Can anybody tell me what is considered to be the world's most ancient profession? (doesn't require education, mostly involves women)
Some researchers confirm that prostitution is indeed the most ancient profession, while others argue with it; however, everybody agrees that trading sex for money has existed for quite a while. According to Wikipedia, prostitution began in the 21st century BC in Near East, most likely as a religious custom, and was practiced by Greeks, Romans, China and other ancient civilizations. Now, as we have entered into the 21st century AD, prostitution is still a part of modern society. The fact speaks for itself: as there will always be a demand for the services that it provides, prostitution will exist in some form no matter what.
The National Task Force on Prostitution suggests that over one million people in the US have at some point of their lives worked as prostitutes, with 4 years being an average length of their career. The above mentioned number equals to 1% of American women. (8)
Many nations reconsidered prostitution as something necessarily evil and against the law by legalizing it. England, France, Germany, Denmark, Canada, and Israel are some of them. However, prostitution stays illegal in the US, excluding 11 out of 17 counties of Nevada. Isn't it time to accept it as a part of our reality and try to regulate it?
Before going any further, I would like to say that I will not be trying to justify prostitution or vice versa - it is up to every one of you to decide on the morality of the issue. And secondly, for the purpose of this speech, I would like to define the term legalization. Most contexts use it to refer to any system that allows some prostitution, which usually means state control of the industry, including taxes for prostitutes, obtaining licenses, establishing restrictions, and health checks. However, legalization does not necessarily have to refer to the above sorts of
Bibliography: 1. Alexa Albert, Brothel: Mustang Ranch and its Women. 2002 2. F. Arnold Clarkson, "History of Prostitution", The Canadian Medical Association Journal, September 1939, p.296 3. James Elias, Vern L. Bullough, Veronica Elias, and Gwen Brewer, Prostitution: on Whores, Hustlers, and Johns. 1998 4. Janice G Raymond, "Health Effects of Prostitution". Retrieved March 31, 2007 from http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/mhvhealt.htm 5. Mark Liberator, "Legalized Prostitution: Regulation of the Old Profession". Retrieved March 27, 2007 from http://www.liberator.net/articles/prostitution.html 6. Overview Fact Sheet on Sexually Transmitted Diseases provided by American Social Health Association. Retrieved from http://www.ashastd.org 7. Prostitution - Decriminalization vs. Legalization – What 's the Difference? Retrieved from http://www.freedomusa.org/coyotela/decrim.html 8. Prostitution in Nevada. Retrieved from http://www.en.wikipedia.com 9. Prostitution in the United States - the Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.bayswan.org/stats.html 10. Ralph Reiland, "Amsterdam 's Taxing Issue: Wages of Sin – Taxation of the Prostitution in Netherlands – Fair Comment. Insight of the News, June 3, 1996