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The economic sexuality is an expression of sexuality that involves some financial transaction in the sexual relationship between a man and a woman. The study of the economic impact on sexuality has become a topic of significant interest in today's scholarly groups. In this speech, thoughts of different authors about the economic sexuality shall be presented, as well as the connections and relevance between them shall be explored. Further, these thoughts and conclusions will be supported by real-life examples; raising questions at the end to provoke curiosity for further research.
Thoughts of Different Authors on Economic Sexuality
Debra Satz’s Views on Economic Sexuality
Debra Satz, in her article, “Markets in Women Sexual Labor”, discusses two approaches to address the question of employing women's sexuality and reproduction as commodities on sale. She presents the economic approach and essentialist approach to deal with the issue. In her view, the economic approach considers the impacts of sexual relations developed in exchange for money on the society's efficiency or welfare. The concept of morality is overlooked in this approach to precisely measure the efficiency of economic sexuality. On the contrary, the essentialist approach looks at sexuality for sale from the perspective of happiness and satisfaction. It explores what an individual gets in return of these sexual relationships in terms of esteem, gratification, and reputation. The author discusses types of prostitutes and the negative impacts of this profession concerning different approaches under discussion. Further, the author develops her argument that she wants to emphasize the adverse effects of prostitution concerning sex discrimination. She argues that prostitution generates a sense of inferiority in women against men, which is the worst social effect of this economic exchange (Satz, 1995).
Linda Anne Rebhun’s Thoughts
In her book, “The Heart is Unknown Country”, L. A. Rebhun writes a chapter on ‘Love as Connection’. She describes the patterns of connection, role of love as the connector, and other values in such a society. She sets her discussion in the city of Caruaru, which is very particular in its specific attributes. The author describes the connection of economy and emotion in a city like Caruaru where people know each other better than those living in large, metropolitan cities. She describes love as an expression of affection; people come closer in different contexts, and they touch to express their feelings. Different groups of people behave in their specific ways to show their emotions. Rebhun describes love expressions as the attitudes of lovers toward their beloved ones. The writer elaborates the patterns of emotional influences on the economy of such a city. The transactions take place regarding their traditions, which are quite different from large cities. People in Caruaru like places develop certain codes of communication to express emotional content. People interacting for the sake of business have found ways to earn benefits based on differences in exchange types. The shifts in exchange types have shaped the relations in Caruaru type markets (Press, 2019).
Casselman and Tankersley’s Reviews
Ben Casselman and Jim Tankersley argue in a news article that women in Economics report that they have been sexually assaulted and biased numerous times. They say their colleagues or peers have attempted sexual assaults on them. The authors have presented numerous statistics regarding sexual harassment and discrimination based on gender. Many economists were surveyed to find out that they had faced intense discrimination based on gender, race, or sexual orientations. This study has been confined to economists to know the impact of their sexuality, and its related behaviors on them. The result was pretty disappointing that suggested that such a culture cannot be accepted from any perspective. The numbers shown in these surveys gave an idea of how the careers of these economists have been disturbed by the biases they faced and the harassment they suffered (Nytimes.com, 2019).
Jeff Kearns’s Review
In an article similar to the aforementioned article, Jeff Kearns states that nearly half of the female economists in the US report being sexually abused or harassed. The author stresses that eliminating sexual harassment is inevitable to put the suffering of economists at the end as well as to attract new female talent to the industry. He narrates that thinkers emphasize the ways to find a solution to the problem by arranging group discussions on forums and using a code of conduct. The individuals who have been involved in any kind of sexual assaults must be discouraged by canceling their promotion and depriving them of awarding honors and degrees (Bloomberg, 2019).
Relating the Thoughts of Satz and Rebhun
Debra Satz studies the impact of sexual exchanges based on some kind of financial agreement. Her thoughts reflect a comprehensive understanding of the impact of economic-sexual exchanges on the psychology of women, their status, and self-esteem. Linda Anne Rebhun studies the impact of love and emotion on the economy of a particular urban area. She describes how patterns of economic exchange are developed and shaped by the connections made through emotional attachments. People give and take and ultimately an economy is built that demonstrates its specific rules and preferences of exchange.
In typical, Brazilian urban societies as depicted by Rebhun, people take advantage of their friendships and kinships. They exploit every means of getting benefits from their social networks. Power is considered to be more successfully exploitive of their resources and networks. It is evident from the particular terms used in Brazil, such as agitar, jeitinho, arrumar, etc. that their economy is based on making efforts to persuade their targets to become beneficial for them or to do as they want it. Satz studies the economy getting affected by the paid sexual engagements and their outcomes. Men take advantage of the weaknesses of their clients, manipulate them, and make them behave in a very manner they want them to do. In a society where gender inequality has deep roots, the exploitation of women disseminates negative waves of contempt, disrespectfulness, and selfishness. The economy suffers as the essential consequences of sex labor.
