It's easy to define sex trade on the street. People seem often too eager to point out the girl standing on the corner of a street dressed in a mini skirt and high heels and say, "there it is! She's the one, the prostitute. And there’s her pimp!" Usually a man that collects the money she makes for trading a sexual experience for cash. Or maybe you see a young guy on the corner scantily clad and think the same thing?
Okay, do we all agree now that a prostitute is our label for a person selling sex for a price? Can you also agree that a pimp is a person who collects this money? It seems fairly cut and dry, and easy to be honest, with these as answers.
I'd like to challenge your thinking now. Perhaps ruffle some feathers along the way too. It's not my intention to hurt anyone, far from it. I just want to help us keep it real folks, and call a spade a spade.
Does sex trade work occur on the job you work at? Are you a part of it? Could you admit it if you were? Would you? What parts have you played in it? Pimp? Prostitute? Recruiter? Body guard? Something else?
I will be honest with you and admit that at one time or another I have been party to all of the above in some way, shape or form.
It's not as easy to realize sex trade work in main stream society, but it's there folks, and it goes on every day, without a track or a massage parlor.
There's the corporate sex trade, or white collar. In some companies, it's really easy to see it. Someone screws their way up the corporate ladder. Other staff members may resent it. They know they are doing a job to get paid, and doing it well, but they never get the promotions or bonuses. The sex worker gets them instead. She or he does the sex work for the price of a promotion or bonuses.
Then there's blue collar sex trade, and I've seen a lot of it in bars and restaurants. The bikini waitress is a sex trade worker. She serves her customers half naked, but she gets the same wage as a clothed waitress. Maybe you think she’s sold her selfworth from the start? Does she realize it though? I doubt it, not consciously anyway.
Then there's the belly dancer. A very sexual act for money it may seem. She works in restaurants and bars, and gets paid cash. Not much different from a strip tease, only she keeps on a little more clothing. Still, it is what it is folks. A sexual act for a price. Sex trade.
Then there's the "sugar coated" sex trade work. I am presently working in an establishment where the manager is having sex with the owner (a married man with kids). His wife doesn't know it though. The manager even goes on vacation with his wife and kids. I guess that's her payment, or price. What other profits she gets form it I don't know.
Well, this sex trade in society does happen a lot. I see it often. Does it happen at your place of employment? Does it matter to you?
- Lady Love
(This article was written by a Shift Engagement Project volunteer. To learn more about the Shift Engagement Project, drop us a line at 403.237.8171 or email info@shiftcalgary.org
You can also find more information on the project in our April 2011 submission here: http://shiftcalgary.blogspot.com/2011/04/new-shift-engagement-project.html)
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