred October 7, 1982. I went to see two "working girls" who shared an apartment. I went to Patti's room first because it was closer to the door. I sat down and put my pocketbook and my bag with the interview schedules, cassette recorder and two blank tapes by the chair in which I sat. Patti and I started talking. She told me that Lisa had injured her back. I asked, "How?" She said, "She fell on the stairs and dislocated a lower disc. She's in her room." I said, "O.K. Let me go and say hello. I'll be back." I left my pocketbook and bag. After talking with Lisa I went back to talk with Patti. She asked me to come back another time to finish the interview because they were packing to move. I said, "O.K.." I left and went to Sybil's. I realized that I did not have my cassette recorder in the bag. When I left, I looked in my car trunk and in my pocketbook. I realized that my recorder, gas charge card and $1.00 were gone. I was a little disgusted. I went to a gas station and called to report the card stolen, then I went back to Patti's and Lisa's to tell them what happened. Patti said, "Oh, no. It was probably Ron because he has stolen from me before. He's a junkie." 83 She said that she would talk with him. I left and returned to campus. By April, 1983 all the data were collected and later analyzed as discussed. The next chapter gives profiles of the fourteen women from whom the data were collected. 84 NOTES: CHAPTER 4 A bar prostitute is one who approaches or is approached by "dates" in a bar (See Chapter 1). No black prostitutes were found to work out of the bar at the time of this study. I met one black street prostitute through a respondent who was not used in this study because she was a streetwalker. Perhaps, race is a factor in the status system of prostitution. It may well be that the higher one goes up the prostitution hierarchy, the fewer blacks. This would certainly reflect the occupational structure which exists in the general society. Full time refers to the major source of income or means of making a living, for example, an individual may spend 40 or more hours a week at the bar trying to get "dates," but if she has another job and derives from it her major source of income she would be categorized as a part-time prostitute. Bisexuals (2) and lesbians (3) were included in the sample because they claim not to cater to female dates. Mickie's and all other names in this study are fictitious names created for this study. A neighborhood bar is one which has basically the same patrons from day to day. "Dates” refer to men who requested services from prostitutes. One interview was conducted at Sammie's. Sammie's can be described as mixed with a higher proportion of blacks patrons as compared with Mickie's. The occupations of the patrons at both bars vary widely, but they are mostly working class. The barricade was the closing of certain streets from August to December, 1982 except to local traffic: .that is, people who lived on those streets. The barricades were used in response to the members of the community's complaints about the prostitutes 85 (streetwalkers) being in the neighborhood. It served to reduce the social visibility of the prostitutes, thereby, reducing public concern. The acts of prostitution continued, however, with the prostitutes moving to another location according to the prostitutes interviewed. CHAPTER 5 BACKGROUND AND PROFILES OF FOURTEEN PROSTITUTES This chapter presents: 1) daily round, 2) summary background information, 3) profiles of fourteen prostitutes which include demographic data on the prostitutes, their early sexual experience, and socio- economic data about their parents. Information is also provided on how these women entered prostitution, their employment status prior to prostitution, and their present residence. Halli—BQHBQ Most of the prostitutes' day began in the afternoon. Once they were up, they reported engaging in a variety of leisure activities. Some of the more frequent activities mentioned included visiting family and children (4), reading (4), shopping (3), watching television (3), domestic work (2), and listening to music (2). After I met and interviewed Sybil and Lisa, I would go to their places to visit and talk with them. If I went to visit Lisa or Sybil before 1:00 p.m., they were usually in bed. One day Sybil was still in bed around 4:30 p.m. 86 87 Sybil, like many prostitutes, worked from around 6:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. Eight of the prostitutes worked one shift (afternoon, 2 or evening, 6), while the other six worked two shifts, afternoon and evening. When they arrived home after leaving the bar or the ”date," they might, as Sybil did, watch a late movie and have something to eat. Consequently, they went to bed late and slept late the next-day. During the course of a day, the prostitutes came in contact, directly or indirectly, with fellow workers, "dates," bar operators, friends, family, and partners. While they were at the bar, they passed the time by talking, and playing games, for example, pac man, pool, and shuffleboard. Particularly, during the period the barricades were erected, there were ”no dates" in the bar at times, as Sybil said. One night Sybil played pac man, while talking to me and looking around for a possible "date.” She played pac man until we left the bar at midnight. She was not upset, and she did not complain. I asked her if there were many nights when there were no "dates” in the bar, and she said that occasionally there were no "dates," but the barricades had made things worse. The "dates" were afraid of being arrested, and consequently, that this information would be revealed to family and friends. 88 There were days/nights when the prostitutes do not make any money. Most (12) of them reported an average income of between $100 and $150 per day. Based on this reported income, and the more frequent charges of between $30 to $40, they could have contact with three to five "dates" per day. Of course, on days/nights when there are no "dates," this would increase the number of contacts with "dates" on other days to earn the average income. These prostitutes seemed to be in a good mood most of the time: there were no visible signs of depression. When asked, however, if they got depressed or angry, many of them said they did (See Chapter 7). They may be coping well with the occupation problems, or they may simply be denying their feelings. The prostitutes, as Hochschild's (1983) flight attendants, viewed certain acts as a part of the job. They were, therefore, able to disguise their "true" feelings, just as flight attendants disguised fatigue and .irritation. The customers' satisfaction is important in a service occupation. Sybil, for example, did talk about problems coping with her relationship with Doug and Lisa. She was not happy about sharing him with Lisa. Eventually, she appeared to have accepted the relationship the way it was set up. Doug spent most of his time with her. Lisa, also, stopped complaining about the situation. Although 89 both of them threatened to end the relationship with Doug, neither one did. Complaints about relationships are common even among "square" society. W The fourteen women range in age from 20 to 32 and have worked as bar prostitutes in Midwestern city for an average of 5 years. Cumulative frequencies show that eight of the women are under 26 years old and 6 are under 23. All had entered prostitution by age 30: 9 entered between 14 and 21 and 5 between 22 and 30 years of age. Because of the value placed on youth in this occupation, younger, rather than older women, are attracted to it, consequently, the high percentage entering between ages 14 and 21. Most of these prostitutes are white (12), (1) is Hispanic, and (1) Native American. Their marital status varies; 9 are single, 3 divorced, and 2 separated. None are currently married. The educational levels of the prostitutes indicate that they are more likely to be junior high school (3) or high school dropouts (6) than high school graduates (5). Two of the five graduates completed the General Equivalency Diploma (GED) program (See Table 5.1 below). Enrolling in school after entering prostitution is an 9O unlikely occurrence as indicated by 1 of 14 prostitutes being in school at this time. Table 5.1: Prostitutes' Educational Levels Grade Level Frequency 0 - 5 0 6 - 8 3 9 -11 6 12 2 13+ 3 The parents' educational levels are as follows: Table 5.2: Prostitutes' Parents' Educational Levels EIQQQQDQX Grade Level Mother Father* 0 - 5 1 1 6 - 8 2 2 9 — 11 1 2 12 5 5 13+ 5 3 *Data are missing on educational level for one father. When compared with their children, prostitutes' parents have higher educational levels. Mothers (5) and fathers (5) are more likely to be high school graduates or have some college education, mother (5) and father (3). 91 The lower educational levels of these prostitutes, as compared with their parents, is possibly a reflection of the changes in our society in the 19603 and 1970s. With the increasing number of mothers entering the labor force, less time was available to spend supervising children and reinforcing values taught. These younger people had more time without parental supervision, more places to go and more activities to engage in, consequently, neglecting education and dropping out of school at an earlier age. However, rather than dropping out of school, they could have made the choice to stay in school. Emilie: The profiles of the fourteen prostitutes are divided into four categories based on how the women entered prostitution. The prostitutes showed a pattern of early sexual experiences and were promiscuous. By age thirteen, five of them had engaged in sexual acts: three of the five engaged in sex acts with different partners. Eleven of the prostitutes began engaging in sexual acts by age fifteen: of the eleven, five engaged in sex with different partners. Prostitutes showed a pattern of what N. Davis (1971) called "drifting” into this occupation, in that there were no indications of this being a thought out decision or weighing of alternatives. Their entrance was almost 92 accidental based on their descriptions of how they entered prostitution. This issue as related to decision/choice will be more adequately discussed in Chapter 6. Usually prostitutes became involved either of their own volition (2), with someone approaching them (6), through a friend (5), or through a relative (1). WWW Linda Linda, brunette, is a 31-year old, divorced, white American about 5 feet 5 inches tall who has worked as a prostitute for eleven years. She was born in a Midwestern city where she lived with her parents and three brothers. She ran away from home at age fourteen, was in a detention home for three months, went home for three months, then moved out for good at fifteen years old. Her mother, a housewife, attended a university for two years and her father, a salesman, attended a university for three years. Linda began engaging in sex with the same person at age thirteen. Later, she got pregnant and had a daughter who was given up for adoption. Prior to entering prostitution, Linda operated games in a Las Vegas hotel. She became involved in prostitution on her own. "I was living with a girl in Las Vegas. She was thirty and I was seventeen. I saw her doing it, and I 93 saw that the money was easy and good. You didn't have to wait for it or anything." Presently she lives in a rented house with her brother and sister-in-law. She has three children, including the one she gave up for adoption. Her exhusband has custody of the other two children. $319.11; Stella, a slim, attractive blonde, is a 21-year old, single, bisexual,1 white American about 5 feet 6 inches tall who has worked as a prostitute for two years. She was born in a Midwestern city where she lived with both parents, six sisters and one brother. Her mother is a high school graduate who works in a laundry at the university, and her father,who completed the eleventh grade, is a foreman in a factory. Stella completed the tenth grade. Stella began engaging in sex with a consistent .partner at thirteen. She left home at sixteen to live with her boyfriend, and at nineteen she entered prostitution. She stayed with her boyfriend until she was twenty one, then she returned home to live with her family and one daughter. She has not told her family that she works as a prostitute. -Stella was working at a factory prior to entering prostitution, but she got pregnant and was laid off. She 94 wanted to return to the factory, but the company had no maternity leave policy. She was "tricking" and working at the factory. She started "tricking" on her own: "the money sounded good so I did it. ...I went into it on my own." mm W Connie Connie, a brunette, is a tall, slim, 22-year old, single, bisexual, white American who has worked as a prostitute for eight years. She was born in Los Angeles where she lived with her two sisters, one brother, one stepbrother and both parents until she was seven, then her parents divorced. She lived with her mother until she was thirteen when she was placed in a girls' home for running away. She remained in Los Angeles until she was fifteen, at which time she came to this Midwestern city. Her mother graduated from a four-year college and is a cosmetologist. Her father completed tenth grade and is a self employed carpenter. Connie has a ninth-grade education. Connie began engaging in sex when she was thirteen. She averaged two partners per month. She entered prostitution at the age of fourteen after she was placed in a girls' home. "I was in the girls' home and the cook 95 at the home, he's an old man about fifty years old, he came up to me. I was working in the kitchen, and he asked me, you wanta make $20? Back in 1974 that's a lot of money for a fourteen year old, you know. I said, yeah. What I gotta do?" . Presently, she lives in a rented house with her man (black, unemployed) and his mother. Connie has one daughter who is in a foster home. She said, "They took her from me for what I'm doing. ...I went to jail for it and so I was in jail and her father was in prison...but my father came up from North Carolina and tried to get custody, but they wouldn't let her leave the state." $31192 Sandy, a brunette, is a 32-year old, divorced, white American about 5 feet 4 inches tall who has worked as a prostitute for ten years. She was born in Seattle: her family moved to Adrian when she was less than a year old. She lived with her parents and two brothers. Her mother is a housewife with a GED, and her father is a building inspector with a high school diploma. Sandy is also a high school graduate.) Sandy began engaging in sex with the same person at age seventeen. She got married at eighteen years of age and entered prostitution when she was twenty two years old. Prior to entering prostitution, Sandy was employed as 96 a secretary at a university and a barmaid. "I was working at a bar part time and was offered some money and I couldn't refuse it. ... every time I walked by (this man) put $5 or $10 in my pocket. ...I couldn't figure out what was going on. I was embarrassed. I finally approached him and asked, 'What's the deal?‘ He said, 'I'll give you $100 if I can look down the front of your dress.' I needed the money, so I said, 'Well, o.k. What do you want me to do?' He said, 'All I want you to do is bend over the waste basket and clean an ashtray and let me look down the front of your dress.' After that I said, 'Well, hell, I'll try it.‘ I needed the money. ...It just happened. I said, 'Well, if I can get money for sexual favors of any kind in that respect, I will.'" Presently, Sandy lives in an apartment with her boyfriend (black, unemployed). She has one child, but her family has legal custody of the daughter. Jan Jan is a 25-year old, divorced, lesbian, white American about 5 feet 4 inches tall with light brown hair who has worked as a prostitute for three years. She was born in a Midwestern city where she lived with three sisters, three step-sisters, one stepbrother and both parents until she was eleven years old. She lived with her mother until she left home at thirteen because she 97 felt her father was too strict. "Everything that came down came down on me. I was grounded like nine months of a year. He was really mean to me, so when he left, I had freedom." Jan's mother, a business college graduate, works at a motel, and her father, a high school graduate, works as an appliance repairman. Jan completed high school. 'Jan began engaging in sex at age thirteen: as she said, "I was screwing for drugs and in and out of juvenile homes. At age sixteen I got pregnant. I was forced to get married. At that time my mom gave me a choice of going into a girls' home until I was eighteen or getting married. So I took the easier way out and got married.” Prior to entering prostitution Jan was unemployed. She "met a nice older man at a restaurant. He told me if I take care of him he'd take care of me." Now she lives in a rented house with her two children and her Native American lover who also works as a prostitute. Kari Kari, a short hair brunette, is a 32-year old, separated, white American about 5 feet 5 inches tall who has worked as a prostitute for two years. She was born in Owosso where she lived with her parents, one sister and three brothers. Her mother, a high school graduate, is a 98 housewife, and her father, a college graduate, is a minister. Kari graduated from a junior college. Kari began engaging in sex at the age of twenty one with two different persons. She began working as a prostitute rather late, at age thirty. "One of the part time bosses I went out with handed me $50. He said that there was no reason I had to live like I did after my husband left me without nothing. He said that I was an attractive woman, and I could get the money." Prior to entering prostitution, Kari was unemployed: previously, she had worked as a dental hygienist. Presently, she lives in a church parsonage with her mother and father. She has not told them about her work. Kari does not have any children. Karen Karen is a 25-year old, lesbian, single, Native American about 5.feet 5 inches tall with black hair who (has worked as a prostitute for two years. She was born in a Midwestern city where she lived with two sisters, five stepsisters, three brothers and both parents until she was three years old. She lived with her mother from three to seven years old: then, with her mother and stepfather until she was fifteen. She was placed in a girls' home (fifteen to seventeen years old) for running away from home and truancy. Karen's mother, a business school 99 graduate, is a secretary for the Department of Mental Health, and her father, a Fisher Body line supervisor, completed the sixth grade. Karen completed the eleventh grade. Karen began engaging in sex with her lover at age fifteen. She worked wrapping wire parts for an automobile company in a factory prior to entering prostitution. She explained how she became involved in prostitution, "I was drunk and needed the money to continue partying with my lover. ...It was quick and easy money." Now she lives in a rented house with her lover (white, prostitute) and her lover's two children. She does not have any children. Cindy Cindy is a 27-year old, single, white American who has been in prostitution for twelve years. She was born in a Midwestern city where she lived with her parents, three sisters, one stepsister, one brother and one stepbrother. Her mother, a high school graduate, is a bartender, and her father, also a high school graduate, owns a janitorial service and works at an office job in an automobile plant. Cindy completed the eleventh grade. Cindy said that she had not engaged in sex prior to entering prostitution at age fifteen. "Prostitution was the first time I had engaged in sex. ...Well, I got raped and I ...started working. The first time, I was at a 100 girl friend's apartment and this man came over to see her, but I went out with him. I still see the man. He still spends money with me." Presently, Cindy lives in a rented house with her "sugar daddy" (white, retired). She said, "a sugar daddy is someone who gives you money all the time and takes care of you." She has two children who stay with the baby- sitter or her "sugar daddy" when she works. 1V0 :11‘! 