Prostitution is said to be the oldest profession in the
world, and I suppose some kind of doctor, witch- or diet- or barber- must be the next, so I have some communal feeling with the inhabitants of Soho, of Nelson Street and of the Reeperbahn. We all charge fees for services
which are generally provided in private. Furthermore I strongly suspect that, whatever the do-gooders and alternative-gooders may be up to, the two professions will continue to exist, perhaps even to thrive.
Even in those
religious, gloomily dressed, cruel, hypocritical Victorian times, when Gladstone (when not Prime Minister of England) spent long evenings doing good among the fallen ladies, there were even more fallen ladies to be assisted than
there are now.
Surprisingly, around 1870, Thomas Hardy, the serious author of The Mayor of Casterbridge and other improving (though often sad) tales broke into verse upon the subject. His ballad is called
The Ruined Maid. Listen to some of it.
--"You left us in tatters, without shoes or socks,
Tired of diggin' potatoes an' spuddin' up docks;
And now you've gay bracelets and fine feathers three!"
"Yes: that's how we dress when we're ruined,"said she.
--"Your hands were like paws then, your face blue and bleak
But now I'm bewitched by your delicate cheek,
And your little gloves fit as on any la-dy."
"We never do work when we're ruined," said she.
--"I wish I had feathers, a fine sweeping gown,
And a delicate face, and could strut about town!"
"My dear, a poor country girl, such as you be,
Cannot quite expect that. You ain't ruined, you see."
Now, in 1999, it is The Economist which looks at the matter from a viewpoint which is not at all puritanical and which could even be
described as kindly.
Pornography, nowadays, is available all over the world in magazines, videos, and the Internet, to those who want it. I remember, years ago in Barbados, going to a rather grand family lunch (not the Leacock
family, as it happens) and after lunch we were invited to watch such a video. I think it was called Captain Lust, and it did have a rather catchy theme tune. I was a trifle surprised to find the young family teenagers
watching with the adults this absolutely, completely explicit film. Soon I found myself getting seriously bored, and soon after that some of the young (yes, even the young) started drifting away. I offered ten dollars (well, it was
a long time ago!) to anybody who watched to the end. Not one person claimed the reward!
But men do actually go on sex tours, mostly, nowadays to Thailand and the East. They must surely find it worth staying to the end. I am
informed that even in religious Barbados Christian men sometimes pay money to young ladies for sexual favours. Should we tolerate this disgraceful scene? Should we perhaps follow our dear Islamic friends and stone them both,
gentleman and lady, to death in public? My view is that whether it was Allah or Jahweh, evolution or God, who invented this sex lark, it has been a pretty effective invention, though scarcely pretty in an aesthetic sense. Or are
those thrusting motions beautiful as dance?
Perhaps we should not be surprised to discover that the world-wide, electronic sex industry, the pornographic videos, films, etc. is centred in Silicon Valley in California, where they
have at last graduated to respectable annual Award Functions (in full evening dress, rather than working costumes) for Best Supporting Actress and so forth
And The Economist
tells us that porno films are beginning to go so far as to have a plot. Perhaps I should try one again. Anonymously.
Naturally it is the cheap end of the sex market which is the most dangerous, and still captures silly young
girls who are imprisoned and beaten, abused and infected, poor darlings. In the middle of the market one could feel that their harlots' lives compare rather favourably with working in a coal mine or in the baking cane fields, while
at the top end the ruined London lady who specialises in investment bankers and charges them a thousand pounds a night must be making a useful fortune. When she retires she might consider moving to Australia with her new husband.
And as for regulating it shouldn't we begin by stamping upon the sexual exploitation of children. We can surely all agree about that.
But The Economist predicts that the global sex industry will soon be offering its
patrons the equivalent of Frequent Flyer Miles!
