Bewildered, academics pore over sex-trade hysteria

They try to figure out how they got steamrolled

Thu, Jan 31, 2008 (2 a.m.)

Hands tied on prostitution (9-15-2007)
The sexualization of culture (10-17-2005)

It’s four months later, and they’re still licking their wounds.

In September, UNLV sociologists Barb Brents and Kate Hausbeck were steamrolled by a publicity-savvy out-of-town researcher who courted the media with a crude picture: Las Vegas prostitute as poor wretch.

For Brents and Hausbeck, who have spent more than a decade researching Nevada’s prostitutes, this was like watching an Etch A Sketch being hung in the Louvre. And it worked. The media sucked up sensationalized stories of women ground up like meat by the Vegas sex industry while the researchers were silenced in the stampede.

What happened? they wondered at a quiet academic gathering Sunday. And why was Las Vegas, that bastion of anti-puritanism with its short-skirted cocktail waitresses and its women direct to your room, so quick to hitch up to the anti-prostitution bandwagon? So quick to bite the hand that feeds it?

The duo was caught off guard by a media blitz over San Francisco researcher Melissa Farley’s self-published book, “Prostitution & Trafficking in Nevada: Making the Connections.” Days before Farley started selling it, the book was catapulted into credibility by New York Times columnist Bob Herbert, who swallowed Farley’s thesis — that sex work is violence against women and Nevada is the epicenter of that violence in America — and repurposed it for an article in which he declared: “There is probably no city in America where women are treated worse than in Las Vegas.”

This national coverage horrified the professors, who questioned Farley’s methodology and said she cited their academic work but misinterpreted it in her text. They say her research is anecdotal, not peer-reviewed, and funded by questionable sources.

Why didn’t Herbert, the professors asked, stop to suggest what their own research bares: That some women choose to sell their bodies. And why was Farley’s viewpoint presented as gospel by local reporters, though whenever either Hausbeck or Brents winds up in the media, asserting that not every woman is so helpless as to fall into sex work without a say in the matter, a reporter inevitably seeks out someone like Farley for a flaming counterpoint? Why, they want to know, does the quest for journalistic balance cut only one way?

The tone of the conversation was almost bewilderment when Brents and Hausbeck joined UNLV women’s studies professors Lynn Comella and S. Charusheela and grad student Krystal Jackson at the Far West Popular Culture Association’s convention Sunday for an 8:30 a.m. round-table discussion, “Commercial Sex in the Media.” It was a what-happened-here kind of wallowing, not just because they disagreed with Herbert’s sentiment and questioned Farley’s research, but because of a subtle and shared sense of abandonment.

They are left with a feeling that Las Vegas residents who have historically agreed that sex work isn’t all good or all bad, that the commodification of intimacy isn’t so simple, are being won over by fast-talking prostitution abolitionists who stormed into town with blinders on.

Perhaps, they volunteer, it’s the reemergence of what the round-table widely agreed was a “nostalgic feminism” — one that recalls a time when pornography was widely seen as exploitative and dangerous. That was before it became accepted that some adult starlets had chosen their path and enjoyed it, before such liberated sexuality became almost chic.

Perhaps Farley and the people who think as she does are situated in the right place at the right time, researching prostitution in a period when the government will not give academic grants to people who research sex work (as if it’s a contradiction in terms) or to academics who study the plausibility of legalized prostitution. Farley’s research was supported in part by a federal grant, Brents said, implying that any conclusion she drew about prostitution in Nevada was foregone before the research began.

And, Comella said, the presentation of sex workers as women who are universally exploited, trafficked, raped and coerced also plays perfectly into the commercial aspect of the media, which must sensationalize and oversimplify if they’re going to sell.

But if five academics sit in a casino conference room on a Sunday morning to discuss how Vegas sex workers are being manhandled by the media and misrepresented by researchers of dubious authority, does anybody hear it?

No, not really. And perhaps this is the answer to their questions. The very format of the discussion, the nature of their dissent and dismay, expressed in erudite dialogue and scholarly musings, is the stuff of academic journals, not of the 11 o’clock news or the morning paper. And they’re up against an agenda, not an academic inquiry. It’s a cause that will be advanced at any cost, not in quiet conference rooms but in dramatics and hysterics that are hard to ignore.

So the professors must watch as a very dangerous assumption, advanced by anti-prostitution activists, is paraded with all the tact of a Tupperware salesman: If you aren’t saying prostitution is bad, you must be saying it’s good.

