I was thinking of trading sex for money as the oldest profession but Peggy recently mentioned that spying was also referred to as the oldest profession.
Both spying and prostitution share the common attribute that we rather not have these activities but somehow we know that it will go on because of the mismatch of the idealistic versus the real nature of the society that we live in.
We do not use "the oldest profession" to refer to farming, hunting, or any of the activities that we must have engaged in to sustain ourselves. These are a given. Prostitution and spying are activities that we rather not have but acknowledge their existence and its long history.
We had a cafe discussion in Nov 2011 on "prostitution, an act among consenting adults?" and it highlighted the persistence of the profession because of the demand and the supply.
In that discussion, we separated sex for procreation from sex for entertainment.
Sex for procreation requires that we have stable parents for child rearing and restrict sex to ensure off springs will be nurtured and provided for. It is the source of our social norms about sex and we have not adapted to sex for entertainment.
It is now fifty years since birth control pills became available and certainly our sexual attitudes have loosen up and sex as entertainment is no longer as illicit as before. However, attitudes have not changed as much as we predicted in the sixties and barriers still exists.
Should we legalize and accept prostitution as a convenience similar to a fast food meal or indulgence similar to a gourmet meal versus cooking at home?
What is the difference between food and sex?
Can we separate sex from the family kinship structure?
Why can we discuss food in public but sex remains uncomfortable socially?
As to spying, can we eliminate it by having no secrets?
If Wikileaks achieve their goal, will spying come to an end as a profession?
Will life be boring with no secrets to discover and no material to feed the gossip mill?
Recent advocacy for sex trade workers has changed some laws but mostly sex trade workers are forced to work in secret and this is dangerous.
ReplyDeleteWhat a person choses to do with their body is their own business and to secure one's choice of profession should be supported so that woman (or men) don't get hurt while at work.
As for spy's being the oldest profession in the world, it could be so as the Military has been around for ages. But there have been numerous inhumane activities associated with the military involving sexual intercourse, many of which are not consented to by the female, and some not consented to by anyone at all. Eg being rape camps in Bosnia. The men during this war where forced to have sex with women to shame them in front of their families.
This is a huge topic which is incredible serious; although I am sure it could be discussed in various directions, and so it should!
VTS
Another comment....
ReplyDeleteImagine you are stranded on an island. If you could separate love or sex, which would you require more for your prosperity? Love or sex? Of course procreation is necessary but to leave the island would require love especially if you were entirely isolated.
VTS
Spying and prostitution: maybe similar to voyeurism and exhibitionism and these I presume are 'normally' distributed in the human population. Much as sadism and masochism would be 'normally' distributed.
ReplyDeleteSecrecy vs. Espionage: the old spy vs. spy that is glorified (is it?) in "Mad" Magazine. Persuasion (of a target) vs. Evaluation (of sources). What else? Power vs. Truth? Power vs. Monitoring? Power vs. Oversight?
The military often 'feminizes' the enemy almost in order that they might more easily commit atrocities. Radical feminists believe that sex and gender are central to solving the world's problems. Is sex and gender more important than class or race or religion to addressing world problems? Why so?
It was said that "gentlemen don't read other gentlemen's letters" indicating that spying is not good. Are privacy, confidentiality, and secrecy to be addressed differently? Case by case or are there general principles? Is this a psychological issue or an issue of policy design for administrators?
How do radical sexual acts fit into this? Are they to be formally or informally controlled? What about sex therapy? Are some people especially vulnerable to sexual activity? What of paternalism in control over sexuality? Are we still Victorian in some things? CL