Sacred Prostitution Research Paper

In a 1992 symposium on sex work and women’s roles in society called Prostitution: From Academia to Activism, Andrea Dworkin delivered a powerful speech entitled Prostitution and Male Supremacy wherein she defined prostitution as being “the use of a woman’s body for sex by a man, he pays money, he does what he wants” (Dworkin 1992). In fact, although its formal definition refers to any person working in sex for money, the word prostitute is still directly linked to women and girls unless stated otherwise. Furthermore, a prostitute is not just any woman; she is a dirty woman, which is inferior on the socio-political ladder than the virtuous wife/the virgin, who is clean and submissive to her husband’s needs (Dworkin 1992). In modern culture, …show more content…
In fact, prostitution and women’s sexuality have played pivotal roles in religion throughout the centuries. Sacred prostitution is defined as any extramarital sexual activity that has a higher spiritual purpose. In her works, Assante states that the “oldest profession”, sacred rites and cult prostitution are believed to have originated in Mesopotamia (Assante, 50). Although the ancient origins and even the presence of sacred prostitution are subject to a lot debate, its influence on believers throughout history is undeniable. Be it mythology or truth, this paper will focus on prostitution that possibly stems out of religious belief in order to argue that the sacred prostitution narrative ultimately reinforces the agenda of global patriarchy. Furthermore, we will use the example of the religious brothels in Medieval Christianity and the devadasis of Pre-Colonial Hinduism as two models of historical sex work to argue that religious prostitution ultimately translates into the world we live in today; a world of male dominance, wherein women only play a supportive …show more content…
The papacy’s only demand was that the prostitutes were required to go to church on a regular basis and only serve good men of Christian faith, of whom 20% were estimated to be clergy (Richards, 118). This type of sex work, allegedly led by the church, serves as a type of sacred prostitution in which the sexual act tames the urges of good Christian men to keep them in focus while at the same time profits the church by earning it a lot of money (Lewis 1946). Therefore, it has a higher religious purpose, one that surpasses the physical act itself. In this model, sacred prostitution is the act through which women are mere sexual objects for good Christian men to abuse at their own