The exchange of sexual services for money; also historically used metaphorically to mean debasing something valuable.
From Latin 'prostitutio,' derived from 'prostituere' (to expose publicly, to put up for sale), combining 'pro-' (forward) and 'statuere' (to set up). The word carries its literal Latin meaning into English.
The Latin root 'prostitutio' originally just meant 'publicly exposed'—the Romans used this word clinically, while English adopted it to describe a specific transaction, showing how different languages approached the same practice differently.
Prostitution law and stigma have historically targeted women while criminalizing female sexuality and economic desperation. The term carries gendered moral judgment absent from equivalent male economic activities.
Use 'sex work' for neutral framing or 'prostitution' only in legal/historical contexts. Recognize that criminalization disproportionately harms women and gender minorities.
["sex work","transactional sex"]
Women's agency in survival economies has been erased by conflating coercion with choice. Feminist economics centers workers' dignity and structural inequality.
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