9 0-:9 ; ‘10. .0 -:_ -. ,-_ you Sybil is a beautiful 22-year old, separated, Mexican American about 5 feet 3 inches tall with long black hair who has worked as a prostitute for three years. She was born in a small town, Harlingen, Texas where she lived with her parents, four sisters and four brothers. Her mother is an uneducated housewife, and her father is an uneducated factory worker. Sybil completed the eighth grade. Sybil began engaging in sex with one partner at age fifteen. Engaging in sex with different partners started at age nineteen. Shortly thereafter she entered prostitution (age nineteen). Having left home prior to becoming a prostitute, Sybil now lives in a rented room with.her "man" (black, unemployed). She refers to Lisa, another prostitute, as a "'wife-in-law' because we are 101 supposed to be equal. It's like a family. (Doug's) time is divided between the two of us." She has one daughter who lives with her parents to whom she is supposed to pay child support. Sybil became involved in prostitution through a friend. "I had a friend who was a hustler. I didn't know it. I started going into the bar. I didn't know what was going on. I lost my purse and needed to repay a friend. My friend told me about a guy who liked me and wanted to go out with me. I was scared and I thought about it and the money I owed her and where I was going to get it. So, that was my first 'date', $100.” Prior to entering prostitution, Sybil was unemployed: however, she had worked as a telephone operator, a waitress, and at a nursing home. Lisa Like Sybil, Lisa also became involved in prostitution through a friend. Lisa is a 21-year old, single, white American brunette about 5 feet 6 inches tall who has worked as a prostitute for four years. She was born in a Midwestern city where she lived with her parents, one sister and four brothers for seven years prior to moving to another city. Her mother is an eighth grade educated laundress in a hospital, and her father was an eighth 102 grade educated factory worker. Lisa completed the seventh grade. Lisa began engaging in sex at age eleven with an average of five or six different persons per month. She left home prior to entering prostitution at age seventeen and now lives in an apartment with another working girl, Patti, Patti's two children, and occasionally, her man whom she shares with Sybil. She has two children: her mother has custody of her daughter, and Patti has custody of her son. Prior to entering prostitution, Lisa was an unemployed, welfare recipient with one child. She became involved in prostitution through a friend. "I came back to this Midwestern city to stay with a girlfriend and we didn't have no money, so she said, 'Well, I'll tell you how we can get it.' I always thought about doing it, but I didn't want to do it in the streets. She showed me. I was scared, but we went on double dates (One man who wants two women). We did that for a while until I got used to it. I got used to it, and it was so easy, and I liked it so I kept doing it." Qiili Carla is a 20-year old, single white American about 5 feet's inches tall with light brown hair who has worked as 103 a prostitute for two years. She was born in a small town in Illinois where she lived with both parents and four brothers. Her mother is a housewife who completed junior high school, and her father is an independent truck driver who completed high school. Carla completed the eleventh grade. Carla began engaging in sex at age fourteen, at which time she had a single partner. She said, "Ike is the second man I've ever had in my life." She began engaging in sex with different people when she entered prostitution at age eighteen. Carla was employed as a food preparer for a restaurant prior to entering prostitution. She became involved through a friend whom she met at work. "She turned me on to this dude. She'd tell him she had a friend working. We did a couple of doubles together." Presently, she lives with her man (black, unemployed) in an apartment. She has no children. Mona Mona is a 20-year old, lesbian, single, white American about 5 feet six inches tall with light brown hair who has worked as a prostitute for two years. She was born in a Detroit hospital and lived in Dearborn with one sister, one stepsister, one brother, two stepbrothers and her parents. Her parents divorced when she was five 104 years old: then Mona moved back and forth between parents until she was eighteen. Her mother, a college graduate, is a manager of data processing at a bank, and her father, a college graduate, is vice-president of a soft drink company. Mona has a.certificate from a community college in business. Mona began engaging in sex at fifteen with two guys. She said, "One guy I was thinking about marrying. He's the only guy I ever loved in my life.” Mona started working as a prostitute at age eighteen after which she left home because "I didn't want it at my mom's house,..., 'cause she'd wonder 'where is she getting all this money?‘ I have a brother (twelve years old) and a sister (eighteen years old) still living at home: they look up to me, and I didn't want them to see that." Mona entered prostitution while working at a massage parlor. "I went out looking for a job and came in to take a girl friend out on her break and I ... couldn't find a job. She said, 'Why don't you apply here?' ...You only make $10 on a massage: you can make a couple of hundred otherwise." Presently, Mona lives in an apartment with a friend (white, single, male professor). She does not have any children. 105 Julie Julie is a 26-year old, single, white American about 5 feet 4 inches tall with long, straight, black hair who has worked as a prostitute for seven years. She was born in a Midwestern city where she lived with her parents, two sisters, and one brother. Her mother, a high school graduate, works as a typist for the board of education, and her father, a high school graduate, is retired from the Marine corp and the post office. Julie graduated from high school and completed a one year program at a community college. Julie began engaging in sex with the same person at fifteen years of age. She was employed prior to entering prostitution at age nineteen through a female friend who was involved in it. She had worked as a waitress and was studying architectural rendering, which she explained is the study of architectural technology with solar and underground objects. She continues to live at home with her parents. "I stay with friends for a number of days-at a time, but my clothes and legal address are at home. I go there when I want to relax, but I might not go there for days at a time." 106 9:11:11 Candi is a 28-year old, single, white American about 5 feet 4 inches tall with shoulder length, straight, black hair who has worked as a prostitute for two years. She was born in a Midwestern city where she lived with two sisters, two stepsisters, one brother, and both parents. Her parents divorced when she was three: then she lived with her mother. Her mother is a special transportation worker who has a GED, and her father is self employed in the construction business. Candi dropped out of school in the twelfth grade because she was pregnant. Candi began engaging in sex with the same person at age seventeen. She entered prostitution at age twenty six. She said that her sister encouraged her to try it. "I got talked into it by my sister. She said that it was easy money and would only take a second: all you really had to do was shut your eyes real tight and think about something else. It took a long time to get me talked into it, but I needed the money. Some people give it away, so you might as well get paid for it." Candi now lives in a rented house with her two children and her man (white, maintenance worker). Candi has never been employed: she prefers to be a housewife. 107 Summer! A consistent picture of the prostitutes emerged from the data. The prostitutes are young, white, single, promiscuous women who came from intact, large families living in the city. At young ages, 4 of them lived only with a mother and 1 lived partly with the mother and partly with the father. Their family sizes range from 5 to 13, with parents included: 1 lives in a family of 13, l in a family of 11, 2 in a family of 10, 1 in a family of 9, 3 in a family of 8, 2 in a family of 7, 3 in a family of 6, and 1 in a family of 5. Most of these families lived in a Midwestern city, therefore, nine of the prostitutes were born in Midwestern cities with five coming from other states. The prostitutes lived with a partner in a rented house (6) or apartment (4): others lived in their parents' owned houses (3), or a rented room (1). They live with a "man” (7), or "lover” (2), another "working girl" (1), or relatives (4). Of the seven male partners, three are white and four are black. The white partners were employed (maintenance, and professor) or retired. All of the black partners were unemployed. Bar prostitutes are involved in a socially marginal occupation. The degree of social marginality and isolation lead to their involvement with-even more marginal individuals, for example, unemployed men. Living mostly with partners in rented 108 residences, they form a supportive subculture for themselves in order to work in this illegal occupation. These are partners to whom it is safe to disclose information about their identity and their work. Nine of the prostitutes have children, but the children reside with some member of their family (5), or the state (2): in only two of the cases do the children live with the mother. Lisa has two children, one of whom is with her parents and the other is with Patti, a "working girl." She said, "I am not ready to settle down" therefore she gave up custody of the children. Most of these women (6) do not view prostitution as interfering with being a parent. Stella said, for example, "I'll stay with her (daughter) before I come out to work." Or, as Linda said, "I'm not gone much: it helps get the kids what they need." Sybil, Sandy, and Cindy view prostitution as interfering with being parents. Sybil said, "I don't have enough time to spend with my daughter." Cindy whose ,children are with her expressed the same feelings, "It takes time away from them." Sandy said, "I don't see her (daughter) as much as I should. Maybe my lifestyle in general is a hindrance because I'm out partying, drinking, and getting high. Prostitution itself does not interfere as much as my lifestyle." .Two of the prostitutes are bisexuals, and three are lesbians which is a high percent of the sample. These 109 women said that they were in prostitution for the money. Why not choose some other occupation which did not require them to sell their bodies or sex to men? This finding is unclear because the lesbians do not express an interest in men as sexual partners. Yet, they are working in an occupation which requires them to engage in sex with men, when they do not find them attractive as partners. The prostitutes' parents work in varied occupations. Mothers, for example, are housewives (5), laundresses (3), bartender (1), cosmetologist (1), secretary (1), typist (1), department store manager (1), and data processing manager (1). Fathers, on the other hand, are factory. workers (5), construction workers (2), truck driver (1), appliance repairman (1), salesman (1), post office worker (1), city worker (1), minister (1), and vice-president of a soft drink company (1). The next chapter presents the findings related to various aspects of the occupational setting, e.g., the 'dates', justification for entrance, the commodity (sex) for sale, the skills required and the occupational hazards. 110 NOTES: CHAPTER 5 The sexual preference category was selected by each prostitute from among the following: straight, bisexual, and lesbian. There were nine women who selected straight, 2 bisexual, and 3 lesbian. CHAPTER 6 OCCUPATIONAL SETTING getting Prostitution, an illegal, exploitative occupation, exists in a variety of settings. The setting for this study is a small metropolitan area. Consequently, there are fewer women working as bar prostitutes. The specific occupational setting for the fourteen prostitutes in this study is a bar, Mickie's. Most (8) of them have worked only out of Mickie's for the entire time they have been in prostitution. The others (4) work mainly out of Mickie's, but they occasionally turn tricks out of Sammie's and Larry's. Here these women congregate daily to approach or be approached by "dates" in order to sell their commodity, namely sex (See Table 6.1), to earn their income. Most of the time, there are only the prostitutes, bar operators and the patrons in the bar: however, occasionally among the patrons are members of the Midwestern city vice squad. One of the four prostitutes, working part time out of Mickie's, Connie gave the following reason for working different bars: "It gets too hot in some areas. And then 111 112 you get to know all the tricks in one bar, and there might be another set of tricks in another bar, so you get to know them." Another reason for working out of Sammie's and Larry's is that a prostitute may be "barred" from Mickie's. Sandy was ”barred" from Mickie's. She explained it: "Denise, one of the bartenders, just went off and put me out. I haven't gone back to ask why." However, Sandy is now working at Mickie's. The prostitutes will work out of Sammie's or Larry's until they can return to Mickie's which is the main bar for the prostitutes in this study. Candi described Mickie's as having a "family atmosphere (because) everybody knows everybody." Jan stated it differently by saying that Mickie's is "a bar for orphans, people got no other places to go." As Carla said, the patrons at Mickie's are "mostly white, mostly Black at Sammie's and mostly gays at Larry's." The bars provide a place for "dates" to come and make transactions with the prostitutes. Since Mickie's is a neighborhood bar located in a small metropolitan area, it does not provide the same degree of anonymity that a bar, for example, in Detroit or New York provides. Consequently, the range of income and occupations of the "dates" is probably not as great as in Detroit or New York. Also, the wealthier "dates" have an alternative to go to call girls in any city and do not have to take the same risks as the working class "dates". 113 However, in larger metropolitan areas, wealthier "dates" may be able to use the bars because they will provide some degree of anonymity not guaranteed in a small city. The prostitutes who cater to the "dates" are allowed to work out of Mickie's as long as they "do it discretely," Sybil said. Or, as Stella said, "almost anyone who doesn't work the streets" is allowed to work the bar. Another reason given for being able to work out of Mickie's is if the person is not a known prostitute. "Some can't (if they are) a known prostitute. They have a list and if your name is on it you can't work out of the bar. The police took it (the list) to Mickie's owner and told him if he had any of these girls in there they'd take his license," Connie said. Other rationales for working out of Mickie's were expressed by Mona, "Any girl that's pretty decent, no trouble maker. They'll bar you out of it (stop you from coming in the bar) if you are." Lastly, Carla said, "the girls not 'ripping off' (stealing from) ,tricks" is important in order to work out of Mickie's. This work setting leads to alienation, in the sense of powerlessness,1 of the prostitutes. This powerlessness is evident by, for example, the owners or bartenders deciding who will work out of the bars. Being in the position to make this decision is an indication of the control they have over the prostitutes. The prostitutes 114 lack control over their work setting and may suffer financial losses, if "barred." Prostitutes are also in a somewhat powerless position with their "dates" because the "dates" have the money, and they decide the type of sex act. Prostitutes may exert some influence over the "date" in his choice of sexual act by persuading him to accept a different act or by refusing to perform the act. In case of the latter, the "date" may decide to request the service from another prostitute. Borrowing on this notion of alienation as powerlessness, one finds that the prostitutes have nothing to sell but sexual acts, while the "dates" have the money. Money and its importance give power/control to the "dates." This condition of the prostitutes' powerlessness is continually reproduced due to the lack of or limited economic alternatives. Thus, the prostitutes remain in this alienating situation. II No 7 Based on information received primarily from “regulars,” the prostitutes reported that the ”dates" were from varying occupations. Julie's response was representative of most of the prostitutes when she described the "dates" as having a "variety of occupations: you get all kinds." The occupations mentioned most frequently were factory worker (10), businessman (7), 115 retired (5), construction (4), police officer (2), lawyer (2), salesman (2), student (2), dentist (1), doctor (1), engineer (1), fireman (1), marine officer (1), mechanic (1), painter (1), professor (1), psychologist (1), telephone company employee (1), truck driver (1), and unemployed (1). The prostitutes had regular "dates,” and could therefore acquire this information on occupations through conversation over a period of time, if not immediately. Sybil felt that "they talk about it because they don't feel I am going to talk about it.” These men may not feel threatened by the prostitutes because of the illegal status of their occupation and the risks involved to the prostitutes. Consequently, these men become regular customers for the prostitutes. All of the fourteen prostitutes said that they saw the same trick more than once. Twelve of them saw the same customers once a week, one saw the same customers twice a week, and one goes out with regulars once every two weeks. The number of regular customers range from 2 to 30 with most of the prostitutes (11) having between 1 and 10 regulars, two prostitutes having between 11 and 20, and one prostitute in the category 21 to 30. The risk of venereal diseases and violence may be decreased by having regular "dates." 116 IYPs§_anQ_Q2a§§_9i_§§z_hst§_B§Qu§§§2§ The sex acts requested, cited with their frequencies of women performing them and the costs, are in Table 6.1. Over all the acts, the most frequent charge is between $30 and $40. Table 6.1: Sex Acts Requested, by Women Performing Them and Minimum Charges EIQQBQDQX Egmgn Minimum_QheIQ§§ Types2 $15-25 $30-40 $50-60 $70-80 Straight lay 14 2 9 2 1 Half and half 13 0 6 5 2 Fellatio (oral) 12 2 9 1 0 Hand job 12 6 5 l 0 Talk dirty 10 -3 6 1 o S & M 6 2 4 0 0 Golden shower 4 0 3 1 0 (Urination) Greek (anal) 1 0 0 0 1 Prostitutes can gain some power, and to a degree lessen the alienating aspects of their profession, by controlling sexual access. Most of them will not perform greek (anal sex) because they perceive themselves as being in a-vulnerable position from the rear as compared to, for 117 example, the straight lay position. They feared physical assault, of course, there may be other considerations. They no longer have whatever control they might have had when engaging in sex from the rear position. In this manner, they have exercised some power. Most of these prostitutes preferred to perform straight lay (7), followed by fellatio (4), hand job (2) and half and half (1). Greek (11) was cited most frequently as the act they will not perform, followed by golden shower (5), S & M (4), talk dirty (l) and oral (cunnilingus), trick performs on the prostitute (1). Only three of these prostitutes said that they "get off" sexually on straight lay, french (oral): Lisa said, "Yes: sometimes oral (cunnilingus) when they go down on me. It depends on how the trick is, and how he looks, and what the trick is like. Some girls '11 lie to you and say no they don't, but they're lying. They can't say that. They can say it, but they're lying." The work settings in which these sex acts were performed vary, however, most of the prostitutes cited a motel (10) as the place they use most frequently, followed by her apartment (5), a car (5), the trick's apartment (4), a friend's apartment (2) and lastly her mother's place (1) because the mother works all day. As Sybil said, "I very seldom go to his apartment. I don't like to do that (because) I don't feel safe. (I go) only if I 118 know or know it's o.k. from someone else." Sandy said, "(I use a) car once in a while because it's safe." Here again, the limited control of the work setting by prostitutes may act to lessen the degree of alienation. Even more power is evident when prostitutes prey on their clients. Within these various work setting, the "dates" risk being "ripped off" (having his money stolen) by the prostitutes while they are at the hotel or apartment. Four of the fourteen prostitutes, Sandy, Candi, Mona, and Karen admitted to "ripping off" "dates." Sandy said, "Yes, 20 percent of the time," before, during and after the sex act. For Candi it was before the act "most of her two years working." Mona admitted that it happened after the act "twice to the same guy." And Karen said that two times after the act she "ripped off” her tricks. Although most of the prostitutes said they have not "ripped off" tricks, they do know someone who had committed this act. "Ripping off" enables prostitutes to switch positions with .their clients. Instead of being victimized by the clients, the clients become powerless and the victim. There is a danger. The prostitutes know that if the tricks relay being "ripped off" to the bar owner they could be barred for a period of time. Consequently, they would have to find another work setting and may suffer a loss of income. 119 05 ' o ' e Since only three of the fourteen prostitutes admitted that they "get off" sexually with tricks, how do they satisfy their sexual desires? These prostitutes have partners with whom they engage in sex. The three lesbians engage in oral sex. There is more variety for the heterosexual and bisexual women, for example, straight lay, half and half, and oral sex. As Stella said, "The acts are basically the same, but there's more involvement.” "The same type of sex acts, but a trick and a man ain't the same thing. You 'get off' with your man, but with a trick you ain' trying to 'get off'. If it happens, it happens. You're just trying to get that money from that trick," Lisa said. An important factor is mentioned by Carla who said, "The same type of acts, but a different way with tricks. I only lay on my back, but with my man we do different ways." This is an indication of the awareness of the risks involved in using certain sexual positions when performing the service requested by "dates”. WW: Prostitution, as all of the prostitutes agreed, does require a certain level of occupational skills. However, there is no apprenticeship period for the novice desiring to work as a bar prostitute. Yet the skills that they 120 need to acquire are crucial to their job. These skills fall into four categories: 1) interaction skills, 2) survival skills 3) emotional management, and 4) sexual techniques. Aolntemgtienjkille All fourteen prostitutes felt that the ability to interact was an essential skill in their occupation. These interaction skills include the ability to converse, to be friendly, to display acceptable behavior at the bar, to get along with fellow workers, and to feel comfortable in various situations. The prostitutes find their customers by being in their work setting, the bar, where they spend many hours each day. The techniques the prostitutes used to "sell" a trick or to get a trick interested in them were conversation and body gestures, for example, wink, smile, head nod or flirting. These techniques may be classified as direct and indirect, however, few prostitutes used the direct approach when they were trying to make their living. Lisa used the following conversation. "'Hi: how are you doing?‘ I say, 'Fine. How are you doing?' They'll say, 'Fine.‘ I'll say, 'What are you up to tonight?‘ They'll say, 'I stopped in to have a few drinks.’ I ask, 'What's your name?