This is where the dialogue gets dangerous, the round-table agreed. Dangerous because it is anti-intellectual, so black and white that you’re either in the dark or snow-blind, so reductive that even the people who want to use such reasoning to stop prostitution won’t be able to — not for want of trying, but because they’ll never elevate the discussion to the root causes of the problem.

And perverse though it may sound, the more Brents and Hausbeck are criticized for their research, the closer it seems they can get to their subjects. Sex workers and brothel owners have decided in the past that they’d let the researchers into their intimate lives — because the researchers wanted to study them, not save them.

Discussion: 24 comments so far…

By vegasj

1/31/08 at 8:32 a.m.

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Wow, we're "sin" city, "what happens here, stays here", and all the strip clubs, adult themed shows and have the ONLY state where brothels are legal. Yet we can't allow LEGAL prostitution? Why not regulate it, control it, tax it, and make it SAFE and cleaner for EVERYONE? Yeah, you can find negative in everything if you're hunting for it. Right? Like the preacher that cheats with married women or preys on young boys type research? Let's go after the pimps and hunt them down and eliminate them by making the girls legal. It is time!!!
By GOD

1/31/08 at 9:34 a.m.

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ON THE CONTRARY... Prostitution is illegal everywhere in the world except Nevada and should always be highly prosecuted. Only the filthly and pathetic need to find a prostitute.

This sex slave trade which takes place in Las Vegas and illegal activity that surrounds it only leads to negative things for all involved. We need to crack down on prostitution before it ruins more lives. Most of us in Las Vegas don't care for the "sin" city stigma.
By RPJ

1/31/08 at 10:06 a.m.

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"Most of us in Las Vegas don't care for the "sin" city stigma."

Please, speak for yourself. This city has survived and thrived as the last place where adults can be adults. It's not just the "sin" aspect, it is that Las Vegas is the last place in America where human beings are given the freedom to live and die as they choose. I don't know how long you've been in Vegas "God", but it's time you left.

PS: Any "sex researcher" from San Francisco is suspect for a variety of reasons, the top two of which would be the overriding extremist feminism based that city, and the superiority complex of so many so-call big city academics when looking at Las Vegas.

The facts are exactly as the UNLV researchers present them: Some women (dare I say many) don't see anything wrong with using their femininity as one characteristic of their value in the workplace. Men use their masculinity for the same reasons all the time and nobody worries about that. Grow up, people.
By GOD

1/31/08 at 3:58 p.m.

(Removed by the site staff)
By BC

1/31/08 at 5:46 p.m.

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God writes:

"Some of us are highly degreed scientists"

....ah, yeah, right.
By GOD

1/31/08 at 6:05 p.m.

(Removed by the site staff)
By RPJ

1/31/08 at 6:34 p.m.

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"Oh, UNLV is such a HIGHLY RESPECTED UNIVERSITY... LOL (this will take a minute for me to stop laughing)."

Laugh all you want. My UNLV degree has helped me launch four extremely profitable businesses, sell two of them, earn a great living, give my employees the opportunity to earn great income, and give back to my native city.

You, on the other hand, are an egoistical boor.
By RPJ

1/31/08 at 6:41 p.m.

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"God" is one of those insecure fools whose only sense of power is found by spreading half-truths and hysteria. Go away, loser.
By BC

1/31/08 at 6:42 p.m.

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Oh no, a comment about my sister and my mother with Pahrump thrown in for good measure, you cut to the heart "God" You have certainly put me in my place and demonstrated to all, the superior wit of a "highly degreed scientist" I'm in awe!
By GOD

2/1/08 at 5:26 a.m.

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BC, if you're sooooo happy about prostitution, you wouldn't mind if your family was involved, right. Just goes to show what a stupid hypocrite you are.

RJP, you make no point other than you'd love for women to be desecrated and demeaned. Tell me why prostitution is good for Las Vegas?????

When someone states that they go to UNLV --- we all ask: why would someone brag about one of the worst universities in the U.S.

Now go back to your illegal activities BJ and RC.
By Lizzy

2/1/08 at 7:51 a.m.

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Dear God,
Did you used to live in the deep south? The slave trade? "We need to crack down on prostitution before it ruins more lives." Please, it paid for my Harvard business degree.
PS: prostitution is not illegal in Japan and many South Asian countries. Get your facts straight.
By wtk

2/1/08 at 12:28 p.m.

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Dear GOD: Your comments are mean-spirited, hysterical, and devoid of factual basis, which, in my opinion, only supports the argument being made by those involved with the roundtable. Please note that the only comments deleted by moderators have been yours.
By bjb

2/1/08 at 1:08 p.m.

