Whorrible!

Hi Viqar,

Thanks for your empathetic post. I agree with most of what you have said.

From what I understand, please understand that the `Asian` girls fall for the white-skinned males (ang mohs) not because of the size of their male organs but because of their fat wallets. They are capable of paying well and they are known to give a good tip. White-skinned males signify Dollars and Euros. That is big money for these poor girls. Many books are available on this trade now.

Zafar

Good review Zafar

Although a little more analysis and less narration would be more `review`listic. I`ve seen the documentary (refered to as a movie henceforth)myself and was struck by it`s honesty and refusal to take a stand on the issue. We love to take sides don`t we?

Let me declare at the outset that I am against prostitution in general. I do however, sympathize (if not empathize) with people who engage in this trade. I also find it quite embarrassing, being of the less sublime gender, that so many guys spend money to get sex while so many girls get money for it.

I documentary had a powerful effect on me. I rented the DVD for a pensive weekend night and watched it before I went to sleep. The next morning I woke with some of the scenes still fresh in my mind. It could be an effect of the colors and camera work in the movie. I kept thinking about the guy with his jacket on his shoulder and discussing why he visits prostitutes. I still don`t understand if he was pathetic or disgusting. In any event, he was a disturbing figure. And so was the black prostitute. And so was the high society French prostitute. I don`t know why. Maybe I expected to see more misery there and found an unreasonable amount of felicity...or more appropriately, contentment. You see, I would expect a person in a situation where they have to sell there body, to at least not be content. Maybe what I saw was carefully handled misery, so carefully handled that I wasn`t able to figure it out.

On a philosophical note, (and demand and supply issues aside) I think we all engage in some kind of prostitution at some time in our lives. I`m an IT professional for example and I work for a company that makes money. I offer a service and I get money for it. So far so good. But if I try to define the portion of my work that is not prostitution, I`d set a portion equal to the amount that would guarentee a reasonable diet and other sundry necessities. Beyond that is work that I don`t need to do, and work that is done out of the lust for more, work that is done using my body for the money aka the luxury I think I get out of the bargain. This is a personal aside however and you guys can differ if you wish.

On my commute back from work the road I take is usually lined with prostitutes at night. I have often thought about how hard it must be to stand there in the freezing nights with nothing on but the skimpiest of clothes and wait for acceptance (from a largly fickle clientele). That and of course the constant fear of bumping into someone with sadistic tendencies. These girls can`t really lodge a complaint with the police if they are abused because they are engaging in an illegal activity. You think about legalizing prostitution to protect these girls. The benefits are obvious, you could issue them with health cards to protect against HIV. They would be legal so they would be protected. They can be protected from the elements in a building and not have to literally freeze their asses off to make a living. Then you think of your personal dislike for the profession and guess which thought wins.

I agree with the statement that Europeans (most of them in any event) find Asian girls attractive. One of the reasons being the widespread belief that Asian girls (other than those from the Hindu and Muslim countries) lack morality because they are not burdened by any religion. This is actually not true but for most Europeans with a catholic background any religion that is not catholic has an ``easy`` morality. The common belief among the male population is that you can get these girls to do anything.

When I first met my company`s head of sales for the asian region, he was talking with an incredulous Italian guy, telling him that Asian girls fall all over themselves to get a chance to look at a white guy naked, `` they`ll suck you off just to get a chance to look at your dick``, because the common Asian male endowment is so small. I should smile. I took an instant dislike to the guy because I was indignant about him dumping all the girls in asia into the ``asian girl`` category. And, at least some resentment about his endowment remark(this is probably humor on my part). Maybe he did not consider East Asians to be what he meant by Asians. I later realized it was reprehensible nevertheless...are we selfish or what. Two years later, one of my colleagues from India asked me why I never got along with that person and I recounted the whole episode. This guy from India explained that he had been to Bangkok and Thiland with the MCP in question and and like it or not, the guy was right and if I didn`t believe it, I could come over and see with my own eyes. It isn`t important enough for me to go all the way there to see ``with my own eyes`` but if it`s true, I can understand why European guys are crazy about Asian girls.

To get back to the documentary, I`d recommend it to anyone who has the courage to see it.

Lets contextualize:

Hunger costs millions of lives and billions of dollars - FAO hunger report
8 December 2004 -- SOFI 2004 warms that hunger and malnutrition cause tremendous human suffering, killing more than five million children every year, and syphoning off billions of dollars from developing countries in lost productivity and national income.8 December 2004, Rome/Johannesburg/New York/Santiago/Stockholm/Tokyo -- Hunger and malnutrition cause tremendous human suffering, kill more than five million children every year, and cost developing countries billions of dollars in lost productivity and national income, according to FAO`s annual hunger report, The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2004 (SOFI 2004).