‘ I'll get right to the point, 'Are you going out?' If they're a date, they 121 know what's happening. They'll say, 'Yeah, do you have a place or you want to go to my place' or whatever. Then you say, 'Yeah, I have a place', if you want to take 'em to your place. Then get to what do you want to do? Then ask, how much they got. I don't quote the price in case it's a police. Let the customer talk price. I won't take that chance. ...." Julie said, "I just tell them I need money, and I can't afford to borrow. I just say, do you wanta go out? ..." In only two cases did the prostitutes mention the direct use of a sob story. Kari said, "...I'll talk about my car note and if you can help me out that'll be fine. ..." As Karen said, "I don't use the line that I need to pay a bill or need rent money (because) a number of girls use it." These prostitutes were interested in earning an income to support themselves and to pay bills, but most used the indirect or more subtle approach to earn the money and do not mention the purpose of the money. Examples of ”selling" a trick using this approach are seen in sample conversations by Sybil, Sandy and Mona, respectively: Sybil: I'll sit next to 'em. Hi: how are you?...Carry on a casual conversation. If they don't say nothing usually that'll lead me into, what are you up to? You know, sort of lead the .conversation in that way. I'll ask, 'Are you a police? What do you do?' I find out as much as I can before I lead into it, and at the same 122 time, I'm studying him as a personality. Eventually, we'll get to it or he'll pop up with a question, for example, do I go out? Sandy: I sort of let it happen. I sit and be a lady, quiet and being mysterious. A lot of guys are more curious about you if they see you just sitting and being a lady. A lot of girls get turned down because they harass the guys. Mona: 'You don't have to do very much. I sit and mind my own business. They come to me. They buy me a drink and then just talk and see first of all if I'm interested. ...When I'm up at the bar, if I wanta get attention, find out what guy does what, you know, like I might get a conversation going with the barmaid or bartender which will get people who are interested in me in the conversation. Leave it an open issue where other people can comment and I usually get good response from that. Whether the prostitutes use the indirect or the direct approach, what seems to be important is their ability to communicate or interact, and being conscious of avoiding the police. B-W Since prostitution is an illegal occupation, there are certain skills the prostitutes need in order to protect themselves from being "burnt" (not being paid), from physical danger, and from the police or arrest. First, these prostitutes collect their money before performing the sex act requested by "dates" they do not know, thus avoiding not being paid. If, however, the 123 trick becomes a "regular" and they have come to trust him, then they will wait until the sex act has been completed. A second skill needed, as Mona said, is "good intuition. You have to be able to pick up on things. ...pick up on danger and good and bad people.” They want to avoid the police and possible physical abuse from tricks. In the event that they happen to go out with a trick who attempts physical abuse, they are prepared to employ various methods to protect themselves, for example, carrying a knife, having someone around where they work and avoid going out with strange people. A third skill needed is the ability to distinguish the police from among the potential tricks in order to avoid arrest. Lisa's response was representative of the way these prostitutes expressed this idea as she said, ”You gotta be very smart and sense the police" and "watch what you say to the tricks, just in case it's a police," Stella said. They know that the police may use .entrapment, therefore, they said that they "never quote a price." However, they may still be arrested by an undercover cop even if, as in Candi's case to be discussed under physical hazards, they claim not to quote a price. Sybil suggested, "studying the bar setting to learn everybody there, and how they behave" because the individuals working with the vice squad will consume 124 little or no alcohol, maybe a couple of beers, over a period of time. Avoiding arrest, then, is important to these prostitutes because it would cost them attorney fees, being placed on a liSt of known prostitutes, as well as time off from work. G. W3 Although all of these women had regular customers that they saw, most of them managed not to form emotional attachments with their customers. Some of their customers became friends, but generally these women viewed their relationships with the customers in business terms. Or, as Cindy said, "(I) play along with their shit." "In the back of my mind I have (Doug). ...In a way I have to kinda fake it. I don't fake the orgasm, but I make them feel that I am comfortable where I'm at, that I'm enjoying it. A lot of them want to know that you are enjoying it. So, I'll play the part." Of those who do form emotional attachments, Sandy felt that "I have more or less fallen in love with him. He's more than a date. He's a lot of fun. He's someone I'd consider settling down with." Or, as Lisa said, "These two paid well and were kind and sweet to me. When guys are like that I can't help but get attached." 125 U.S.exualJeshnima In this service occupation, the commodity for sale is sex, consequently, the prostitutes must be familiar with the various sexual requests in order to make their living. It is essential to their survival in this occupation. As Lisa said, "You gotta know how to do it," or "to please a man, take time to know what makes a man feel good,” Jan said. The prostitutes fulfill the sexual requests of tricks, but they must also know how to protect themselves from pregnancy which may result from providing this service. They employ various means of contraceptives to achieve this end as will be discussed under physical hazards. W The fourteen prostitutes acquired their skills through various channels: however, many of them are self taught or have on-the-job training (4), self and other. training (5), friend (2), and through observation (2). Sandy, who is self taught, said, "The people you're dealing with let you know what they want, what they need, and what they desire. They are paying for a service, and they will specify what they want and let you know. If it's,something you can't deal with you just don't go. If you want the money bad enough you'll learn to deal with 126 it." "I learned on my own and different guys I've been with. If I'm going with a guy they'll tell me don't stay this long, make sure you get the money first. ...," Connie said. Cindy, on the other hand, learned from "an older friend (who) was working." Lastly, Sybil and Mona acquired their skills though observation. "At first just listening to girls and observing at the bar. I would ask them questions. Some things I found out after I started working," Sybil said. Or, as Mona said, "Mostly from talking with other girls. Two friends of mine kinda took me under their wings. They kinda looked out for me until I picked up things on my own." These skills were learned over a period of time ranging from one week to three years while the prostitutes were either at their own apartment, a friend's, their man's, or at the bar. W This illegal, stigmatized occupation which many of these women felt forced into because of the need for the economic benefits has certain hazards. These hazards may be categorized as physical (pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, drugs, and abuse or injury), legal, and psychological (attitude about self, personal relationships with family and friends). 127 kW First, the prostitutes employ two methods (contraceptives and have "dates" use condoms) to protect themselves from pregnancy. Of these fourteen prostitutes, four have medical problems, consequently, can not get pregnant and two do not use any type of contraceptives: they take chances. Two prostitutes were pregnant during the data collection period: one later had a baby (girl) and the other had an abortion. Sybil became pregnant: she said that she did not know for sure whether Doug was the father because she had some rubbers burst on her. She did not want to have a child who was not Doug's or whose father she did not know. She was concerned that she would not know what to tell the child, so she decided to have an abortion. Pregnancy, as a result of not using contraceptives, is a great risk to take considering the costs to the prostitutes. In addition to pregnancy, five of these women had to deal with venereal diseases or yeast infections. Two women mentioned drug dependency as a problem, but as will be seen later this was also a reason for entering prostitution. More prostitutes (8) were using drugs prior to entering prostitution than prostitutes (6) not using drugs. There was a slight increase in prostitutes (9) using drugs after entering prostitution in comparison to use prior to entrance (8). This is an indication that 128 drugs are a part of the prostitutes' subculture and not evidence that prostitution causes increase in drug use among prostitutes. A comparison of the drugs used before and after entering prostitution is as follows: Table 6.2: Frequency and Time of Drug Use Before e After Drugs Prostitution Prostitution Heroin 4 2 Cocaine 4 1 Weed 3 2 Dilaudid4 2 6 Speed 2 0 Acid 2 0 Morphine 0 1 These findings indicate that prostitutes were using more of a variety of drugs prior to entering prostitution. ‘This may be an indication that the prostitutes are concerned with performance, maintaining their jobs, and knowing the "dates" from the vice. Consequently, a' variety of drugs are not used as frequently because they could be one source of danger to the prostitutes in the sense that their judgment is affected. 129 Five of the prostitutes suffered injuries such as assault (4) or scars from jumping out of an ongoing car (1) because of problems with a "date." Although violence is an occupational hazard for prostitutes, it is also related to the position of women in general. The prostitutes accept that being in prostitution carries with it the threat of violence from "dates." Research by Dobash and Dobash (1980) on marital violence indicate a general feeling that women are the appropriate and more frequent victims of violence in heterosexual relations. W Arrest is a problem for the prostitutes because for most, prostitution is their sole source of income for themselves and their children. Three of the prostitutes admitted to being arrested from one to three times. Sandy said, "(I was) arrested two times. The first time seven years ago I pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, so it's not on my record as a soliciting case. The second time was September second with the case pending." Candi considered her arrest a case of entrapment. "I was arrested for soliciting two years ago and got out on bond. It was entrapment. The guy offered me the money and everything. I never said anything to him and then he just arrested me for prostitution. 'Cause I'm not stupid. I would never mention money. He said, 'Can you come in the 130 car and talk to me for a minute?' I said, 'I'll sit and talk to you, but I'm not going with you.' As soon as I got in the car, he said, 'You're under arrest for soliciting.' I said, 'How can you arrest me, you're the one that said money.' ...They were really rough. He choked the hell out of me. At first I thought he was just a mental case. He didn't tell me he was the police. ...And when I went to court and told 'em that, they said that didn't make no difference, who's on the stand here? It's their word against mine. That was my first case and I paid $160." Those who were arrested paid in terms of time, money, and possible revelation to their family and friends of their illegal occupation. The double standard operates in the case of arrest because usually the customers are not arrested although they are a party in this transaction. Laws still represent the idea expressed by Davis (1971: 345-346). ...when prostitution is outlawed, it falls into a category of crime that is notoriously hard to control--the type in which one of the guilty parties is the ordinary law-abiding citizen, who is receiving an illicit service. It is economically and politically foolish to punish a large number of a society's productive and otherwise orderly members. To throw good citizens into jail for a vice that injures no one, would cause more social disruption than correcting the alleged crime would be worth. 131 According to Millett (1971: 11) some states do have laws which indict the client and the prostitute, however, these laws are not always enforced. B. 8 'ca 3 The psychological problems experienced were being upset, anger, depression, and worry. These were expressed in various responses, for example: Sybil: Sandy: Mona 3 Kari: Linda: ,Julie: "I get upset if I don't want to be around tricks, but need the money." Connie: "I feel down. People look down on it: everybody says it's wrong." "... the moral aspect. I know it's not right. I know it's not me. I ask myself why do I stoop so low when I'm capable of better. I feel tired, old, somewhat ugly and I worry." "It's not a job you can do very long mentally. I feel, if I can't deal with something sober, there's something wrong." "I get angry with myself just having to do it." "I get depressed, knowing society thinks it's wrong." "I get depressed and angry. I don't like working, having to act like you enjoy 132 something when you don't. Personal guilt complex, I know it's not really wrong, but I guess it's that I don't like it." Prostitution also has an effect on the type and quality of relationships available to these prostitutes. They are unwilling to disclose certain information about their occupation and themselves to family and friends because they sense disapproval or lack of understanding. Consequently, their world is divided into two: one part is composed of individuals to whom their identity has been revealed, for example, partners, "dates,” and bartenders: while the other part is composed of individuals from whom their identity has been concealed, for example, family, friends, and the police. Most (9) of these women have not explained to their relatives what they do for a living. They responded with statements such as: ”They wouldn't approve:" "They wouldn't accept it:" "They wouldn't understand:" or "They'd blame themselves in some ways." Knowing how their families feel is illustrated by Sybil, "They want me to quit. They don't consider me a member of the family.” Or, as Jan said, "They want me to quit. They don't like it." Or, Connie, "They think it's a crime." These women (4) are aware that though they have not explained it, some family members know what they do for a living, for example, a sister or grandmother. Of the 133 prostitutes whose relatives know, only two told them: for the other three, the relatives found out from a friend, an ex-lover, or in court (daughter's custody case). The prostitutes have also been affected by being in a situation where things were said which made them feel badly about themselves. Of those prostitutes who have been in this type of situation, most felt badly because of name calling, for example, whore. In some communities name calling may be a way of trying to drive the prostitutes out of the community by degrading the women. The most frequent responses of prostitutes who lived in these areas, or any prostitute who is subjected to name calling, is to ignore it: sometimes they talk back, or talk it out. They try to not let it bother them. If it is verbal derogation by some significant other, for example, a "lover", they frequently cry. When members of the community know the streetwalkers are in their neighborhood or where the women live, then _visibility is heightened. In order to reduce visibility of prostitutes by community members, barricades have been used in the past mainly for streetwalkers. Bar girls are also affected when they reside in barricaded areas because most of the time they walk to the bar. They become visible targets of abuse and notoriety. As Goldman (1974: 90) points out, these women are victims who "face moral 134 degradation and physical danger whether or not their activities are illegal." Prostitution is a dangerous and insecure occupation because it is illegal and stigmatized. As MacMillan (1977: 46) states "the social stigma associated with prostitution ...can prevent prostitutes from establishing credit, changing occupation, or otherwise participating in straight society." :,7-.-= 9 1 t!‘,,!,°,!‘. -9a01W! = Prior to becoming involved in prostitution, the prostitutes were likely to be unemployed (8). Those employed (6) held low paying or minimum wage jobs such as food preparer at a restaurant, bottle packer at a plastic factory, barmaid, or secretary. These findings indicate that most of the prostitutes are unskilled, living with partners who are not permanently employed, if they are employed at all. Because they are unwilling or unable to return to their families of origin, and because they are earning money far in excess of what they could in a legal occupation, these women "drifted" to enter prostitution. These were the major reasons cited in 13 cases. Carla was the only respondent who said that she became involved because of a friend: "I ain't had no reason." It was by associating with a friend who was into prostitution that she started. ”I met her through work (at the restaurant). 135 She turned me on to this dude: that's how I got started." Other reasons given were: material goods (2), independence (1), pay for drug habit (1), influence of female friend (1), adventure (1). Although the prostitutes, in general, feel that prostitution is stigmatized and has risks, they nevertheless are involved in it. Many of them felt that they were forced into this illegal occupation due to a lack of other alternatives or a desire not to enter low paying jobs. At the time they became involved in prostitution most prostitutes (9) were considering other occupations. Those who were not considering other occupations were either employed (2), had no interest in (1) or could not find another occupation (1). Whether they were or were not considering another job, they did not qualify for very many occupations due to their lack of higher education, training, and skills. These factors, perhaps, impelled these young women to use prostitution as a last resort rather than a preference of an occupation. They see it as an occupation which pays well and serves as a means of earning a living. As mentioned earlier, a common theme in their reason for entrance into prostitution was "easy money." The prostitutes' lack of skills is indicated by their educational levels and their responses to the question: What occupation could you have gone into given your 136 skills? The responses were: 1) odd jobs, for example, maid, cook, waitress, sales clerk, or work at a fast food place, 2) secretarial work, or 3) factory work. Basically, because they could not get another job or because the pay was better, they felt forced into prostitution. This is illustrated by some of the responses, for example, as Connie said, "I had to do something." Or, as Jan said, "Society. I can't live off what ADC gives." Kari said, "In a way by him (husband) leaving me and not taking care of anything." These prostitutes were in a vulnerable economic position with little education or in low paying jobs. Thus, they viewed the money, control, and hours or the working conditions of prostitution as a better and a temporary alternative. When asked how would you explain to people why you chose to be in prostitution, the justifications may be categorized as: 1) social altruisn and 2) helping others. Social altruism is illustrated by remarks Sybil made: "It saves the taxpayers money. I'd be on general assistance." Or, as Lisa said, "It stops rape." Helping others is another theme which comes out in their justifications. Sandy said, "It's a service which men ask for." " It feels good to help someone in need," Linda said. And Julie said, "I'm providing a wanted service." Other justifications were: "It's easy and quick money." "It's 137 a pride issue. I won't go down and apply for welfare. That's degrading to me: it's an insult. It's like telling myself I am worthless." When asked, why they chose prostitution which is an illegal occupation? Lisa said, for example, "Everybody is doing something that's illegal. I don't like jobs. I'd rather hustle. If I couldn't get it being a prostitute, I'd be a booster ('People or girls that carry big bags that go in stores and steal clothes'). Either way I'd be hustling.” Carla said, "I can't get a job. I'm unskilled. Ain't no jobs: jobs are low." Connie said, "Because I think it should be legal: that's why I do it. 'Cause I don't think there's nothing wrong with it. It's not like going out stealing: we're working for it.” And Jan said, "You need school for other occupations. I'm not a career person." In addition many prostitutes simply said money or income. These prostitutes find this occupation interesting for various reasons. In twelve cases coming in contact with different people was cited as to why the job was interesting. They used different people to mean, for example, "some nice," "some bad," "some good," people "from rich to poor, all different lifestyles," "from psychologists to factory workers." They feel that they learn "a lot from their ('dates') conversations because they talk about their jobs." A major factor associated 138 with the contacts with the "dates" and this occupational setting is the interest in avoiding the routine. As Stella stated, "It's always different. There ain't never a day to day thing. ..." "... the way they come on to you. (It's) not like an assembly line job where you do the same thing over and over and over. Each person is unique, their approach, their style," Sandy said. A few prostitutes, Stella, Linda, and Julie, find their job interesting because it allows them to "have a good time," "go different places (dinner, dances, different bars)." Or, as Julie said, "not knowing what's going to happen. The excitement of what could happen, or that anything could happen at any time, the danger, the chance." Summarx The occupational setting for this study was a bar from which the fourteen prostitutes made transactions with "dates." The prostitutes sold their commodity, sex, to Fdates” who expressed an interest in their service. This service included several types of sex acts which were performed in a hotel/motel, apartment, or car. Most prostitutes preferred to perform straight lay: however, they will not engage in greek or anal sex because they lose control in that position. .Through on-the-job training and/or observation, the prostitutes have acquired certain occupational skills 139 essential for success or even survival in their hazardous job. These skills are crucial not only for the sale of their commodity, but also to avoid the physical and psychological hazards of their occupation. 