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The person who wrote that prostitution is illegal in all other counties is sadly mistaken. Although I do not condone it, you must educate yourself on it. There are many articles and studies on it. I am listing just a few below:

Australia
Prostitution itself is legal but laws very in different states regarding street soliciting and brothels. See Australian Prostitution Legal With Mostly Reasonable Restrictions

New Zealand
The Prostitution Reform Act 2003 made ALL adult prostitution and brothels a legal occupation in New Zealand but may have too many restrictions on brothels. In fact the government has online their "Brothel Operator Certificates." There are reasonable health and safety requirements such as using condoms, local bylaws can restrict signage and brothel locations, and a provision to outlaw pimping. The entire Act is at http://www.sexinnz.co.nz/news2.htm#REFOR...

In some jurisdictions, such as Nevada (see prostitution in Nevada), Switzerland and in four Australian states or territories (Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, Queensland and the Northern Territory), prostitution is legal but heavily regulated.

Prostitution in the Netherlands is legal and common. A majority of the women working in prostitution are foreigners, and the country is fighting against human trafficking.

Prostitute population

A study by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2000 estimated that there are a total of between 20,000 and 25,000 prostitutes in the Netherlands on a yearly basis. Approximately 32% are Dutch, 22% are Latin American, 19% are Eastern European, 13% are African (south of the Sahara), 6% come from other countries from the European Union (aside from the Netherlands), 5% come from Northern Africa and 3% are Asian

Greece and Turkey have both legalized prostitution. Women must register and attend clinics for regular examinations, in some cases as frequently as twice weekly.

In Western European countries such as Germany, prostitution is legal—but only for European Union residents. The restrictions are intended to combat trafficking in women—
By GOD

2/1/08 at 6:14 p.m.

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None of you have made any point of WHY WE SHOULD HAVE PROSTITUTION IN LAS VEGAS AND NEVADA??? PLEASE DO TELL ME HOW WOMEN ARE EMPOWERED OR USE THEIR FEMALE CHARMS AND PERSUASIONS AS A PROSTITUTE??... YOU CAN'T SO... SHUT UP!!!

You just point out what losers you are that have researched where you can get your "freak on" around the world. Can't find a girlfiend in Las Vegas... because you are pathetic Las Vegas Sun / Moveon.org LOSERS.

Lizzy - Harvard education?? - Please, do tell, who was your professor?... If you know anything about Harvard, you'll tell me the famous pub across the street! Yeah, you're a liar.
By Iamcuriousblue

2/1/08 at 6:40 p.m.

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RPJ writes:

"Any 'sex researcher' from San Francisco is suspect for a variety of reasons, the top two of which would be the overriding extremist feminism based that city, and the superiority complex of so many so-call big city academics when looking at Las Vegas."</i>

Check your San Francisco stereotypes at the door, dude. A whole lot of people here in Babylon by the Bay think she's nuts, too, including a lot of feminists. This was nowhere no apparent during the planning commission hearings about S/M porn studio Kink.com's purchase of the San Francisco Armory – Farley testified, making an utterly whack comparison of Kink.com's content with the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, a comparison that was specifically denounced by Christina Olague, the very left-wing chair of the SF Planning Commission.
By Iamcuriousblue

2/1/08 at 8:25 p.m.

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Thumbs up to Abigail Goodman. The coverage in the "regular media" has generally been entirely fawning and uncritical toward Farley and her research. Kudo's to this article for providing some balance.
By AL

2/1/08 at 8:31 p.m.

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It is quite amusing to read what people think about my job.
Many of you are sympathetic and tolerant and I thank you for that.
I became a sex worker by choice. I ran a very successful business for ten years. With my earnings, I funded my education and my travels around the world.
Perhaps accepting a job that made me feel intellectually annihilated while earning minimum wage would have been a more "respectable" choice. However, I did not choose it as I saw it as prostitution of the spirit.
Today I have a nice house in suburbia, I am happily married, a mother of two and I work at home as a writer. And yes, my husband knows what I used to do for living.
Watch out GOD…I might be your next door neighbor! And you would never know by looking at me, I guarantee it.
By bjb

2/1/08 at 10:50 p.m.

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Hey God.
Who is the liar?

"ON THE CONTRARY... Prostitution is illegal everywhere in the world except Nevada and should always be highly prosecuted. Only the filthly and pathetic need to find a prostitute."

LOOK ABOVE AT WHAT YOU WROTE.....TALK ABOUT A LIAR....

HOW DARE YOU EVEN USE OUR SAVIORS NAME TO DESCRIBE YOURSELF. YOU ARE APPALING, YOU ARE NOT GOD!!!
By MichaelGoodyear

2/2/08 at 3:23 p.m.