``More than 20 million low birth-weight babies are born in the developing world every year,`` the report says. These babies faced increased risk of dying in infancy, while those who survive often suffer lifelong physical and cognitive disabilities.

FAO said it was regrettable that so little is done to fight hunger, although the resources needed to effectively prevent this human and economic tragedy are minuscule when compared to the benefits.

The report says that without the direct costs of dealing with the damage caused by hunger, more funds would be available to combat other social problems. ``A very rough estimate suggests that these direct costs add up to around $30 billion per year - over five times the amount committed so far to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.``

In addition, there are the indirect costs of lost productivity and income. For example, the report says that tolerating the current levels of child malnutrition will result in productivity and income losses over their lifetimes of between $500 billion to $1 trillion at present value.

Ironically, says the report, the resources needed to deal with the problem of hunger are small in comparison to the potential benefits. Every dollar invested in reducing hunger can yield from five, to over 20 times as much in benefits.

Progress is possible

With the number of hungry people in the world rising to 852 million in the 2000-2002 period, up by 18 million from the mid-1990s, the human and economic costs of hunger will only increase if the trend is not reversed. The total includes 815 million hungry people in the developing countries, 28 million in the countries in transition and 9 million in the industrialized countries.

But although efforts to reduce chronic hunger in developing countries are not currently on track to meet the World Food Summit and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of cutting by half the number of hungry people in the world by 2015, SOFI 2004 says that the goal can still be attained.

``More than 30 countries*, representing nearly half the population of the developing world, provide proof that rapid progress is possible as well as lessons in how that progress can be achieved,`` the report says. These countries have reduced the percentage of hungry people by at least 25 percent during the 1990s.

In sub-Saharan Africa the proportion of undernourished people in the region ``fell from 36 percent, where it had hovered since 1990-1992, to 33 percent.

Hartwig de Haen, FAO`s Assistant Director-General, Economic and Social Department, said: ``It is possible that the international community has not fully grasped the economic bounce they would get from investments in hunger reduction. Enough is known about how to end hunger and now is the time to capture the momentum toward that goal. It is a matter of political will and prioritization.``

Countries urged to adopt twin-track approach

According to SOFI 2004, there is ``ample evidence that rapid progress can be made by applying a twin-track strategy that attacks both the causes and the consequences of extreme poverty and hunger. Track one includes interventions to improve food availability and incomes for the poor by enhancing their productive activities. Track two features targeted programmes that give the most needy families direct and immediate access to food.``

To meet their commitments to the World Food Summit and Millennium Development Goals, SOFI 2004 recommends that countries adopt large-scale programmes to promote primarily agriculture and rural development on which the majority of the poor and hungry depend for their livelihoods. Priority should also be given to actions that will have an immediate impact on the food security of millions of vulnerable people, says the report.

This year`s SOFI also contains a special feature on Globalization, urbanization and changing food systems in developing countries. The feature looks at the effects of rapid urbanization and globalization on food systems. It focuses on the spread of large retail chains, such as supermarkets and hypermarkets, in developing countries and examines the impact they are having on small farmers.

FAO says this new commercial phenomenon poses serious challenges for policy-makers in developing countries who are trying to develop rural areas and improve the livelihoods of small-scale farmers. FAO recommends developing policies and programmes that will help small farmers seize opportunities offered the new dynamic markets.

The report also addresses urbanization, the increase of hunger in urban areas, and dietary changes associated with rapid urbanization, including an increase in non-communicable diet-related diseases. ``Many developing countries now face a double challenge - widespread hunger on one hand and rapid increases in diabetes and cardiovascular diseases,`` the report warns.

*The countries that reduced the percentage of hungry people by at least 25 percent are:

Angola, Benin, Brazil, Chad, Chile, China, Republic of Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guyana, Ecuador, Haiti, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kuwait, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nigeria, Peru, Syria, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, and Viet Nam.