140 NOTES: CHAPTER 6 Seeman (1959: 784) discussed alienation as powerlessness. ". . .the worker is alienated to the extent that the prerogative and means of decision are expropriated by the ruling entrepreneurs." Straight lay refers to intercourse. Half and half is a combination of intercourse and oral sex. Fellatio is oral sex. A hand job refers to masturbating a client. Talking dirty is the use of lewd verbal language. S & M is sadomasochism. Golden shower is urinating on a client: and greek is anal intercourse. The prostitutes tended to focus of the sex act. A few of them did mention that they provided companionship as a part of their service. Some of the men only wanted to sit and talk. Perhaps, the focus on the sex act was due partly to the narrow definition of job, and the lack of probing. Hochschild (1983: X) studied "how workers try to preserve a sense of self by circumventing the feeling rules of work, how they limit their emotional offerings to surface displays of 'right' feeling but suffer anyway from a sense of being 'false' or mechanical." Dilaudid is a "narcotic analgesic: its principle effect is relief of pain. ...like morphine, adequate doses will relieve even the most severe pain" (W. Oradell. N. J.: Medical Economics Company, 1984, p. 1038). CHAPTER 7 THE PROSTITUTES' VIEWS ON SELF, OTHERS, THEIR OCCUPATION, AND THEIR FUTURE This chapter presents findings related to the career and self esteem of prostitutes, and the prostitutes' views of others, their own occupation and their future. §§1fi A- Career_§§guense As stated in Chapter five, 9 of the women entered prostitution by age 21 and 13 by age 26. These findings indicate that many of the prostitutes (8) are just beginning a career in prostitution having been in this occupation for three years or less. N. Davis (1971: 297-322) examined the changing motivation of the prostitutes and presented the movement into the career through a "stage analysis" using a sample of 30 jail, streetwalker level prostitutes ranging in age from 15 to 34: the average age was 21. The stages are: Stage I - the process of drift from promiscuity to first act of prostitution: Stage II - transitional deviance: Stage III - professionalization. Promiscuity is a tool by which the prostitutes "drift" into deviance during the 141 142 first phase: however, later this process is "defined by the individual as having consequences for the foreclosure of alternative career routes" (N. Davis, 1971: 300). The prostitutes' career pattern, in this study, is also one of drifting in and out of prostitution, as demonstrated by 12 of the prostitutes having left and returned. Only two of the prostitutes had never left their occupation. Those who left cited various reasons: four were pregnant, four found other jobs, for example, waitress, data entry clerk, delivering and selling drugs, and four cited what could be described as adjustment problems: "...tired of the same routine and desired to live the square life for a while," "frustrated with her job and her man," "to get off drugs" and "became involved with someone who couldn't accept it." Those who left, however, did return to their occupation because "they needed the money" (8), "got in the mood where (they) did not mind working" (1), "no where to go" (1), and "the other job was temporary" (2). Some of these findings are indicative of the reason any woman returns to a career, particularly, the need for money. Prostitution was the only job many of these women had: they were locked into this occupation. According to N. Davis (1971: 315), "their self-conception revolves around sex as a vocation." It is the sole "income-producing activity" 143 for nine of the prostitutes with five receiving additional money through social services. Prostitution does differ from some other "female" occupations in that for most prostitutes it is accompanied by downward mobility. Specifically, bar prostitutes felt that if a "working girl" lost her ability to attract "dates” in the bar, as Candi said, "She'd probably go cheaper and a lower grade of people: personality and looks wouldn't mean much to her. She may go out on the street." Or, as Mona said, "She'd become a streetwalker, (but) you might as well hang it up if you can't make it in the bar because if you go out into the street you get the worst tricks, the worst pay. You feel the worst. It's bad." Other suggestions as to what a "working girl" might do were: go to another city or another bar, try to get a different job, go on welfare. Or, as Sandy said, "It's time to quit." According to Reynolds (1986: 21), changes in a .career in prostitution involve an intra or I interoccupation move, for example, from streetwalker to bar prostitute or a prostitute to a waitress. These changes are contingent on the prostitutes' physical appearance, alternative job possibilities, and changing attitudes of prostitutes about prostitution. The movement, however, is probably more often one of downward rather than upward mobility, for example, from a bar 144 prostitute to a streetwalker. "Few prostitutes have savings or marketable skills for legal jobs: consequen- tly, these displaced prostitutes have limited good alternatives" (Reynolds: 1986: 22). B. ...: 's., . ;__ w , e 7 ;_ —n u- - .; ,_-- All of the prostitutes know streetwalkers and male homosexual prostitutes in this Midwestern city, but their knowledge of other types of prostitutes vary as shown in Table 7.1. These findings indicate that the various types of prostitutes do exist in this Midwestern city, but perhaps some on a smaller scale and more covert than others. Table 7.1: Prostitutes' Knowledge of Other Groups, in Percent* Categories Know Do Not Know Call girls 57 43 (8) (6) House prostitutes 14 86 (2) (12) Male homosexual 100 0 (14) (0) Male heterosexual 64 36 (9) 4 (5) Female homosexual 64 36 (9) (5) Streetwalkers 100 0 (14) (0) *The data were derived from the following question: In this area, do you know any...? 145 In ranking the types of prostitutes (See Table 7.2) from best to worst, call girls were ranked higher, as the best, bar prostitutes third, and streetwalkers sixth or last. This ranking of bar prostitutes in the third position coincides with their ranking between call girls and streetwalkers by researchers. Table 7.2: Status Ranking of Prostitutes* Banking Categories HIGH LOW of Prostitutes l 2 3 4 5 6 Call Girl 6 6 2 O 0 0 Bar Prostitute 3 4 4 3 0 0 House Prostitute 4 3 3 4 0 0 Male Homosexual 0 0 0 3 6 5 Male Heterosexual 1 0 3 2 5 3 Streetwalker 0 1 2 2 3 6 *The data were derived from the following question: How would you rank these from best to worst? The reasons stated for considering call girls the. best were that they "make the best money," "generally have a higher paying, higher class . . . clientele, "have "prearranged dates" and less "police harassment." Although six prostitutes ranked call girls as the best, four ranked house prostitutes first, three placed bar 146 prostitutes, and one placed male heterosexuals in the number one position. When house prostitutes were ranked first it was because they "make more money," "are cleaner," and Candi said, "they stay in the house and got somebody watching over 'em. They know they'd have an income daily." For bar prostitutes, the reasons given for the first place ranking were that "they have more sensitivity to tricks," "can sit and talk a man out of the money and don't have to go out: (they) usually make more money." As Connie said, "It's safer because of the tricks you meet and from the police." Lastly, Sybil ranked male heterosexuals first "based on how they make their money, and how they work. The amount of money because they are usually rich old women. (They are) more private and don't work in public." Obviously, the criteria they used were the potential income and amount of risk involved. Nine of the bar prostitutes ranked streetwalkers as the worst either placing them in the fifth (3) or sixth (6) position. The responses of bar prostitutes on whether or not streetwalkers should be allowed to work out of the bar will give some idea as to why they ranked streetwalkers so low. Although the fourteen prostitutes needed the approval of the bar owner and bar operators to work out of the bar, they expressed different opinions on 147 streetwalkers working out of this setting or in their territory. Of the fourteen prostitutes, 7 did not object to streetwalkers working out of the bar. "It doesn't bother me. Most of my customers are regulars," Julie said. Or, as Mona said, "I'd have them in the bar and get their shit together, you know, have some class about you. Some of these girls don't have no makeup and look all strung out. It's like they don't care and I've seen guys buy them." On the other hand, 7 of the prostitutes did object to the streetwalkers working out of the bar. "They should keep their business in the street,” Jan said, because ”they cause the bar a lot of problems." "They are usually known prostitutes," according to Linda. -And Stella said, "I don't have no respect for 'em . . . 'cause they go so cheap and don't have no respect for themselves.” Bar prostitutes were responding as some streetwalkers did to territorial rights. According to Reynolds (1986: 8), "Given a strong territorial imperative, other prostitutes or pimps on a given city block will employ subtle or overt pressure for her (streetwalker) to stay in her own territory.” When comparing bar prostitutes interoccupationally, most bar prostitutes (11) ranked their group third (4), second (4), or first (3). When comparing themselves intraoccupationally, most of the women (8) considered 148 themselves to be superior to or higher than coworkers, whereas, 6 of the women considered themselves to be the same. These views were clearly illustrated by several women. Lisa said, for example, "Some I'm higher than 'cause a lot of 'em are junkies. I take care of myself and dress well." Sandy said, "Superior. I know what I'm doing. I've gotten a lot of money. A lot of the girls ask me for advice. I have really made my mark in the profession as a prostitute. I feel I've done well." Or, as Julie said, "In the top. I'm better looking than most. I'm definitely the most intelligent. I'm cleaner than most. I have more class and more style." On the other hand, Stella said, "The same as they are. I don't think they're higher than me, but I don't think they're lower than me either." Candi echoed the same sentiments, "We're all the same. I've never seen anyone as lower than me or above me. We're all women working in prostitution." C-WW The prostitutes also made a comparison between themselves and part—time prostitutes on the basis of their commitment to prostitution. First, most prostitutes (10) did know part-time prostitutes who worked as: waitresses (4), secretaries (4), housewives (3), factory workers (2), barmaids (2), artists, 149 architects, auto parts salespersons, lawyers, cashiers, bank tellers, students, and dancers. Only one prostitute, Lisa, was opposed to part-time prostitutes. She said, "Personally, I didn't like it. I think it is wrong to come out sometimes and take our money." Most prostitutes (13) described working part-time as "great," "cool," "fine" because it is "extra money." As Connie said, ". . . I'd like to get a steady job and do it on the side. I'd have a guaranteed income." The majority of prostitutes (10) did not feel that part timers interfered with them getting tricks because "they aren't around as much,” Julie said. "They don't have the access that I do." Or, as Sybil said, "They have less time to compete." Another reason they were not threatened by part timers was that "they get some and I get some, especially my regulars," Linda said. "If they want you, they'll want you regardless of anybody else," Cindy said. Candi expressed self confidence when she said, "I don't really have a hard time attracting guys at the bar.” However, some prostitutes did not express that same degree of confidence, therefore, viewing part-time prostitutes as interfering because "they just come out some of the time and that's taking from us." The full-time bar prostitutes (10) did feel more committed than the part-time prostitutes. The reasons cited for being more committed were: sole source of 150 income and survival. "Their pay check is coming anyway: that is my pay check:" "They may feel financially secure and I don't, 'cause they ain't got to be out there:" "I do it to survive.” Those (4) who did not feel more committed than part timers attributed it to their attitude, for example, "I treat it real casual." Julie expressed her dislike for being involved in prostitution by saying, "I don't like doing it. As soon as I get another job or another means of supporting myself, I'll quit too." D. 2r2stitute§_and_fielf_fistesm Faunce's theory of self investment suggests that people in low status occupations receive reinforcement of their low status from negative evaluation from indivi- duals in higher status occupations. There has been serious challenges to the commonly held belief that a low status occupation necessarily generates low self esteem in its practitioners. The research on prostitutes in a Midwestern city lends further credibility to the notion that low self esteem is not necessarily a characteristic of a low status occupation, in this instance, prostitution. Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale (1965) was used to test this assumption with reference to the fourteen prostitutes in this study. Table 7.3 presents 151 an item analysis of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. The results of the difference of means test and corrected item-to-total correlations are presented. This corrected item-to-total correlation is given because it excludes the particular item. It corrects for bias by excluding the particular item. It shows that item number 5 has the strongest correlation with the total scale. Cronbach's Alpha (cx=0.79), a test of reliability, shows that the scale is highly reliable. Table 7.3: Item Analysis of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale Corrected Item Discriminatory to Total Item* Mean Power Correlation l 3.29 .667 .5190 2 2.50 1.333 .4421 3 3.50 .667 .3958 4 3.36 .334 .1131 5 3.36 1.333 .8128 6 2.86 1.333 .4215 7 3.43 .333 .3398 8 2.64 1.666 .4659 9 3.50 1.000 .7918 10 3.21 .333 .5211 *See Rosenberg (1965), pp. 305-307. Cronbach's Alpha (6 = 0.79). 152 Based on the difference of means test, items 2, 5, 6, 8, and 9 are the more discriminatory items for this prostitute group. Item 8 has the most discriminatory power. These items are: 2) "At times I think I am no good at all:" 5) "I feel I do not have much to be proud of:" 6) "I certainly feel useless at times:” 8) ”I wish I could have more respect for myself," and 9) "All in all, I am inclined to feel that I am a failure." Table 7.4 shows the levels of self esteem among the prostitutes based on the results from the Rosenberg Self- Esteem Scale. Based on Table 7.4, none of the prostitutes expressed a low level of self esteem. While a few rated themselves very highly (4), the majority (10) did not consider themselves to be any different from the general population: perhaps, signifying that they see themselves as ordinary people. Further, it suggests that prostitutes regard their profession as akin to other ordinary professions. Supporting evidence of this is found when rating prostitution among a list of twenty-two conventional occupations of varying status (See Appendix C), the one cluster of prostitutes was at the eleventh position. This indicates that they did not see prostitution as either the highest or lowest occupation. 153 Table 7.4: Prostitutes' Self Esteem Levels Self Esteem Level Percent of Total High 29 (4) Medium 71 (10) Low 0 (0) 100 (14) As a further test of their views about the self and other concepts, prostitutes were administered the semantic differential. This technique was used to measure the ideas and feelings held by the prostitutes with regard to "self" and "others." The ”others" included in the analysis can be seen in Table 7.6: also presented are the dimensions on which "others" are .compared with "self." Table 7.5 presents the analysis of variance of the semantic differential ratings. Significant differences were found between the concepts: this indicates that the prostitutes did discriminate between the concepts. 154 Table 7.5 Analysis of Variance of the Semantic Differential Ratings Source df SS MS Error Term F Concepts (C) 12 73.13 6.094 88 X C 4.15** Dimensions (D) 2 4.49 2.244 85 X D 1.70 ns C X D 24 224.52 9.355 88 X C X D 10.66** Subjects (Ss) 13 51.77 3.982 SS X C 156 228.79 1.467 SS X D 26 34.31 1.320 SS X C X D 312 273.73 0.877 Total 890.74 ** p < .01. No significant main effect was found between the dimensions at .05 level of significance. That is, when mean ratings of concepts are combined, mean ratings are not reliably different between the three dimensions. For the prostitutes, the dimensions are similar based on the analysis of variance. Significant interaction of concept by dimension shows the bar prostitutes ratings of the concepts to be dependent on the dimension being used. The prostitutes rating of self, for example, depended on whether she was rating self on the evaluative, or potency, or activity dimension. In other words, the dimension influenced the 155 rating of self and other concepts. As was expected, there is a definite covariance between bar prostitutes evaluative ratings of power-wielders and their potency ratings of this group. While bar prostitutes see themselves as among the least powerful, policemen, pimps, madams, bar operators, men in general, and even streetwalkers were rated as quite influential. Bar prostitutes viewed themselves as busier and more active than any other group as indicated by the activity dimension. Table 7.6 presents the results of the ratings, and the least-significant difference (lsd) for comparing pairs of means. Quite obviously, bar prostitutes regarded themselves as the "cream of the crop" in their occupation. When considering the overall mean, the only other groups being rated as equally worthwhile was bar operators. The t tests show that there are no significant differences with two additional groups: these groups are women-in-general, and "dates." Streetwalkers were rated as less worthwhile and find themselves the object of scorn from bar prostitutes who often describe them as "unclean." It is significant that the prostitutes rated most other women almost as highly as themselves, regardless of the competition these women potentially pose to them in their occupation. The prostitutes' evaluation of powerrwielders, such as pimps, 156 ..m.h manna eouw mw>fiuoc mm. scamcoeau >n uaoocoo uOu mom.o ".mo.ormq vm.v mm.v wad ow... v~.m om.v mh.v ma... vm.v ~5.v m5; vm.v h~.v ~N.m :60! 2.4 mm.v mo.m m~.m mv.v mm.v ma; otm wmé. «iv v~.v c~.v mm.m OH; >chuom mo.v hoim no.9 oa.m mv.m 01v nmé mm.m do... 0Q; o~.m wh.v on...” ~m.m >ua>u~uo< mm.v no.m 5H.N nn.m ~m.m mv... mm.m om.¢ om.m 5H.m Nc.m cm.v main. No.@ 02.323045 cow: wasps: mused cos muouauwmo Amuocmm Acumcmm ao>a3 mumxaoz mousuwumoud cameo mauwm ex0wua meow macamcoEac IOOMHOA you scan ucfin numouum ease: demo men so: c0503 Macao .mumzuo 0cm waom uo mmusuaumOLm an umcqusm cow: no.5 Hooch 157 policemen, and men-in-general, were interestingly low. Perhaps this is indicative of a resentment towards the power/control that these others potentially have over them. Based on their scores on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (See Rosenberg, 1965: 305-307), these prostitutes have medium or high levels of self esteem, even though, they'are in a low status, stigmatized, illegal occupation. They also see themselves as the most worthwhile among their occupation group. Their job performance, comparative view of self with other bar girls, occupational status of "dates," as well as social evaluation affect this level of self esteem. 