Leaving Prostitution by Sharon S. Oselin

Author:Sharon S. Oselin [Oselin, Sharon S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Criminology, Sociology, General, Prostitution & Sex Trade
ISBN: 9780814770726
Google: X70EAwAAQBAJ
Publisher: NYU Press
Published: 2014-01-15T03:21:12+00:00

The Impact of Prostitution on One’s Identity

Almost all of the women affiliated with these PSOs claimed a personal and social identity of prostitute based upon their role, which usually became their master status. A few noted the positive benefits derived from this recognition, typically experienced early on in their careers. Derica was one of these women. She admitted that tangible markers of financial success colored her feelings about her identity: “Sometimes I felt really good when I made enough money. It made me feel great. When I didn’t make enough money, I felt really bad and sometimes I made enough money and I still felt empty. I just felt icky on the inside doing what I did. Mostly, I didn’t feel good about me.” Over time, however, her earnings were unable to assuage the flood of negative feelings about her sense of self.

In general, by the time women enrolled in a PSO this identification overwhelmingly produced negative emotions and disparaging self-perceptions infused with shame, failure, and worthlessness. One woman summarized this view: “Yeah, prostitution had a big impact on me because I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror. I was disgusted by what I was doing and who I had become.” Lindsay from Seeds agreed: “It [prostitution] had a big impact on me. I was a doormat. I was used up.”

Similarly, it was common for community members and the public to assign deviant, low-status social identities unto them for their participation in sex work. This label was especially difficult for clients to bear when family members and close friends conferred it. Being the recipients of a deleterious social identity often reinforced negative self-perceptions that infiltrated their personal identity. Hayley, a New Horizons graduate, recalled the shame she felt when her family observed her at work on the streets: “Yeah, my brother saw me one day when I was on the street. He told my family and my mom and they all disowned me because of that. I was too ashamed of what I did so I didn’t try to talk with them about it or anything but just stayed away for a long time.” A Phoenix client also described how her personal and social identities were acutely affected by prostitution:

You turn off all your emotions, but then in reality all your emotions aren’t turned off because you still have to deal with who you are and what you’ve done and how you were raised. There is so much embarrassment and degradation and after you have been out there for a while you start hearing things and people walk by you and talk about you. Even little kids teased me and called me names.

Marquietta, who had been out of the lifestyle for five months, succinctly described her social identity based upon her experiences with outsiders: “From society’s way of looking at it you were nothing.” When probed whether this influenced her personal identity, she confirmed: “Yes … I would look at myself in the mirror and become disgusted with what I saw—I was a dressed-up garbage can.

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