Michael Ryan on Prostitution
...ny women are led to these western cities by deceptive promises, only to be abandoned, and left to find any means for survival. The workers of this industry pray on this weakness, and take advantage of this survival vulnerability. This career can be embraced by some just to fulfill the imperative that being a mother or anyone responsible for the welfare of others can drive, to take care of things by any means possible. This combined with the insufficiency of wages, be it anything that required skill, could hardly sustain the barest of necessities in life, so it was no surprise that a number of women would fall to the promise of an appealingly privileged life. Vanity, a socially pushed attribute, is well known in the female gender in the appearance context. Many women had an overwhelming desire to be finely dressed, regardless of the means, as it was seen above the lack thereof. Many women were consumed by this desire, not only for the display factor involved, but also for the mere gratification of something grander than where they came from. A large majority of the women involved came from a culture broken families, homes, and some of the worst conditions that if exposed too, many would fall victim to this state of life. Domestic problems and bad examples of any kind, contributed to prostitution. This combined with the approval on the male’s side from most societies since written records produced the conditions needed for prostitution to take hold. Ryan characterizes prostitutes in the most obvious of ways, desperation. Driven by despair, Ryan details that most regret their fall, but none have the means to quit their position in life. He says that most desire religious consolation for the contempt they hold for themselves, and most find themselves unworthy for such consolation. What I find truly surprising is how they spent their leisure hours. Those of better class lived well, filling their days with baths and relaxat...