922W How are the prostitutes able to maintain a medium or high level of self esteem in this low status occupation? The development of an occupational ideology is a partial explanation. Prostitution was viewed not only as providing an essential service, but as making contributions to society. The prostitutes also felt that they derive benefits from this occupation. In addition to the income derived, this job was not considered boring or routine. They viewed this job as allowing "total control. I'm on my own," said Cindy. Linda said, "All the freedom I want. I'm my own boss. I got my own 158 hours. I can choose who I wanta be with..." "I work when I want to. Sometimes, I go by the bar in the day, sometimes at night. I set the amount of money I want to make depending on how much I need," Sybil said. Prostitutes, as Howe's (1977) waitress or Glenn's (1980) domestic workers, view their occupation as temporary. They hope to experience upward mobility. All of them, as the findings indicate, plan to change occupation in the future. They realize that this is not a permanent, lifetime job. Meanwhile, they spend most of their time in their occupational setting. As stated in Chapter two, to the extent that prostitutes can select their associates, they choose people who will evaluate them on the criteria they wish to be evaluated on. Thus, prostitutes were able to avoid much interoccupational evaluation by spending most of their time within their occupational setting. W A. Kim The prostitutes came in contact with men in varying positions and with whom they had different types of relationships. Their relationships with their partners and the authority, the police, have been discussed. Now a brief discussion of their feelings about men-in-general is appropriate. The men who enter into social relations 159 and make transactions with the prostitutes were dealt with in Chapter five but will be discussed here where relevant. In general, the prostitutes had sharply different views of men. They described men as being "nice, caring and understanding," or "self-centered," "selfish" and "egotistical." Julie said, "Generally, they are assholes, a lot of muscle and little brain. I don't consider men intelligent. A man has to prove himself intelligent, but you can't beat 'em for making love." Other prostitutes felt that men were "bossy," "think (they are) always right," and "want to be in control." Kari said, Almost 100 percent of them are egotistical. I think they need to bring themselves down a little. They're not so good as they think they are some times. I hate a man who wants to try and rule and a lot of 'em out there want to try and rule what you do. That's what happened to me and a friend. I didn't feel I could have my own thoughts. He hit me and that's when I left. Violence or physical abuse is one of the ways men attempt to control women. Jan stated, I have a bad attitude towards men because the man I was married to beat the shit out of me for seven years. That's why I have this scar right here because he ruptured my spleen. When I was three months pregnant with my baby boy he kicked me in the side. ... I don't have my five front teeth (She took out her partial.) because he took my head and used it as a ’football. 160 "I love men," Sandy said, "They are the backbone and security for a woman. I always look up to a man, but I want to be equal." This is an illustration of the socialization process which portrays men as active, the "breadwinner:” and the dominant group, while women are passive, dependent, and subordinate. Sandy also expressed the desire to be equal to the dominant group. Four of the prostitutes did not feel that they were using men because they are tricks. Candi said, "No. I help them. They've helped me out, but I don't feel I've gotten over on 'em . . . " Or, as Sybil said, "No. Some are for money, but some I really care about, for example, Jeff. We are good friends: we go out to stores, and we talk. He treats me like a lady.” Ten prostitutes felt that they did use tricks in order to get money. Stella said, "Anything I can get out of 'em." "Yes. I get their money and don't do anything. (I talk my) way out of doing it (by using) a sob story, for example, I need a bus ticket to see my daughter. - . I told him I'll see him later for giving me the money, and I don't see him," Sandy said. Or, as Jan said, "Yeah. I guess. I make them pay for what I was forced to give up for free for so many years by an asshole.” These women did not consider this money as a means of buying power and control over them. They used the money tricks paid as a means of justifying why tricks were not 161 using them. Candi said, "I'm getting more from them than they're getting. They're giving me the money: I don't spend much time. They're taking nothing from me." Five of the prostitutes did feel that tricks were using them for "their pleasures" and "their own satisfaction." Or, as Stella said, "to satisfy their personal needs. They may or may not care about me as a person." B. ws W W Traditionally, women have been viewed as passive and submissive beings who are dependent on men, the "bread- winners.” As is commonly known from statistics, there is an increasing percentage of women entering the labor force. The prostitutes felt that "a woman should get out and do something for herself" because "it's good if she wants her own money and her independence” in order to "make them feel better about themselves.” In addition, the prostitutes realized the need for a second income in the family as illustrated by Linda, "It's alright. There is a need to work with all the factory workers (men) being laid off now. They need the money." Mona felt that "if kids are not involved then women should work outside the house because the work would provide a learning experience." Kari, however, felt that "It's fantastic if they can still take care of the house. 162 There has to be an understanding . . . with your husband as to the work at home, . . ., the care of the children. An understanding that the werk at home and care of the children have to be shared a little more than if she was at home." W .Women are treated as objects in society "because they (men) can get further. They can sell more (products) using a beautiful woman than (using) a man," Julie said. Most prostitutes (9) felt that women were being used "for sex and cleaning house: that's all she's around for," "to have babies," to be "sexually harassed at work by employers," because "men like to own things," and "to be bought and sold . . . overseas and make 'em a slave." Sandy said, "Sure men do treat women as objects because society makes them think it's o.k. and makes men feel superior to women." Jan was somewhat pessimistic when she said, ”Yes. It's the way it has always been and always will be. It's society, you know." Karen and Julie also attributed the treatment of women as objects to socialization. "Because it has been a way of life: the way they were brought up (for example), women couldn't smoke in public," Karen said. And Julie stated that,it was ”Out of habit over the years. Women have been considered less than men for so many years. Things 163 are now starting to come around: for the simple fact that they're not as physically strong, they've been treated that way." Those five prostitutes who felt that women were not being treated as objects made it an individual problem. Candi said, "No. It depends on the person, if they let themselves be treated that way." "I don't really think so," Kari said, "...unless you go out like in the bars, they might use you for a one night stand, . . . I think if a woman thinks she's being used all the time she's putting herself in that place." Or, as Sybil said, "I disagree. . . maybe in some situations, for example, women are treated like this in hustling life.” Generally, the prostitutes felt that men treated women as objects because of society and the socialization process. Wen amsmmmmmmmm Generally, when asked their views these women agreed that prostitution makes a positive contribution to society. Their views fell into the following categories. First, prostitution helps to prevent sex crimes. As Lisa and others said, "It prevents rape and child molesting. The man can come to us and pay." Secondly, some women felt_that prostitution helped to save marriages by providing companionship, advice, or the type of sex the 164 "date” wants. These are illustrated by responses from Kari, "It gives companionship to lonely or divorced men, not necessarily sexual.” Or, as Sybil said, "It keeps a lot of married men from having affairs.” Linda said, "It satisfies the sexual desires of someone unhappy at home. Connie felt that the men "can ask the 'girls' how to get the wife to do it.” Candi also felt that marriage is helped because men can talk about their problems. This is an indication of men deviating from the male image and the pressures placed on them by society. According to Jourard (1974), men may hide the real self because self-disclosure is viewed as unmanly. Men may talk to prostitutes because they view prostitutes as no threat to them. Some of the women also felt that they take care of certain sexual needs not met in marriages, for example, Karen said, "It takes care of sexual needs of men who can't get it from their partners." Thirdly, prostitution serves as income for these women, some of whom do not want money through social services. Jan simply said, ”It gives women a job.” These women know that some people look down on prostitution: that it is stigmatized. They gave various explanations for why people look down on prostitution. Stella, for example, felt that people look down on prostitution "because (according to) society ... sex is a private thing. It shouldn't be out in the street: it 165 shouldn't be paid for. ...society is right and everybody else is wrong." Sandy said, "They think we're getting something for nothing and we're taking advantage of married women by taking the women's husbands' money." Mona felt that it's "moral reasons, religious reasons. It's against their moral views and their religious beliefs." Others simply said people think it is a sin, and it corrupts children. Jan felt that society gave prostitutes a bad image years ago by painting them as whores. B-legaliflWiminalintign On one hand, when asked whether or not prostitution should be eliminated, these women generally did not feel that it should be, rather they saw it as providing a service and should be legalized. This general feeling of legalization was expressed by Jan, ”...legalize it. It would be less trouble and cost to taxpayers. It (legali- zation) would cut down the diseases because the women? would have to get checked." On the other hand Mona said, "They should supply more worthwhile jobs. I'm against it. It's bad for the individual. It's not much good in it. You've gotta try and keep sanity within yourself. I don't plan on making a career out of this. It's fast money while I'm young." 166 When asked specifically whether prostitution should be legalized or decriminalized, most of the women (13) felt that it should be legalized and one woman felt that prostitution should be decriminalized. The reasons cited for legalization relate to taxes and the taxpayers, hygiene, safety or risks, and reducing sex crimes. Lisa and Jan addressed the tax and cost issues. Lisa said, "I'd like to collect that money at the end of the year." Jan said, It would "save the taxpayer money in court cost." Hygiene was important to Sybil and Connie. Sybil said, legalization would "make it so it's cleaner: make sure streetwalkers are cleaner and know about hygiene." Connie said, legalization would ensure that "all girls have to have cards saying they have been to this clinic and the guys have to be checked. It'd be more cleaner." Concerns about safety or risks were also expressed by Linda and Julie. Linda said, "It would eliminate a lot of danger to the girls." Julie said, " It could be controlled. It'd be safer for women and tricks as far as disease prevention, risk of physical injury or abuse and less risk of robbery to both parties." Sex crime remains an issue as noted by Candi who said, "I don't think you'd have as much sex crime. People would have a place to go and take out their fantasies." 167 Mona said, "There has to be a limit because some people will totally destroy themselves. At least if they take 'em to jail maybe they'll look for an alternative. If you let people go full force and do whatever they want to do, can you imagine the society. I'm not for that: there has to be some control." Kari felt that prostitution should be decriminalized rather than legalized. Kari said, "I don't consider a prostitute a criminal cause she's pleasing people not hurting people unless she's one who rips 'em off all the time." Reynolds (1986: 190-191) suggested that consideration should be given to decriminalization, or at least regulation of prostitution. Costs to prostitutes and clients would decrease, if society had a thoughtful set of regulations. C. W The level of satisfaction with prostitution varied for the women.‘ Only 2 were very satisfied, 5 satisfied, 5 somewhat satisfied, and 2 not satisfied. The most frequently cited response for what they like about prostitution was the money (13), followed by meeting different people (7), setting own hours (3), helping others (3), the gifts or bonus (3), the travel (2), being 168 out in the bar (1), in other words, the work environment and conditions. What these women disliked most were various problems which relate first to self. Six dislikes were under this category, for example, "being treated like an object," "the physical demands (makes you look old)," "having to be nice to people," "feeling dirty or cheap," and "the comments from people which affect their reputation." Second, these women cited police harassment in four instances. Third, they disliked problems with ”dates” (vulgarity, possible rape). The fourth dislike related to the job being routine, boring, requiring the selling of sex, and treating sex so casually. The fifth category of dislikes was the risks (arrest, venereal diseases, being "ripped off"). And the sixth category of dislikes was some significant other (for example, family) finding out how they make a living. Because of the likes and dislikes, most of these women (11) felt that they would be happier doing something else. What would they do? Most of them said they would go back to school (4) to study word processing or computers: get married (1), model (1), a steady job (1), factory work (1), bar operator or owner (1), truck driver (1), and paramedic (1). .Although some of these women were only somewhat (5) or not satisfied (2) with prostitution, they were pleased 169 with their performances: that is, the way they did their jobs. These women take pride in doing a good job, or offering a good service to the "dates." Their ratings were as follows: good (7), very well (6), or excellent (1). Sybil said that she tried to spend extra time with "dates" who had a problem "getting of," since she wanted them to be satisfied with her service. D- magnetism There is no organization in this Midwestern city for prostitutes such as COYOTE (Call Off Your Old Tired Ethic). Two of the prostitutes opposed an organization, however, most of the prostitutes (12) felt that there should be an organization. On one hand, Karen and Julie expressed opposition to an organization, "It should be something the girl chooses to do on her own. If some people get together and help each other that's fine," Karen said. Or, as Julie stated, "Because it'd be the same as having a pimp or a madam. One of the assets of prostitution is the freedom. It'd take away freedom of choice, set the amount, who and when. . . " 0n the other hand, the 12 prostitutes in favor of an organization expressed the ideas of providing a forum, support group, and protection for the working girls. "The girls could talk about problems. They would know to have a medical checkup. It would keep venereal diseases down 170 to a minimum,” Linda said. Or, as Connie said, "Maybe we could get the police off us." Stella felt that our organization "could get a district for the girls. The police would leave us alone." Sandy was more concerned with group solidarity and rights when she said, "We should be organized like anybody else. We should stick together and have a bond. We should have others looking out for our rights too. We do have rights." There would be "more understanding, more money (made) and more agreement between workers," Sybil said. "Prostitutes could go there and talk, agree and disagree, maybe get together and set prices, so that, there wouldn't be these girls working for lower prices," according to Cindy. Kari said, ”(we would) get a lot of things out of having an organization. A lot of these girls are hurting each other and there's really enough to pass around. If the girls got together they could find out if a certain man is out there that could take you or hurt you because that has happened." E93923 All of the prostitutes plan to leave their occupation at some point which indicates their knowledge of the demands and life expectancy in their work. Sandy said, "I can't do it the rest of my life. I'm not gonna be able to. I'm already feeling the effects of it now. 171 The street life puts a lot of wear and tear on the body." Sybil, on the other hand, plans to leave "to be a 'square,' but hustle on the side. I would tell my husband: there has to be an understanding between us. I would deal with a limited number of tricks, the ones that suit me. . . " Considering their educational levels, their lack of training for a conventional occupation, the future seems bleak. These prostitutes may become trapped once they are in prostitution for a long period of time. If they are in this occupation for a short period of time, they have more of an opportunity to leave and seek a conventional occupation. However, once they remain in prostitution for long periods of time, there is virtually no chance for a future in a conventional occupation. One of the major reasons is aCcountability of time. Another reason is the question of previous employment history. Also, once the prostitutes become accustomed to their standard of living, a minimum wage job may not appeal to them. They have also formed closed network of individuals who have accepted their job and life style: consequently, it becomes difficult to move out of prostitution. They have become locked in this occupation: this can be seen, for example, in their difficult of conceptualizing choices other than prostitution. 172 Particularly, at the end of their career or in the future they only saw, as alternatives, getting married (7), getting another job (7), going to school (3), going to her daughter (1), and staying at home with her daughter (1). The jobs they expressed an interest in were: modeling, data entry clerk, travel job, housekeeping, barmaid, computer programmer, and "anything, I get sick of turning dates just to get by," Karen said. Julie, Mona, Sandy, and Carla want to return to school. Three of the prostitutes completed high school and/or attended a community college, and one is an eleventh-grade drop out. This indicates that their future plans of returning to school are quite realistic: however, once they have completed school and apply for a job, there is the major problem of questions of arrest, and employment history. There is, however, limited information on what actually has happened to the women after prostitution. What is, perhaps, more realistic and relevant here are the responses some of the prostitutes gave when asked: If a "girl" loses her ability to attract ”dates" in the bar, what happens to her? A common response was ”become a streetwalker.” In other words, downward occupational mobility. Since prostitution is a stigmatized occupation, even though a temporary stage in their lives, this makes it difficult for them to leave at their own discretion. 173 They are limited in their future choices and may find it difficult to return to "respectable" society or legal occupations. Summer! The fourteen prostitutes, most of whom entered prostitution by age 21, are just beginning a career in prostitution. Data based on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale show that the prostitutes do not have low self esteem. The prostitutes' medium (10) or high (4) level of self esteem indicates that they just see themselves as ordinary people. After studying the individual items on the Rosenberg Scale, it is concluded that the prostitutes may be studied as a fairly homogeneous group because of their centrality of opinion on a number of scale items. Most prostitutes saw themselves as: more committed than part-time prostitutes, occupying a position between call girls and streetwalkers, average on a list of .twenty-two conventional occupations, and more worthwhile than most others evaluated. Prostitutes viewed bar operators as equally worthwhile as themselves, however, they viewed streetwalkers, policemen, pimps, madams and men-in-general as less worthwhile. Overall, the prostitutes' views of themselves and others were influenced by a number of factors, a few of 174 which were money or income, amount of power held, and physical appearance. The prostitutes (10) were satisfied or somewhat satisfied with being in prostitution which they felt should be legalized.- Prostitution, their sole occupation and major source of income, is for them a temporary occupation which makes contributions to society. All of them, however, plan to leave prostitution at some point in the future. CHAPTER 8 DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION, AND IMPLICATIONS The research findings led us to conclude that a uniform picture emerges from the data. Prostitutes are young, white, single women who are a junior or high school drop out. They were born in the city and come from large, intact families. Youth is valued in prostitution. The prostitutes range in age from 20 to 32 (8 under 26 years of age) with most of them (9) entering prostitution between 14 and 21 years of age. Similar findings were made by numerous researchers including Benjamin and Masters (1964) and Diana (1985). This youth, in part, reflects the image of prostitutes as an object of desire and manipulation. Single women are less accountable to others for their income and their time than married women, thus single women may be more attracted to this occupation. They may leave their family of origin and do not have spouses, therefore, concealing and controlling information become easier for them. This lack of integration into family life, however, may make them more vulnerable to the hardships of their profession. They no longer have the usual emotional and social groups to 175 176 assist them: consequently, they form networks in their new occupational setting. The prostitutes came from large intact families. Nine of them lived with both parents until they left home. Diana (1985: '49) found in his sample, N=154, that only 42.9 percent of the prostitutes came from intact marriages. Diana found no significant difference between the various categories of prostitutes studied, for example, brothel prostitutes, truck stop prostitutes, and call girls. The percent of massage parlor prostitutes coming from intact marriage was the highest, 48.9 percent. Type of family will not provide an adequate explanation for the reason women enter prostitution. There are many girls from intact homes who enter prostitution: however, there are many girls who come from broken homes and do not enter prostitution. Nine of the prostitutes have children: however, the children are in the care of or reside with someone other than the mother. In most cases (5) the children live with relatives: in two cases, the children are in foster homes, and in only two cases do the children live with their mothers. Some of the prostitutes felt that they were not ready for the children to live with them. The finding supports those of Benjamin and Masters (1964: 127)othat the children were placed for adoption, live with the former spouse or grandparents. 