Prostitution Through the Functionalism

Throughout America and the entire world, prostitution flourishes rapidly. Prostitution is another never ending war like abortion, which society feels is immoral. This immorality leads functionalists, who apply functionalism to this social problem, on a chase to figure out why prostitution is what it is today. Functionalism is the best theory for looking at prostitution. It allows us to see how prostitution changes along with other aspects of society.

Some ask why prostitution spreads like a wildfire through our cities and streets. This is an easy question for functionalists, prostitution flourishes because it satisfies sexual needs that are not able to be met elsewhere(Henslin 51). Prostitutes almost seem to serve as an outlet for sexually frustrated men. When a man is unable to find a partner he always holds the option of paying for sexual pleasure. A functionalist, Kingsley Davis, concluded that prostitutes provide a sexual outlet for men who: have difficulty in establishing sexual relationships, cannot find long-term partners, have a broken relationship, want sexual gratification that is defined as immoral, desire quick sexual gratification without attachment, are curious, and are sexually dissatisfied in marriage. From this it is shown that by meeting such needs prostitution functions as a form of social control over sexual behavior. This is beneficial because it brings men with sexual desires away from unwilling partners to partners that are willing but for a certain price. This undoubtedly helps bring down the number of rapes and sexual assault for any given society. Also it brings in trashy hookers or prostitutes that seem to degrade any given city or society.

The functionalist theory is the best way to view prostitution through a sociological perspective. Functionalists see prostitution as a means of controlling or channeling sexual behaviors (Henslin 53). Prostitutes meet the needs of men who otherwise do not have women always available to them. Also it meets the needs of a man because it is inexpensive, non emotional and a fleeting relationship. Through looking at prostitution we see that it persists because it serves social functions. This works by servicing people who are sexually frustrated. Prostitutes relieve pressures that otherwise might be placed on people who are unwilling to participate. Without the aid from prostitutes stimulating the un-stimulated, there might be other social problems that become bigger issues such as, rape sexual assault, kidnap and many more. Functionalism allows seeing each function