Rebhun describes love advances as the different types of "touch" used in various contexts. Boys put arms on the shoulders of one other while girls stroll holding their hands. Babies are caressed; winners are tapped. Amor is the outcome of favorable experiences of long-term intimacy. The emotional influences of touch construct certain patterns of exchanges in the economy. People develop communication to their advantage that expresses their sentiments and brings favorable consequences. In Satz’s view, prostitutes sell their sexuality that involves intimacy with their clients. This is also a phenomenon of touch. Prostitutes earn money by selling their physiques as economic commodities that offer their clients value in terms of experiences of sensations and intimacies. The whole world is confronted with the challenges of exploitation, manipulation, and harassment.
Relationship between the Aforesaid Articles and News
The aforesaid articles and news have connections based on the concept of economy mentioned in all of these resources. All the authors have tried to study the economic influences on certain sexual behaviors or vice versa, that is, the impact of certain sexual initiatives on the economy. In other words, it can be said that sexual encounters involving financial transactions affect the economic phenomenon and the economy contributes considerably to sexual behaviors.
Satz expresses her views about prostitution and affirms that prostitutes engage in economic sexuality out of different reasons. Some need to support their loved ones, and others have to make both ends meet. There are many who take this as a profession only to satisfy their psychological and physical needs. Whatever their motive may be, the common point is that all get financial support from this involvement. The similar is the argument of Rebhun regarding the emotional connections shaping the economy of particular urban societies. Love, as a modified form or substitute for sexual activity, constructs the building blocks of an economy where people avail opportunities based on social networks. When considering the newspaper articles discussed earlier, it can be noticed clearly that a large number of economists are affected adversely by the sexual behaviors of their co-inhabitants or co-workers. Their careers take unwanted turns, their morale is suppressed, and their motivation is swept away by the physical, sexual, and psychological assaults of their peers.
All the authors confirm sheer loss in the overall economy by the unwanted sexual exchanges. They call for immediate actions to remove all negative elements from the society to improve the economic conditions. Immoral sexuality creates hatred, anxiety, and stress that lower the productivity of professionals. It also causes diseases and emergencies that ultimately affect the economy. Satz's point of interest is the gender discrimination and the resulting attitude of thinking women inferior. She strongly opposes this attitude of disgrace and contempt toward women. The stereotypical image of prostitutes is destructive for the self-esteem of women. A similar theme is the point of discussion in other reading and news articles. Men have mostly no regard for women. This fact is obvious from the figures of assaults on women as published in the news articles mentioned.
Examples to Reflect the Topics
In an extensive survey (sent to more than forty-five thousand persons) of black economists, only fourteen percent said that they get their due respect in pursuing their professions. Otherwise, all of them confirmed that they had been the target of discrimination based on either ethnicity. Most of them argued that they are compensated unfairly.
Sex discrimination proves to be a major cause of income inequalities in society. In the year of 1992, the wages earned by women were thirty-four percent lower than those earned by men provided that both worked for equal hours in jobs of equal capacities.
Another research reveals that women are confronted with job segregation issues, and they very unlikely to occupy rewarding, high-profile jobs in society. The study disclosed that forty-six percent of all the working women in the US hold low-profile jobs of waitresses, maids, etc. The families headed by women are mostly living a life below the line of poverty.
One study related to the division of labor in a family stated that women are destined to work more in household tasks even after working outside on a regular eight-hour job. The study said that housewives do only a fraction of more work than do the women employed outside as full-time workers. The difference in their amount of household work done was only thirteen percent. All these kinds of social injustice lead to moral degradation of women in the society, as well as leave a negative impact on the economy and welfare.
Questions to be Answered
Does sex discrimination have an impact on economic-sexual exchanges?
What are the economic impacts of distorted sexual behaviors?
Describe some of the pros and cons of prostitution on an economy that is indifferent to morality?
References
Bloomberg. (2019). Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 18 September 2019, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-18/almost-half-of-female-u-s-economists-report-sex-discrimination
Nytimes.com. (2019). Women in Economics Report Rampant Sexual Assault and Bias. Retrieved 18 September 2019, from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/18/business/economy/women-economics-discrimination.html
Satz, D. (1995). Markets in Women’s Sexual Labor. Ethics, 106(1), 63–85.
Press, S. (2019). The Heart Is Unknown Country: Love in the Changing Economy of Northeast Brazil | L. A. Rebhun. Sup.org. Retrieved 18 September 2019, from https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=411