177 The prostitutes have left their family of origin and live with a "man," a "lover," relative, or another "working girl" mostly in rented houses (6), apartments (4), room (1), or parents' owned houses (3). This is contradictory to the finding of Benjamin and Masters (1964: 126-27) that prostitutes live mostly in rooming- houses and cheap hotels. Their educational level is somewhat low in that 21 percent had less than a high school education, 43 percent had some high school education, 36 percent, however, had completed high school or gone to college. Benjamin and Masters (1964) found, however, that probably 80 to 90 percent of the bar prostitutes had less than a high school education. Winick and Kinsie (1971: 35) found that "few prostitutes were well educated." The findings in this study support those of Diana (1985: 45) who found that 1 in 5 prostitutes had an eighth grade education or less: 69.8 percent had some high school education: and 22 percent were high school graduates or had some college. The differences in the findings may be partly due to the difference in the time of the studies. The regulations regarding school attendance have become stricter over time, thus, students have been forced to. remain in school longer rather than drop out so early. -Their educational profile led us to conclude that most of the prostitutes were unskilled, therefore, having 178 limited occupational alternatives. At the time they entered prostitution, most of them said that they were considering other alternatives. They, however, did not qualify for any high paying job due to low educational level, lack of training or skills. They had worked prior to entering prostitution in unskilled, minimum wage jobs, for example, waitress, maid, etc. Winick and Kinsie (1971), and Reynolds (1986) also found that prostitutes were unskilled: consequently, they had an inadequate income which made prostitution more attractive. These women saw limited alternatives (welfare, minimum wage jobs) to prostitution. Skipper and McCaghy (1970) also found that strippers did not have the training or education to earn more money in any other legal occupation. The reason most (13) of the women gave for entering prostitution was ”easy" money. Perkins and Bennett (1985: 220) also found economic necessity to be the reason most prostitutes in Sydney entered prostitution. Although most of these women entered prostitution out of economic necessity, most researchers (Benjamin and Masters, 1964: Winick and Kinsie, 1971: Diana, 1985: and Perkins and Bennett, 1985) agree that the explanation is more complex. Diana (1985: 80) argues that there is "interaction between economic, familial and cultural circumstances and background, and the experiences and 179 associations flowing from them." Winick and Kinsie (1971), McLeod (1982), Perkins and Bennett (1985) agree that the economic factors operating alone are not adequate to explain the reason women enter prostitution. Skipper and McCaghy (1970) made the same conclusion when studying stripteasing. They considered background characteristics and situational variables as "career contingencies" because neither operating alone are causes of the behavior. This study shows that economics is a strong motive among the prostitutes' reasons for entering prostitution. It, however, points also to women's socialization, as suppliers of sex and men's to demand sex, as making prostitution an economic option for women. The study also recognizes the sexual politics, i.e., the relationship between men and women, involved in the structure of society favoring men. This relationship between the sexes, sexual politics, which exists generally in society is reflected in prostitution. One other major consideration, agreeing with N. Davis (1971), is that the prostitutes "drift" into this occupation. Skipper and McCaghy (1970: 400) following Sherlock and Cohen (1966), referred to "the 'adventitious' model of occupational choice. The women became strippers more by chance than design, more by drift than aspiration." Most strippers did not have a 180 desire to become a stripper in the sense that other individuals may desire to enter a legal profession, for example, a doctor or a teacher. For the strippers, there was not much consideration of entering the occupation before they actually entered it. The prostitutes had early sexual experience and a pattern of "drift." These are perhaps two factors which distinguish the prostitutes from other unemployed women. James and Meyerding (1978), concentrating more on abusive sexual experience, compared "normal” women with two prostitute samples. They cited several problems in this type study, for example, methods, and time lapse between the samples. Nevertheless, they found that the prostitutes "initiated sexual activity at a younger age than the general population" (James and Meyerding, 1978: 36). First intercourse was reported by 57 percent of the 1974-75 prostitute population between ages 15 and 17: while 54 percent of black subjects and 23 percent of White subjects reported first intercourse between ages 15 and 19. N. Davis (1971) found that 19 of the 30 prostitutes reported sexual intercourse by age 13: almost one-half of the white girls reported intercourse by age 12. Among the bar prostitute sample, the majority (13) had sexual experience between 11 and 17, 7 between 15 and 17, 5 by age 13. Diana (1985) also found homogeneity in 181 his sample with 93 percent of the prostitute having early sexual experience. Benjamin and Masters (1964) found that bar prostitutes did not work full time, but they were working to supplement their incomes. They found that these known prostitutes were excluded from "bars catering to middle- and upper-class patrons:" they worked out of "workingmen's bars." Only full time prostitutes were used in this study: however, only one part-time prostitute was found to work out of Mickie's. Since Mickie's is the major center for bar prostitutes, the women who work do so full time. Prostitution was their sole source of income in most instances with many of them having to work more than one shift to survive. According to Benjamin and Masters (1964: 127) bar prostitutes work irregular hours. The present data do not support this finding because twelve of the prostitutes work the evening shift (6 p.m. to 2 a.m.). These were their regular hours six or seven days a week. Some of them would start earlier and work double shifts to earn money particularly during the period of the barricade. The bar prostitutes were not ”highly mobile” as Benjamin and Masters (1964) found. Most of them have lived in a Midwestern city and worked out of Mickie's for the length of time they have been in prostitution. They 182 have not moved from place to place: only two of the prostitutes moved, but contact was maintained with one of the two. Although it was difficult to interview them, it was not due to moving from place to place because of "failure to pay rent." The difficulties were due to the nature of their occupation which made them reluctant to trust outsiders and to keep appointments. Observation of their drinking habits, while at the bar and at their homes, was in accord with Winick and Kinsie (1971: 69) who stated that "even women who work in bars seldom drink heavily, although some take an occasional drink...they will be too drunk to work...occasional drink to deaden themselves..." Benjamin and Masters (1964: 127) found that bar prostitutes "typically drink to excess and have no notion of what constitutes a proper diet, ... .” There is some validity to the diet issue, perhaps it is due to the type of food available at the bar. The bar prostitutes were observed eating, for example, potato chip, and beef jerky. The data show, as Bryan (1965) and Hirschi (1962) have found, that prostitution does involve the acquisition of occupational skills, although there is no formal apprenticeship period for a novice as Bryan found withocall girls. The prostitutes manage through on-the- job training (self/ other) and observation to acquire 183 interaction, survival, emotional management skills, and sexual techniques. The prostitutes used direct and indirect methods (for example, conversation, body gestures, flirting) in approaching "dates." However, they relied more on the indirect method because of less risk of arrest by an undercover cop. Irrespective of the approach used, these prostitutes agreed that they do not quote a price for fear that the prospective "date” is a police officer. These prostitutes have learned to survive by collecting the money before the sex act in many instances, using intuition to pick up on danger, and avoiding the police. Lack of these skills may cost them money and even time in jail. Seven of the prostitutes were satisfied or very satisfied with their occupation. If somewhat satisfied is included the number would increase to 12, with 2 not satisfied. Diana (1985: 95) shows similar results with 59.8 percent overall reporting moderate to extreme satisfaction with the life. Perhaps, this level of satisfaction is due to the prostitutes seeing limited alternatives to prostitution. Also, they may be present rather than future oriented, consequently, questions about their future may be one of the reminders which focuses attention on their future. 184 The findings indicate that the majority of the clients who provide the money for the prostitutes are married and of all ages. It was also found that prostitution is by no means class bound since the prostitutes cater to "dates" in varying occupations. Other studies show similar findings on marital status, age, and social backgrounds (Winick and Kinsie, 1971: McLeod, 1982: Perkins and Bennett, 1985). These "dates" solicit the services of prostitutes and engage in the sex act: however, they are infrequently arrested when caught. According to Davis: "...when prostitution is outlawed, it falls into a category of crime that is notoriously hard to control. ...one of the guilty parties is an ordinary law-abiding citizen,... It is economically and politically foolish to punish a large number of a society's productive and otherwise orderly members." This is an instance of the double standard to which prostitutes are subjected. McLeod (1982) stated that both prostitutes and clients engage in the same activity, but the legal system punishes the prostitutes more severely. Consequently, women assume the greater risks in this illegal occupation with "dates" not having to assume many risks. Their lack of concern about being caught can be inferred from their behavior, that is, some of them become "regulars." 185 The "dates" who frequent the unfairly treated prostitutes enjoyed variety in their sexual appetite. Their requests were straight lay, half and half, fellatio, hand job, talk dirty, 88M, golden shower, companionship, and greek. Other studies indicate similar findings in clients' sexual requests (Greenwald, 1958: Perkins and Bennett, 1985). Most of the prostitutes preferred to perform straight lay and most refused to perform greek because they viewed it as placing them in a vulnerable position with "dates." That is, the "dates" occupy the power/control position, and the prostitutes saw the possibility of the "dates" inflicting greater physical harm on them from the rear position as compared with other positions. The prostitutes did exercise limited control/power over "dates” in some situations, for example, through their control of sex. They decided which acts they would or would not perform. Prostitutes also exercised power by deciding, to a great extent, where the sex acts were performed. They used a motel, their own apartment, or a car because these places were perceived as "safer." Being in a position to make this decision on a "safe" place and the type of sex act were means through which prostitutes exercised some power. This power, although 186 limited, served to lessen the degree of alienation for prostitutes. Another means of exercising control in this type situation is what Winick and Kinsie (1971: 27) call "jiving" clients by simulating a response. Other examples of control, based on a study of British prostitutes, were "price fixing" or ”standard rate," and "speed up techniques” (McLeod, 1982: 34-36). The bar prostitutes did use some of these techniques, but they also expressed a degree of sensitivity and concern. Sybil pointed out that if a "date" had a problem "getting off" she would spend extra time talking with him. She wanted to make him feel good and come back as a "date." Finally, Perkins and Bennett (1985: 224) also found that "kissing is a personal, emotional act expressing love, and is reserved for lovers." Diana (1985: 74), however, felt that although the sexual aspects of the situation is controlled by the prostitutes, the clients control the economic aspect. The prostitutes are bought by "dates" to satisfy their sexual urges. The double standard which exists in society with regard to sex helped to create a double image of women as madonna/whore. According to Roby and Kerr (1972: 164) "refined" prostitutes were the solution for men in the 1870s who were "denied the sexual favor of women of their own class before marriage... ." 187 Prostitutes are a part of a market in which they provide sex as a service for men. These prostitutes, as women in general, are viewed as sexual beings, as sex objects. "Men are defined as Subject and women as Other or object" (Gornick, 1971: 139). Prostitutes, viewed as object and sexual being, are placed in an oppressive, exploitative occupation. This occupation is accompanied by downward mobility (Winick and Kinsie, 1971) for the prostitutes. There is also little chance of getting in a conventional occupation, if they are in prostitution for a long period of time. Carmen and Moody (1985) cited the example of Crystal, a former prostitute, who was denied a license after graduating from nursing school because she had an arrest record. She was later granted the license after an appeal with the support from her dean and advisor. The research findings also led to the conclusion that this low status occupation did not produce low self esteem in prostitutes. Prostitutes rated self and twelve other concepts on the semantic differential. Analysis of variance of the semantic differential shows significant main effect for concepts. The prostitutes responded to the thirteen concepts differently. The analysis of variance also shows significant interaction of concepts by dimensions. Prostitutes' responses to concepts were dependent on the dimension on which the concept was 188 evaluated. Based on these data, the conclusion is that prostitutes saw others differently, and their evaluation of others was based, perhaps, on their background, knowledge of, or experiences with those others. Prostitutes rating, for example, policemen as more powerful than worthwhile. This may be due to their knowing that policemen have the authority to arrest them: consequently, they can lose income and risk revealing their identity to others. Perhaps, bar operators were seen as more powerful because they made the decision as to whether the ”girls" could work out of the bar. It is not clear as to the rating of streetwalkers among the powerful. The bar prostitutes may be viewing streetwalkers as having to work harder, exert more effort, or more influence in order to get a "trick." The analysis does not show any significant main effect for dimensions. Prostitutes mean ratings were not significantly different between dimensions. Their mean ratings show that the dimensions were similar to them. These data do not allow for the conclusion that the dimensions were not different, but simply that they were not different enough to be significant. In this case the ratings on the individual scales within dimension, if analyzed, may show differences. -Their mean ratings and the t test results show that the prostitutes view themselves intragroup as the "cream 189 of the crop," or most worthwhile, and streetwalkers as the least worthwhile. Groups rated equally worthwhile as self were "dates," women-in-general, and bar operators. There is a symbiotic relationship between the prostitutes and bar operators. The prostitutes do not pay a fee to work out of the bar: however, as one of the co-owners said, "the prostitutes are good for business because Mickie's is a neighborhood bar, and as such, it can not .compete with the other bars." They viewed themselves as busy or active but not powerful. Their ratings of self differed from their ratings of the occupational groups. Based on the rating of other bar girls on the semantic differential, the findings were consistent with expectation. In the perceptions of the bar prostitutes, there were status distinctions made. Call girls were ranked in the first position, bar prostitutes in the middle, and streetwalker in the last position. Sheehy (1971: 30) also placed the "street hooker at the bottom of the blue-collar end of the ladder." The call girls were placed at the white collar end. The data from the semantic differential lend credibility to the findings of Bryan (1966: 292) that call girls rated self significantly more worthwhile than her colleagues. In Bryan's study, call girls rated "johns," women-in-general, and men-in-general equally 190 worthwhile as self. Call girls also viewed themselves as more active and busier than women. Bryan's explanation of the findings on the evaluative dimension is that they reflect the double standard, that is, the general notion in society that males are "superior" to females. The major test of self esteem was based on the finding from the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. The result of Cronbach's Alpha (6 = 0.79) supports the reliability of this scale. Most of the items show a moderately strong or strong correlation to the total scale. Item analysis also indicates, however, less discriminatory power of some items, for example, items 1, 3, 4, 7, and 10. It is not possible to say whether this is due to the use of four categories on this scale which may not allow for much spread of individual responses, or whether indeed prostitutes do hold and share common views about themselves. Perhaps, the use of one or more additional categories might have allowed for more variation in the extent of agreement or disagreement on an item. The sample size might have also affected the ability of the item to show greater discriminatory power. Based on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale most prostitutes have a medium level or high level of self esteem. This finding is consistent with the semantic ratings showing that the bar prostitutes viewed 191 themselves in the middle position as observers and researchers tend to rank them as a group. This finding does not support the literature on prostitution showing that prostitutes have low self esteem or feelings of worthlessness (Greenwald, 1958: Benjamin and Masters, 1964: and Diana, 1985). Nor, does it support the commonly held assumption that a low status occupation produces low self esteem. Jacques and Chason (1977: 399), for example, investigated the hypothesis that "individuals with lower ascribed or achieved status will demonstrate lower levels of self esteem than higher status individuals." They found that the data supported the hypothesis related to achieved status, that is, occupational prestige and educational attainment. They used the Nam-Powers (1968) procedure to determine the status of the individuals' occupational groups. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was used to measure self esteem. The finding was that individuals of lower occupational status scored lower on the Rosenbergscale than those in middle and upper occupational status groups. They provided an explanation in terms of the reference group having an influence on whether the "negative implications of the status" are accepted. A supportive reference group can be used as a "psychologically protective mechanism for maintaining self esteem." The lower achieved occupational status and 192 educational status individuals are using the higher status individuals as a comparison group. The data do support the finding by Jackman et al. that prostitutes were able to maintain a consistent self image by providing rationalizations for violation of a social norm. The major purpose of the research was to test the prediction of self investment theory that low occupa- tional status will produce low self esteem only where there are reminders of the low status. The data support this prediction. Prostitution is a low status occupation in which the prostitutes do come in contact with "dates" of higher status, but there are few or no reminders of their low status. Therefore, the "dates" did not serve as a basis of social comparison for the prostitutes. The "dates'" occupational status may even become a source of intraoccupational status for the prostitutes. Their ranking of self was mainly intraoccupational rather than interoccupational. ‘Interoccupational status is important in so far as prostitutes gain status as the status of their "dates" increases. One of the reasons call girls, for example, tend to have high status is because of the high status of the clients. Streetwalkers' low status is partially due to the lower status of their clients. Bar prostitutes were ranked in the middle. This ranking indicates that they did not get 193 a large number of high status or low status clients, but their clients were in the middle levels of the occupational hierarchy. What might be happening, however, is an exchange of self esteem. Bar prostitutes acquire the higher status of their "dates,” as compared to their own status, which buttresses their self esteem. In exchange, the "dates” get the illusion of, for example, being powerful. A second possible explanation for the lack of reminders is the nature of the conversation between the prostitutes and the "dates." 