The Idea of Prostitution

The idea which this book explores is that of men's entitlement to abuse and profit from the abuse of women in prostitution. The book shows how this idea, central to male supremacist ideology, has been bolstered by masculine systems of thought such as sexology, sociology, historiography and queer theory. The feminist challenge to this idea has become more difficult in recent times because sexual liberalism, economic individualism and free 'choice' ideas have persuaded even some feminists that prostitution should be seen as 'just a job like any other'. Jeffreys argues that it is important to recognise men's abuse of women in prostitution as a variety of male sexual violence and a violation of women's human rights.