The Idea of Prostitutionby Sheila Jeffreys
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 Cover design by Deb Snibson Permission to use images and text |
There are (at least) two competing views on prostitution: Prostitution as a legitimate and acceptable form of employment, freely chosen by women and Men’s use of prostitution as a form of degrading the women and causing grave psychological damage.
In The Idea of Prostitution Sheila Jeffreys explores these sharply contrasting views. She examines the changing concept of prostitution from White Slave Traffic of the nineteenth century to its present status as legal. The book includes discussion of the varieties of prostitution such as: the experience of male prostitutes; the uses of women in pornography; and the role of military brothels compared with slavery and rape in marriage. Sheila Jeffreys explodes the distinction between “forced” and “free”prostitution, and documents the expanding international traffic in women.
The author examines the claims of the prostitutes’ rights movement and the sex industry, while supporting prostituted women. Her argument is threefold: the sex of prostitution is not just sex; the work of prostitution is not ordinary work; and prostitution is a ‘choice’ not for the prostituted women, but for the men who abuse them.
Sheila Jeffreys is the author of many books on feminism and on violence against women. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Melbourne.
‘This is thought-provoking, courageous and important scholarly work. For any scholar of feminist studies of sexuality, violence and social and political theory, this text is essential reading.’ —Anita Harris, Australian Journal of Political Science
Other titles by Sheila Jeffreys:
pb 300pp 241 x 175mm
Territories: World All rights: Spinifex 