'Prostitution is a service occupation and as such the prostitutes provide a service to the "dates." There were varying prices according to the services performed. The interaction in this service occupation may be comparable to the interaction in some other occupations, for example, barber or beautician. If so, occupational status is irrelevant. In a barber shop, there is a lot of chitchat: the prostitutes' chitchat with the "dates" may be comparable. If the conversations are comparable, then occupational status is irrelevant. Intraoccupational status now becomes important. A third possible explanation of the finding is that although the "dates" are in conventional occupations, prostitutes may view the "dates'" occupational status the same.or not much different from their own status. Most of their "dates" were factory workers, in two instances, 194 psychologists were mentioned, and lawyer and doctor once each. The medium and high levels of self esteem can be accounted for by the lack of reminders of their status. The prostitutes help to assure few reminders to the extent that they insulated themselves from the rest of social reality. This is a coping mechanism because it enables the prostitutes to avoid situations in which they would be confronted by reminders which would lower self esteem. Insulation helped to allow them to maintain self esteem at higher than expected levels. They created and operated within a structure and environment that led to their "selection" of an occupation and to their denial, at this point, that there are other occupational choices available. This creation of a structure and selection of associates served to form a reference group for the prostitutes who were not evaluating the prostitutes on the basis of their low occupational status. This structure or social network also served as an anchor for the occupational ideology. The values represented in the ideology are embedded in the social relationships with other prostitutes, bar operators, lovers, and "dates." The data support the findings by Jackman et al. (1963), Bryan (1966), and Hirschi (1962). Jackman et al. argue that the prostitutes develop this ideology "which 195 counteracts the social anathema attached to their way of life” (Jackman et al., 1963: 150). According to Hirschi, the ideology of prostitution has a "functionalist" orientation. These data show that the prostitutes did feel that they made a contribution to society. They felt that they helped prevent sex crimes and save marriages. Another part of this ideology is to view prostitution as instrumental. That is, prostitution is viewed as a means to an end. Prostitutes are in the occupation because of what they can obtain, money or an income. The instrumentalist value served to protect prostitutes from the stigma attached to prostitution. As Jackman et al. found, ”The rationalization by prostitutes violating social taboos against commercial sex behavior takes the form of exaggerating other values, particularly those of financial success" (Jackman et al, 1963: 154). Prostitution was also viewed as temporary. The prostitutes hope to experience upward mobility, but they realize that if they fail as prostitutes their options are limited. These set of beliefs developed by the prostitutes "allows them to continue their behavior and to face and retaliate against persons who share the dominant and negative social values toward them" (Jackman et al., 1963: 150). 196 Prostitutes, in this study, were able to maintain an average or high level of self esteem through methods already discussed. McLeod (1982) also agrees that "maintaining a feeling of integrity" is important to the prostitutes' self esteem. According to McLeod (1982: 39-40) the established prostitutes control their bodies and do not allow their bodies to be used on clients' terms or their emotional being to be controlled by clients. The prostitutes are, thereby, attempting "to retain some personal volition in sexual activity in order to maintain feelings of integrity." IM2LIQAIIQE§_£QB_EHIHBE_BE§EAB§H Several issues have emerged from the research on the self esteem of prostitutes in a low status occupation. The implications of these findings are discussed in this section. Conceptualizing prostitution as an occupation, although an illegal one, serves as a useful way to study this phenomenon. Because of the limited research and literature on bar prostitution, more research might be conducted on prostitution as an occupation using bar prostitutes as the sample. These women are one of several groups of women in an illegal, low status occupation. The studies conducted on bar prostitutes can 197 be integrated into the literature on studies of other prostitutes. The self investment theoretical framework used in this study provides a useful way of thinking about the self esteem of prostitutes who work in this low status, illegal occupation. Comparative studies may be done of the self esteem level of bar prostitutes with other groups of prostitutes in this low status occupation. This will provide additional data on the conditions under which a low status occupation affects self esteem. Cross cultural comparative studies may also be carried out. These two types of comparative research will allow for observation and study of intergroup and cultural variations, for example, differences in work settings of prostitutes and variations in the conditions under which status affect self esteem. Consideration of the value of comparative research suggests that in the future all groups of prostitutes can be used in the sample. The part-time prostitutes and the streetwalker would provide valuable data. Data can be collected on their self esteem level and their world: this data can be used to compare streetwalkers with other groups of prostitutes. Having studied the level of self esteem among bar prostitutes and touching on the coping mechanisms, further study might be directed to coping mechanisms. It 198 appears that few or no reminders of status, for example, restricting associations to the work setting and 1 developing an ideology, serve to help maintain an average level of self esteem among prostitutes. Conditions, in addition to those here, under which an individual can work in a low status occupation and maintain average or high self esteem need to be specified. The issue of AIDS and its potential consequences must be addressed, even though most prostitutes reported requesting that "dates" use condoms. Some "dates" do not want to or refuse to use condoms. Prostitutes work in an occupation where sex is the commodity for sale to the buyer. They come in contact with a number of "dates" during the course of a day. Unless there is some awareness and adherence, the contact of prostitutes could have a deadly, domino effect. If either partner contracts AIDS, it could spread to their other sexual partners. This will certainly have tremendous ramifications for all involved. The mere increase in the number of AIDS cases, the rapidity with which AIDS spreads, and death are among these. Additional attention can be given to the future of the prostitutes. Research efforts can focus on what happens to these victims who "drifted" into this occupation and became trapped. Once these women become 199 locked in this occupation, their chances of returning to "square" society and a conventional occupation become rather slim. It must be remembered that these women work in an illegal occupation with numerous hazards. They need to maintain their self esteem because it is one aspect of the self which is important to them. Working in such an occupation and being able to maintain an average level of self esteem speaks highly of their courage in the face of adversity. 200 APPENDICES 201 APPENDIX A THEORY OF SELECTIVE SELF INVESTMENT: MAJOR POSTULATES 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 202 APPENDIX A THEORY OF SELECTIVE SELF INVESTMENT: MAJOR POSTULATES The self system is composed of an ordered set of self identities and traits. Each self identity or trait may be cued in by a particular social situation and the relevant identity or trait may shift from one social encounter to the next. Self identities and traits are hierarchically ordered with regard to their importance for self esteem. Those at the bottom of the hierarchy may have no relevance for self esteem maintenance. The values used in self esteem maintenance are the major values around which the personality system is organized. The need to maintain self esteem occurs only in a state of objective self awareness. The need for self esteem develops in response to evaluations by others and is not an inherent human attribute. Any self evaluation that is consequential for the maintenance of self esteem requires periodic confirmation either directly or indirectly by others. The status assignment process is a social process, i.e., it involves others either directly or indirectly in the determination of status placement. The values used in the status assignment process are the major values that structure social relations in any collectivity. There are multiple status hierarchies relevant to -any social role and the relevant hierarchy may shift from one social encounter to the next. 11) 12) 13) 203 When evaluation by others occurs, if it produces objective self awareness, it will also produce self evaluation. The consequences of self evaluation thus produced will vary depending upon the importance of the relevant self identity for self esteem. The greater the frequency of evaluation by others of an activity or attribute, the higher the degree of self investment in that activity or attribute. Corollaries of this last proposition are: a) The greater the frequency of negative evaluation by others, the greater the need for self esteem and the greater the deprivation of that need. b) The greater the frequency of positive evaluation by others, the greater the need for self esteem and the greater the satisfaction of that need. c) Sustaining low self investment in an activity or attribute requires avoiding evaluation by others of that activity or attribute. Corollaries referring specifically to relationships among work, self esteem, and status are: 1) Self identities relevant to the work role may or may not be important for the maintenance of self esteem: 2) The importance of work-related self identities for self esteem varies with the extent to which others with whom a person regularly interacts use work-related values as a basis for status assignment: 3) Whether work-related values continue to serve as a basis for self evaluation depends upon whether or not there is a pay-off on this self investment in the form of self esteem: and 4) Level of self investment in work is an important determinant of behavior in the workplace and, in general, of the way in which work affects people's lives both on the job and off. 204 APPENDIX B INTERVIEW SCHEDULE 205 APPENDIX B INTERVIEW SCHEDULE I am a graduate student at Michigan State University. I am working on a research project to study what you do for a living. I am looking at women in their work settings. I would like to find out what your job is like, how you feel about what you do, and some of your experiences on the job. I would appreciate your responses to all of the questions. Your responses will be kept confidential. WM 1. First of all, do you find your job interesting? Yes...........1 NO............2 IF YES, in what ways is it interesting? IF NO, why is it not interesting? 2. How old are you? 3. What is your marital status? Single........1 Married.......2 Divorced......3 Separated.....4 Widowed.......5 4. Race Black............1 White............2 Native American..3 Hispanic.........4 Other............5 5. Where were you born? 6. How long did you stay there? 7. How would you describe your hometown? Small town....1 City..........2 Suburb........3 Rural.........4 Other.........5 10. 11. 12. 13. 206 Were you living with both parents from birth until you left home? Both..........l Mother........2 Father........3 Other (e.g., step- parents).....4 At the time you left home, what was your: MOTHER'S: Education Occupation FATHER'S: Education Occupation LEGAL GUARDIAN'S: Education Occupation How many sisters or brothers do you have? Sisters Stepsisters Brothers Stepbrothers Where are you living presently? Midwestern City.......1 Other 2 Do you live in an apartment or a house? Apartment.....1 Rented house..2 Own house.....3 Other.........4 Do you live alone? Alone.........l Another working 91:10.000000002 Pimp..........3 Your man......4 Relative......5 14. 15. oth.r.........6 IF YOUR MAN: Race Occupation Marital status Children What was the last grade you completed in school? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 What did you do after leaving school? Work.....................l Further training.........2 Other 3 IF WORK, what was your job? IF FURTHER TRAINING, what type of training? 16. 17. 207 What were you doing just prior to entering prostitution? Employed ......... . ....... 1 Unemployed...............2 Other 3 IF EMPLOYED, what was your job? Are you presently enrolled in any type of school or training program? Yes.........l NOOOOOOOOOOOz IF YES, what is the type of school or training program? We have been talking so far about your background. Now I want to ask you some specific questions about your work in prostitution, and how you entered it. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. At what age did you first enter prostitution? 13 and under.............1 14-17....................2 18-21....................3 22-30....................4 30+......................5 Is this the first time you were paid for a sexual act? Yes.........l “0.0.0.0....2 IF YES, go to the next question. IF NO, when was the first time you were paid for a sexual act? Had you engaged in sex prior to entering prostitution? 2"0000000001 "0.0.0.0....2 At what age did you begin engaging in sex? Were these acts with the same person? Same........1 Different...2 IF SAME, when did you begin engaging in sex with different people? IF DIFFERENT, on the average how many different persons did you engage in sex with during a given month? were you considering any other occupation at the time? Yes.........l No..........2 IF YES, what were these occupations? IF NO, why not? Now that you are thinking about it, what other occupation could you have gone into (given skill level)? If you had to choose an occupation other than prostitution, what would you do (dream occupation)? 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 208 How did you first become involved in prostitution? (L03) Self.....................l Read about it............2 Friend...................3 Pimp recruited...........4 Madam recruited..........5 Relative recruited.......6 Another working girl.....7 Other 8 Many people think that prostitutes use drugs, were you using drugs before you entered prostitution? Yes.........1 ' NOOOOOOOOOOOZ IF YES, what drugs were you using? IF NO, have you known prostitutes who used drugs? Are you using drugs now? Yes.........l NO..........2 IF YES, what drugs are you using? What were your reasons for entering prostitution?(LOE) Money (pays well)....................1 Material goods.......................2 Adventur.000......OOOOOOOOOOOOOO0.0.03 Economic necessity...................4 Life-style of prostitutes............5 Influence of male/female friend......6 Pay for drug habit...................7 Independence.........................8 Other 9 How would you rank ygn; reasons? (That is, which of these is the most important reason why you entered prostitution: of those remaining which is the most important, etc.). Did you leave home after entering prostitution? Yes.........l No..........2 IF YES, why did you leave home? (LOE) Family split up......................1 Job change (location)................2 Desire for independence..............3 Dispute with family..................4 Physical abuse.......................5 Other 6 Do you have any children? Yes.........l No..........2 IF YES, continue with question 33. IF NO, go to question 36. 209 33. How many children do you have? .00000000001 2000000000002 3.00000000003 4 or more...4 34. Who takes care of the children while you work? Husband..................l Your man.................2 Family...................3 Pimp.....................4 Working girls............5 Friends (other than prostitutes).............6 Babysitter...............7 Other....................8 35. Do you feel your work as a prostitute interferes in any way with your being a parent? Yes.........l No..........2 IF YES, in what ways? IF NO, why not? 36. How much freedom do you have concerning your job (e.g., set hours, set amount, handle own money)? Now let's talk about the skills and knowledge involved in prostitution. 37. Are there specific skills and knowledge needed in prostitution? Yes.........l NO..........2 38. What skills and knowledge are needed in prostitution? 39. How did you acquire the skills and knowledge needed in prostitution? 40. How long did it take to learn these skills? 1 to 2 weeks.............1 3 to 4 weeks.............2 More than 1 month........3 41. What skills did you learn? To find tricks...................... 1 To "sell” tricks.....................2 To please or satisfy tricks..........3 To collect your money................4 To avoid the police..................5 To get along with fellow workers.....6 Other 7 210 When learning the skills were you at: Your apartment..... .................. l Pimp's apartment.....................2 Madam's apartment.............. ...... 3 Girl friend's apartment..............4 Bar..................................5 Other 6 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. From whom did you learn skills, etc.? Madam....................1 Pimp.....................2 Fellow worker............3 Self.....................4 ‘ Other 5 IF SELF, how did you know what you needed to learn? What problems do you face as a prostitute? PROBE: Are there any other problems? Have you been placed in any situation that required you to do things or where things were said which made you feel badly about yourself? Yes.........l NO..........2 In your community: With the police: With the tricks: With your pimp: With other working girls: With your family: With your man: How do you handle these situations? That is, do you try to change these situations to help you feel good about yourself or do you continue to feel badly about yourself? COMMUNITY: POLICE: TRICKS: PIMP: ANOTHER WORKING GIRL: FAMILY: YOUR MAN: How do you handle a problem with the police (e.g., arrest)? (LOE) . Avoid police.............1 Bribery..................2 Agreement................3 Use codes on telephone...4 Other 5 480 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 211 Where do you go to find tricks? Bar................ ...... l Street...................2 Pimps send tricks........3 Madams send tricks.......4 Acquire names (from whom ............5 Telephone tricks.........6 Other 7 How do tricks find you? What do you do to get a trick interested in you? How do you ”sell" the trick: that is, how do you get a trick to say yes when you approach him? Once you get a trick to say yes, where do you and the trick go? Your apartment...........1 The trick's apartment....2 A hotel/motel............3 Car......................4 Other 5 Do you ever see the same trick more than once? Yes.........l NO..........2 IF YES, continue with question 54. IF NO, go to question 56. How often do you see the same trick? Once a week..............1 Twice a week.............2 Once every two weeks.....3 Once a month.............4 Less frequent than a month....................5 How many regular tricks do you have now? Do you know what type of work they do? How do you know this? Do your tricks differ from tricks of streetwalkers (e.g., occupation, dress, etc.)? Yes.........1 NO..........2 IF YES, how do you know this? IF NO, go to the next question. Have you ever formed any attachments (e.g., emotional) with tricks? Yes.........1 No..........2 -IF YES, how frequent has this happened? IF NO, how do you manage not to form attachments (e.g., emotional)? 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 212 Do you "get off" sexually with tricks? Yes.....0.0.1 "000000000002 Do you get sexually frustrated with tricks? Yes.........l NO..........2 IF YES, what do you do? IF NO, how do you avoid it? Do you satisfy your sexual desires in your personal sex life? Yes.........l No..........2 How do you satisfy your sexual desires in your personal sex life? How often do you have sexual encounters with your partner? Given your encounters with men, what do you think about men? Do you consider yourself to be: Straight....1 Bisexual....2 Lesbian.....3 If you were to meet a trick with a lot of money who wanted to marry you, would you marry him? Yes.........1 No..........2 IF YES, why? IF NO, why not? How do you collect your money? After....................1 Before...................2 Collected by someone else (e.g., madam).......3 Other 4 Altogether, how much money on the average do you make a day? $50 or less..............1 51 - 99..................2 100 - 150................3 151 - 199................4 200+.....................5 How much of this money is from prostitution? Prostitution Other (specify) Do you have any other source of income? Yes.........l No..........2 IF YES, what is the source? 0 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 213 Is there anyone with whom you share this income? YQSeeeeeeeeel "000.000.0002 IF YES, with whom do you share this income? Pimp........l Madam.......2 Man.........3 Other 4 How do you protect yourself from diseases? Medicine.................1 Checkup..................2 Condom...................3 Check trick..............4 Other 5 How do you protect yourself from pregnancy? Contraceptives...........1 Abortion.................2 Other 3 Do you go to the same physician for medical treatment? Y.‘0000000001 "0.0000000002 Who referred the physician to you? Pimp.....................1 Madam....................2 Working girl.............3 ' Friend...................4 Relative 5 Other 6 How do you protect yourself from physical abuse? Self defense technique (e.g., karate)..............l Carry weapon (e.g., knife, mace, club)..........2 Have someone around where you work (e.g., your man)...3 Other 4 In order to get an accurate picture of your work, let's talk about what you do and some of the people with whom you come in contact. 