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It is refreshing to see some calm objective analysis of what has been a debate in which it was difficult for anyone to understand the facts. Thanks Abigail.

There are always those like 'God' who attack the subject like a preacher rooting out sin, without any understanding of what really happens at a human level. (I note that several of the comments have been removed which suggests the level of thought was not very high). If we examine the facts, prostitution as bjb says is legal in virtually every country except the USA. What is illegal is often soliciting, using premises, and living off the proceeds which makes life difficult for sex workers and makes them vulnerable to abuse. It is difficult to see how society could possibly benefit from treating a group of its citizens so badly. The fact that it is illegal in the US (other than certain Nevada counties) has made no difference, it thrives everywhere. So calls for 'cracking' down are pointless - that just escalates violence and often results in police corruption.

I have a lot of problems with people like Farley describing their approach as 'feminist' - denying women rights and ignoring their voices is not my brand of feminism which seeks out inequalities in power and seeks to restore balance by empowering the disadvantaged. Most feminists support sex workers rights - 100 of them recently signed a letter in a Vancouver newspaper (where so many sex workers have been murdered recently). However it is not by people's attitudes that we should evaluate research but by the soundness of their methods and the ability of others to replicate their results. Farley's work does not meet those standards.

The 'what about your family' question often gets asked by those convinced they are freeing the world from evil. Well, I respect my family's ability to make their choices in life. And anyway many sex workers I know are people I value as friends and as human beings. Unfortunately they are painted in a very different light by those who preach hate.

Iamcuriousblue (who writes a lot on this subject) is correct - we should not judge a city or its women by the actions of a few crusaders. As AL says many women (and men) who work in the sex industry are also your neighbours, police, judges, nurses teachers and in most ways no different from anyone else. Some researchers are surprised at first when they start interviewing sex workers.

The only humane approach is to treat men and women who work in the sex industry like any other citizen - not as outcasts. Incidentally 'God' appears not to have read his bible, or he would know where Jesus chose his friends.
By stripey7

2/2/08 at 4:22 p.m.

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Remarkable, the Christian humility displayed by someone who actually signs himself "God," isn't it?

The prima facie proof that prostitution is good for Nevada? The good of a state can only mean the good of its people, and some of those people, upon reviewing their options, have concluded that prostitution is good for them. Absent any grounds for doubting their powers of judgment, we are allowed to infer that prostitution indeed is good for them and, therefore, good for the state. Q.E.D.

Eric Hamell
Philadelphia
Graduated from Penn 1984 (as long as we're talking degrees)
By AL

2/3/08 at 10:31 a.m.

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Dr. Brents and Dr. Hausbeck are not only meticulous scholars but are also remarkable people who fight for social justice. Take a look at their record.
I admire them for their commitment to study and understand sex-work and the people who choose it, but mostly for their commitment to justice and equality for all.
Thank you Michael for a well written, sensible argument. And thank you Abigail for a no-nonsense, enlightening article.
By rw

2/4/08 at 7:56 a.m.

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Although Melissa Farley and her associates get a lot of attention by mainstream media, her writings have been thoroughly criticized by several scholars who are impartial and objective researchers. She is consistent in all of her writings, by beginning with the ASSUMPTION that prostitution is evil, inherently a form of "abuse" of women, and that legalization will only make matters worse. These are Articles of Faith held by Farley, not based on any sound scientific data collection. For a good example of an academic article that thoroughly deconstructs Farley's writings, see Ron Weitzer, "Flawed Theory and Method in Studies of Prostitution," in the journal VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, vol. 11, no.7 (July 2005). Weitzer is a professor at George Washington University in Washington DC.
By fredpat

2/16/08 at 2:18 p.m.

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hey GOD , what happened to Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
By sexworkersanonymous

6/23/08 at 7:59 p.m.

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Abigail - you are not being an ethical reporter. You state that Melissa's funding was "questionable". I don't think funding from the state department is "questionable". You also made it sound like Melissa was the only one involved at the press conference - an "out of towner" yet I was there and so was Candice Jordan - both of us are Clark County residents. You also failed to note that the women speaking about the abuse and torture associated with prostitution were survivors - not just researchers. Dr. Brents and Dr. Hausbeck have failed to come to one press conference with the very women they have interviewed for their research to answer questions - Melissa Farley did. I was interviewed for the book, as were other women also present to answer questions. The findings were not just "antedotal" if the very women who she had interviewed were there to back up their statements in person. You guys are just like the tobacco industry - you only talk about how smoking "relaxes" you and is cool - nothing about addiction and lung cancer.