77. 79. Do you have another job other than prostitution? Yes.........l No..........2 IF YES, what is it? IF NO, go to the next question. 78. What are your working hours? Morning (8 a.m. to 12)......1 Afternoon (12 to 6 p.m. )...2 Evening (6 p.m. - )......3 How long have you been working on this schedule? 214 80. How many days do you work per week? 81. What do you do when you are not working as a prostitute? . Employed (Where?)...........1 Shop........................2 Movie.......................3 Sports......................4 other 5 82. How often do you engage in these activities? Daily.......................1 Once a week.................2 Once every two weeks........3 Once a month................4 Less frequent than that.....5 83. Many people view prostitution as ”high living." A part of this view relates to vacation and travel. Do you take a vacation? Don't take a vacation.......1 Home........................2 Other (e.g., out of town, abroad) 3 PROBE: Do you take any time off from work? Why? 84. How often do you take a vacation or time off? Once a year.................1 Once a month................2 Never.......................3 Other 4 85. GIVE INTERVIEWEE CARD WITH RESPONSES. How often do you talk in person to these individuals? Once a Twice a Once a Less Not nail): Heels Heels mm mm Tricks Police Pimp Madam Fellow Workers Family Bar Operators Friends Your man .Other 86. 215 How often do you have indirect contact with these individuals? That is, how often do you talk with them by telephone or receive messages from them by someone e se. GIVE INTERVIEWEE CARD WITH RESPONSES. Once a Twice a Once a Less Not Dill! EQQK £325 NOBLE EISQBQDE Bfilfilini Tricks Police Pimp Madam Fellow Workers Family Bar Operator Friends Your man Other 87. 216 INSTRUCTIONS (Osgood et al., 1957). Now I would like you to make your judgments on some words based on what they mean to you. You are to rate each word on each scale. For example, if the concept is very closely related to one end of the scale, not closely related to one end of the scale, slightly related to one end of the scale, or neutral you would mark as I will show you. father strong : : : . weak happy : : ° __ : ' : : sad slow : : : : : . fast GIVE INTERVIEWEE A SHEET FOR EACH CONCEPT. as. First, in this area, do you know any: 113 E9. House prostitutes Streetwalkers Call girls Male (heterosexual prostitutes) Male (homosexual prostitutes) Let's talk about your beliefs as to why prostitution exists. 89., A lot of people have given reasons for the existence of prostitution, why do you think prostitution exists? GIVE CARD TO THE INTERVIEWEE. Strongly Don't Strongly Mums Amum Jun! Insane: Janene: It is a job like any other job. It satisfies the sexual needs of frustrated men. It provides some- one with whom men can talk about their problems. It provides a sexual outlet for the handicapped. It is a business with profit. It is a crime created by society. Other 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 217 Some people in society think that prostitution is a crime and is not good for society, therefore, it should be stamped out. How do you feel? What are the contributions of prostitution for society? Do you think that tricks are using you (i.e., don't care anything about you)? Yes.........1 No..........2 IF YES, why do you think they are using you? IF NO, why do you think they are not using you? Do you use the men because they are tricks (e.g., just for money)? Why do you think people look down upon prostitution? In addition to the money agreed upon, do you ever get any extra bonus? Yes.........l No.... ...... 2 Gifts....................1 Money....................2 Nonmonetary (e.g., comments you think are favorable)...............3 Other 4 IF YES, continue with question 96. IF NO, go to question 97. How often do you get an extra bonus? Have you ever explained what you do for a living to: Yes.........1 No..........2 IF YES, how? IF NO, why not? lamenting: (Specify) . Yes.........1 No..........2 IF YES, how? IF NO, why not? 218 98. What does your family think about what you do? (Log) They want me to quit........l They do not consider me a member of the family......2 They do not care............3 They do not know.... ..... ...4 They do not like it.........5 They consider it cheap......6 They consider it whorish....7 Other 8 99. GIVE A SHEET TO INTERVIEWEE (See Appendix C). People rate jobs in terms of the prestige or status that goes along with being in that job. This list has some jobs ranked from high prestige to low prestige. Where do you think prostitution belongs in this list? Now let's talk about advertising in your occupation. 100. Of the ways you use to get a trick to say yes, which way works best for you? 101. Have you used any which did not work very well for you? 102. Have you tried any other method? Since we have talked about your occupation in general, past and present, let's talk about your future. 103. How long have you been in prostitution? (LOE) More than 2 years________ 1 1 - 2 years.................2 Less than 1 year... ..... ....3 104. Have you ever left and returned to prostitution? Yes.........l No..........2 IF NO, go to question 105. IF YES, how many times? Why did you leave? Why did you return? What did you do when you left? For how long did you do this? 105. Taking everything into account, how satisfied are you being in prostitution? Very satisfied...........1 Satisfied................2 Somewhat satisfied.......3 Not satisfied............4 219 106. What do you like about it? (LOE) Publicity ( ) Hours ( ) Meeting different people Money Gifts Help others Limited or no contact with family ( Limited or no contact with old friends ( ) Arrests ( PROBE: Are there any other things you like? AAAA VVVV v 107. What do you dislike about prostitution? (LOE) PROBE: Are there any other dislikes? 108. Have you been affected physically by being in prostitution? Injury... ..... ...........1 Disease..................2 Drug dependent ..... ......3 Alcohol dependent........4 Other 5 109. Some people say that many prostitutes feel that their job "mess with their head", e.g., prostitutes say that they often cry, get depressed, are angry, may hurt their children. Have you ever felt things like this? Yes.........1 NO..........2 IF YES, what do you think caused it? IF NO, generally how do you feel most of the time? 110. Do you ever plan to leave prostitution? Yes.........1 NO..........2 IF YES, continue with question 111. IF NO, some people say that prostitution is a short term occupation like sports, you can remain in the bar for a limited number of years, you are forced out as you get older or become ill or injured. What would you do in the future to support yourself? 111. What would you do? Get married..............1 Get another job..........2 Go to school.............3 Remain as working prostitute...............4 Remain, but become a madam .................5 220 PROBE: Why? (NOTE: General Information) 112. GIVE INTERVIEWEE CARD WITH RESPONSES. In your opinion what makes a person a good prostitute? Very Somewhat Not Very Not Innsrtant IDRQIIADI IDDQISADI Inpatient Belgian; Ability to satisfy customer Ability to get along with other prosti- tutes Ability to get along with pimp Ability to get along with madam Ability to dress well Cleanliness Physical beauty Ability to deal with or interact with people Good health Ability to keep up with what is happening around town (the news as related to prostitutes) Intelligence 113. In many occupations people hold different positions within the occupation, how do you view yourself as a prostitute in comparison to other working bar girls? 114. 115. 116. 117. 118. _119. 120. 121. 122. 123. 124. 125. 126. 221 How is your job performance: that is, how well do you do your job? What type (good, poor) of prostitute makes the most money? When doesn't a prostitute make any money? When does a prostitute become a bad prostitute (in terms of her job)? Do some ”girls" fail as prostitutes? Yes.........l "00.000.00.02 IF YES, what makes them fail? IF YES, what would it take to make such a girl succeed (e.g., more skills)? IF NO, go to the next question. Are there girls who work for a couple of weeks, then stop (e.g., can't handle the police)? Yes.........1 "0.0.0.0....2 IF YES, why do they stop? IF NO, go to the next question. GIVE RESPONDENTS SHEET (See Appendix D). Here is a list of the various types of prostitutes, how would you rank these from best to worst? Which is the best? Why? If a "girl" loses her ability to attract tricks in the bar, what happens to her? (PROBE: Does she become a streetwalker or what)? Do you know any part time prostitutes? Yes.........1 No..........2 IF YES, who are they? IF NO, go to the next question. What do you think of part time prostitutes (e. 9., have another job)? Do they interfere with your getting customers? Do you feel more committed to prostitution than you think they are? Yes.........1 No..........2 IF YES, why? IF NO, why not? 127. 128. 129. 130. 131. 132. 133. .222 Do you feel that you would be happier doing something else? Y..0000000001 "00.00.00.002 IF YES, what would you do? Why? Prostitution is, in most states, an illegal occupation. Why did you choose a way of making a living which is in violation of the law in this state as opposed to a way of making a living which is not against the law? Do you feel that prostitution should be: W‘lita00000000000000001 Decriminalized...........2 Remain the same..........3 Other 4 Why? Since some people regard prostitution as illegal, how would you explain to them why you chose to be in prostitution? Is there any organization for prostitutes in this area of the state? Yes.........l ”0.0.0.0....2 IF NO, go to question 133. IF YES, are you a member of the organization? Y..eeeeeeee1 ' "000.00.00.02 IF YES, why are you a member? IF NO, why aren't you a member? Do you think that there should be an organization? Y..0000000001 "0.0.0.0...02 IF YES, why? IF NO, why not? What types of acts do tricks ask you to perform? Straight lay Fellatio (oral) Half and half Greek (anal) Golden shower Talk dirty Hand job 88M Other CHARGES Minimum Maximum Which do you prefer? 135. 136. 137. 138. 139. 140. 141. 142. 143. 144. 145. .223 Which won't you do? Do you 'get off' sexually on any of these? How would it affect you if you charge one amount (e.g., 340/320) for a half and half and another working girl charges (e.g., $20/S40 ) for the same request? Do you feel that yOu were forced into your work? Yes.........l . "00.000.00.02 IF YES, go on to question 140. IF NO, what choices did you have in terms of another occupation? IF OTHER CHOICES, why did you choose prostitution? What are your views on women-in-general as workers outside the home? Some women believe that they are treated as objects or just used, what do you think? Do you think that men treat women as objects? Y..0000000001 "0.0.00.0..02 IF YES, why do think they treat women in this way? IF NO, go on to the next question. Do you think that women are used sexually by men? Yes.........1 NO..........2 IF YES, why do you think men use them sexually? IF NO, how do you see men treating women? Have you ever "ripped off' a trick? Yes.........l “0000......02 IF YES, how many times? IF NO, do you know anyone who has? Y..00.0000001 “0.00.00.0002 Is it before, after or during the act requested? Before......1 Aft.r00000002 During......3 Have you always worked out of the same bar? Yes.........l "000.00.00.02 IF NO, where did you work? For how long? Why did you change to work this bar? 146. 147. 148. 149. 224' Describe the bar in terms of your work: that is, does any one of the bars provide you with a different type of trick? Who are allowed to work out of the bars? Who decides whether a "girl“ can or can not work out of the bar? How do you feel about streetwalkers coming in the bar? Are there any questions which I did not ask you or any information you think will be helpful in this study? Do you know any 'girls' who work out of the bar that I might contact for an interview? SIGN CONSENT FORK. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIHE AND RESPONSES. YOU HAVE BEEN VERY HELPFUL TO HE. 225 APPENDIX C RATING OCCUPATIONS 10. 11. 226 APPENDIX C RATING OCCUPATIONS Cabinet member in the federal government Scientist County judge Chemist Nuclear physicist Airline pilot Accountant for a large business Captain in the regular army Public school teacher Official of an inter- national labor union Electrician Reporter on a daily news- paper> 12. Tenant Farmer 13. Railroad conductor 14. Plumber 15. Corporal in regular army 16. Fisherman who owns his own boat 17. Truck driver 18. Farm hand 19. Restaurant worker 20. Soda fountain clerk 21. 22. Garbage collector 227 APPENDIX D CATEGORIES OF PROSTITUTES 228 APPENDIX D CATEGORIES OF PROSTITUTES house prostitute, male heterosexual prostitute, call girl male homosexual prostitute, streetwalker, bar prostitute 229 BIBLIOGRAPHY 230 BIBLIOGRAPHY Barrett, Michele 1980 W- London: Verso Editions and NLB, pp. 42-83. Becker, Howard S. 1963 Outsiders. New York: The Free Press. 1964 W. New York: The Free Press of Glencoe. Benjamin, Harry 1951 "Prostitution Re-Assessed." In§_ln;gzng§1gn§1 W 4: 154-159- Benjamin, Harry, and Albert Ellis 1954 "An Objective Examination of Prostitution." The W 8: 100-105- Benjamin, Harry, and R.E.L. Masters 1964 W. New York: The Julian Press, Inc. Berk, Sarah Fenstermaker 1985 In§_§gnder_£agtgzy. New York: Plenum Press. Blau, Francine, and Wallace Hendricks 1979 "Occupational Segregation by Sex: Trends and Freepect8-" W 14: 179- 186. Blaxall, Martha, and Barbara Reagan 1976 W. Chicane. 111.: The University of Chicago Press. Bryan, James H. 1965 "Apprenticeships in Prostitution." $99111 Ezghlgmg 12: 287- 297. 1966 "Occupational Ideologies and Individual Attitudes of Call Girls." figgia1_£;gb1gm§ 13: 441-450. 231 Carmen, Arlene, and Howard Moody 1985 flgzking_flgmen. New York: Harper 8 Row Publishers, Inc. Chodorow, Nancy 1974 "Family Structure and Feminine Personality." Pp. 43-66 in Michelle 2. Rosaldo and Louise Lamphere (ed8-). E2manl_sultursl_and_§921etx. stanford. Calif.: Standford University Press. Cohen, Albert K. 1959 "The Study of Social Disorganization and Deviant Behavior." Pp. 461-484 in Robert K. Merton et al. (ed8-). Segiglesx_12dax- (New York: Basic Books). Coopersmith, Stanley 1967 The_Anteesdents_2f_§elfzzsteem- San Francisco, Calif.: W.H. Freeman and Company. Davis, Kingsley 1971 "Sexual Behavior." Pp. 313-360 in Robert K. Merton and Robert Nisbet (eds.), Contempgzazy §gg131_£;gb1gn. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. 1966 "Sexual Behavior.“ Pp. 322-372 in Robert K. Merton and Robert Nisbet (eds.), Contempgxgry figgigl_£nglgm§. New York: Harcourt Brace and World, Inc. 1937 "The Sociology of Prostitution." American Sesiglesisal_aeziex 2: 744-755. Davis, Nanette J. 1971 "The Prostitute: Developing A Deviant Identity." Pp. 297-322 in James M. Henslin (ed.), Studies in . N. Y.: Appleton-Century- Crofts. De Beauvoir, Simone 1971 Ih§_§gggnd_§gx. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, pp. 555-574. Diana, Lewis 1985 The_2restitute_and_ner_glients- Springfield. 111.: Charles C. Thomas Publisher. 232 Dobash, Rebecca, and Russell Dobash 1980 Yi2lense_Againat_flixeei__a_§ase_again§t RQEIiAIQDY- New York: The Free Press of Glencoe. Dubin, Robert 1956 "Industrial Workers' World: A Study of the 'Central Life Interests' of Industrial Workers." Sgsial_219hlema 3: 131‘142- Faunce, William 1988 Unpublished 1984 "School Achievement, Social Status, and Self- Esteem." S9sial_£sxehglegx_9uarterlx 47: 3-14- 1982 "The Relation of Status to Self Esteem: Chain Saw Sociology At the Cutting Edge." Sggigiggiggi Egggg 15: 163-178. 1975 Unpublished Fox, Mary Frank, and Sharlene Hesse-Biber 1984 figmgn_§r_flgrk. Palo Alto, Calif.: Mayfield Publishing Company. Glenn, Evelyn Nakano 1980 "The Dialectics of Wage Work: Japanese-American Women and Domestic Service, 1905-1940." Feminifir sgggigg 6: 432-471. Goffman, Erving 1963 arigma. New York: Jason Aronson. Goldman, Mimi 1974 ”Prostitution in America." grim§_§ng_§ggigi Jgsrigg (Fall-Winter): 90-93. Gornick, Vivian, and Barbara K. Moran (eds.) 1971 figm§n_in_§exi§r_figgigry. New York: Basic Books. Greenwald, Harold 1958 Ihg_zigggnr_£rgfirirgr§. New York: Walker and Company. Heidensohn, Frances 1968 "The Deviance of Women: A Critique and An Enquiry." Britisn_qgurnal_9f_Sgeielng 19: 160- 17s. 233 Hesse, Sharlene J. 1979 ”Women Working: Historical Trends." Pp. 35-62 in Karen Wolk Feinstein (ed.), Werking_flemea_ang Familiee. Beverely Hills, Calif.: Sage Publications, Inc. Hirschi, Travis 1962 "The Professional Prostitute." Berkeley_gearnai 91.529191991 7: 33-49 Hochschild, Arlie Russell 1983 The_uanagea_flearr. Calif.: University of California Press. Howe, Louise Kapp 1977 £ink_geiiar_flerkere. New York: Avon Books. Hughes, Everett C. 1958 nen_ang_1aeir_flerk. New York: The Free Press of Glencoe. Jackman, Norman R., Richard O'Toole, and Gilbert Geis 1963 "The Self-Image of Prostitutes."1ne Sggielegisal_9_arterlx 4: 150- -161- James, Jennifer, and Jane Meyerding 1978 "Early Sexual Experience As A Factor in Prostitution." Ar2hixes_9f_§exual_fieha_igr_7= 31- 42. Jourard, Sidney M. 1974 "Some Lethal Aspects of the Male Role." Pp. 21-29 in Joseph H. Pleck and Jack Sawyer (eds. ), Men . Englewoods Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc. Kelly, Joan 1981 "Family Life: A Historical Perspective." Pp. 1- 45 in Amy Swerdlow, Renate Bridenthal, Joan Kelly and Phyllis Vine, neaeeneig_ang_xin. New York: The Feminist Press. Kessler-Harris, Alice 1981 E9m§n_H§Y§_Al!§¥§_flQIK§Q- New York: The Feminist Press. Lemert, Edwin M. 1951 §Q§1§1_£§£h91232- New York: McGraw-Hill Book , Company, Inc., pp. 1-26, 236-280. 234 Lodahl, Thomas M., and Mathilde Kejner 1965 "The Definition and Measurement of Job Involvement.” 19urnal.9f_Annlied_£aYshglng 49: MacMillan, Jackie 1977 "Prostitution as Sexual Politics." Qaee; 4: 41- 50. Maurer, John G. 1968 ”Work As A Central Life Interest of Industrial Supervisors." Management 23 329-339- May,.Geoffrey. 1933 "Prostitution." Pp. 553-559 in Edwin R. A. Seligman (ed-). Enexelgnedia_2f_tne_§221al aeieaeee. Volume 11. New York: The MacMillan CompanY. , McCall, George, and J. L. Simmons (eds.) 1969 Iaaues_In_Eartisinant_gb§erxatien- Mass.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. McLeod, Eileen 1982 E2rking_Hemeni__£r2§titutien_ngw- London: Croom Helm. Miller, Gale 1981 ' ° . New York: St. Martin's Press. Millett, Kate 1971 Ine_2reerirarien_£apere. New York: Ballantine 1969 fiexgai_£eiiriee. New York: -Ballantine Books. Millman, Marcia 1975 "She Did It All for Love: A Feminist View of the Sociology of Deviance." Pp. 251-279 in Marcia Millman and Rosabeth Moss Kanter (eds.), greener yeiee. Garden City, N. J.: Doubleday-Anchor. Milner, Christina, and Richard Milner 1972 Biaek_£iayere. Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company. Moser, C. A., and G. Kalton 1958 . N. Y.: s . Basic Books, Inc., Publishers. 235 Orzak, Louis H. 1959 ”Work As A 'Central Life Interest' of Professionals." Seeiai_2rehieme 7: 125-132. Osgood, Charles E., P. H. Tannenbaum, and G. J. Suci 1957 W. Urbana. 111.: University of Illinois Press. Perkins, Roberta, and Garry Bennett 1985 W Sydney: George Allen & Unwin. W. New Jersey: Medical Economics Company. Pifer, Alan 1979 "Women Working: Toward A New Society." Pp. 13-33 in Karen Wolk Feinstein (ed. ), _erkihg_fleaeh_aaa Familiee. Beverely Hills, Calif.: Sage Publications, Inc. Pinzer, Maimie 1977 The_Maimie_£apere. N. Y.: The Feminist Press. Pleck, Elizabeth, and Joseph Pleck (eds.) 1980 The Amerieah_uah. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice- Hall, Inc., pp. 1-49. Rabinowitz, Samuel, and Douglas T. Hall 1977 "Organizational Research on Job Involvement." WW 84: 265-288- Reynolds, Helen 1986 MW. 111.: Charles Co Thomas, Publisher. Roby, Pamela, and Virginia Kerr ' 1972 "The Politics of Prostitution." Ihe_Narien 214: 463-466. Rosenberg, Morris 1965 - . Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press. Rosenblum, Karen E. 1975 "Female Deviance and the Female Sex Role: A Preliminary Investigation." firirieh_gearhai_ef Seeieiegy 26: 169-185. 236 Rubin, Gayle 1975 "The Traffic in Women: Notes on the 'Political Economy' of Sex." Pp. 157-210 in Rayna R. Reiter (ed-). T9ward_An_AnthronologY_2f_Nomen- New York: Monthly Labor Review Press. Salz, Arthur 1962 "Occupations in Their Historical Perspectives." Pp. 58-63 in Sigmund Nosow and William H. Form, Man, Werkr_ahg_§eeie§y. New York: Basic Books, Inc . Seeman, Melvin 1959 "On the Meaning of Alienation." A53 24: 783- 791. Sheehy, Gail 1971 ngriihg. New York: Delacorte Press. Skipper, James K. Jr., and Charles H. McCaghy 1970 "Stripteasers: The Anatomy and Career Contingencies of a Deviant Occupation." Seeiai Erehieme 17: 391-405. Sykes, Gresham M. and David Matza 1957 1986 "Techniques of Neutralization: A Theory of Delinquency-" Amerisan_sociolosical_3exiew 22: 664-670. U.S. Bureau of the Census , Series P-60, No. 151, "Money, Income of Households, Families, and Persons in the United States: 1984." Washington, D.C: U.S. Government Printing Office. U.S. Department of Labor 1986 1983 1979 1975 Employment_and_narnings- Washington. D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. Washingto Office. - . -_ 0' ..‘ e n, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing The_Earninsa_Gan_Between_Nomen_and_uen- Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1215_Bandbook_on_flomen_florkers. Washington. D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 237 Waite, Linda J. 1981 "U.S. Women at Work." Repaiatieh_§aiie§ia 36: 1- 43. Waite, Linda J., and Sue E. Berryman 1985 W e ' ' Iarheyer. Santa Monica, Calif.: The Rand Corporation. Walkowitz, Judith R. . 1983 ”Male Vice and Female Virtue: Feminism and the Politics of Prostitution in Nineteenth-Century Britain." Pp. 419-438 in Ann Snitow, Christine Stansell and Sharon Thompson (eds.), - . New York: Monthly Review Press. Wells, L.E., and G. Harwell 1976 fieir;fiereem. London: Sage Publications. Welter, Barbara 1973 "The Cult of True Womanhood." Pp. 372-392 in M. Gordon (ed.), - ' . New York: St. Martin's Press. Winick, Charles, and Paul M. Kinsie 1971 The_Liyeiy_§emmeree. Chicago, Ill.: Quandrangle Books. "IWiiifli‘fl'iiifl'fl‘iflil‘i