---

Contact:
John Riddle
Information Officer, FAO
john.riddle@fao.org


Related linksFAO Hunger Report: SOFI 2004
http://www.fao.org/docrep/007/y5650e/y5650e00.htm
Focus on the issues: SOFI 2004
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/focus/2004/51786/index.html

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#6 ferzana

i agree with you statement, we do indeed use whatever we got to get ahead, may it be a promotion or just to get some glittery substance to put mrs. gupta in her place in the social heirarchy.

why is this topic sensitive? is it because children are used in prostitution or is it because sex is the traded commodity? to me the main cause the children are in harms way is not due to the customer, they are always there (with or without money being offered) but due to parents inability to protect children. human children need an enormous amount of protection. while the state can help in protecting childrens rights, parents have the biggest share of responsibility.

to put it bluntly, if you are disadvantaged, dont propagate you DNA, its irresponsible. this sounds facist, but its true.

The article is very thoroughly written about an unspoken topic. Along with female prostitutes, male prostitution is also an ongoing issue. When this act happens then we can`t blame women responsible but the man also comes under whorism. Just as analogy:

``Rishwat Leenay wala aur Deenay wala Dono jahanumi hai.n``

This analogy also tells that bribery is a more dreadful act as one bleak action paths to another.

The boost of this in economy is a result of those mindsets who take every business by Net Profit they gain , not undergoing the means of dealings. Commercialization is the major aspect in it. The way women are projected in media is very much disgracing. It apperas that there is an invisible hand of men dominance who is exploiting women values to fullfil men sex apetite.
In asia the things are getting massive worst because asian mostly adopt the things from outside and most of them are never given chance to think on their own and utilize their energies by discovering their own parameters to survive. We used to be their colonial slave and there are fears that sex slaves oportunism is reaching.
To avoid this we are very much clever to propagate our social values, decency but never have integrated with our practical lives. A person good in circumference of a familyhood has no clues what is meant by social development and progress. Our shield ``Religion`` can only be trusted to give results in domestic issues.
Interviewing whores can`t solve problems. Giving rights to women to feel free not only under the domain of house roof is not any rewarding things but a setup of a society where a women doesnt not feels insecured on male prejudice brain mania would be solution to it.
And this cannot be achieved by globalizatoion or commercialism... But fruitfuly making women participate in important ositions towards development of nation and economy.
We know that before Russia broke from Soviet Union being such a big number of opulation they had mush less ratio of HIV/Aids as compared to Amercia and Europe. Since the broken states had an economic recession they are forced to induldge in whorism...

hmm ...the average western tourist fascination with Asian prostitutes (incidentally a more PC term is Commercial Sex Workers, but more on that later) is more to do with the western fascination for the Exotic, the Oriental f***...i haven`t seen the film but in your own words, the Chinese prostitute is shown as one eager to please...yet another addition to the long established myth of ``oriental`` women and their desire to please men.....

More importantly Zafar, you seem to be looking for a moral statement with regard to prostitution in general ...but perhaps the more important thing is to examine the issue a bit more that look at the moral angle....

first of as one of the interacts said...it is men who by participating in the trade give rise to it ....or as they say in hindi ``taali kabhi ek haath se nahin bajti`` i.e. you cant clap with one hand
second ..prostitution is one of the oldest professions in the world and in india prostitutes of the higher grade were very talented ladies....check Manto`s ``Stars from Another Sky: Bombay Film World of the 40`s`` to see how courtesans were an integral part of the indian film industry..Nargis`s mother for example was a courtesan.
third...prostitution in a place like Mumbai,where i am based is inevitable and has been part of the city`s history with Kamathipura,the main ``redlight area`` finding mention in the British gazettes. Bombay at one time was the centre of the Indian textile industry attracting migrants from all over the ``subcontinent``....these migrants were/are predominantly male with their families remaining in the villages...and they were/are the predominant consumers in this trade.

None of this is ofcourse a defence of the seamier side of prostitution...child-sex,rape,etc....but perhaps it is in recognising prostitutes as workers that we can do away with the above ....the logic here is the same as that of anti-prohibhition...ban or declare anything illegal and it goes underground ...depending on a nexus of politics,police and crime to survive...it is here that the seamier side emerges....Legalise it and then you can regulate it ....the examples are there to see:Germany,Australia and Holland....we just have to break through our own inhibhitions and preconcieved notions to see them.

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Fantine...

#3
``As long as there are women willing to provide the service for a fee, what can anyone do?``

Be man enough to refuse.

How conveniently you have put the entire onus on the women, Amit.
Try to see the other side of the picture too.
Then you`d find more men than women responsible for `women willing to provide the service for a fee`.

Zafar:

Your last sentence sums up just how cavalier the attitude is. Can`t comemnt on the film as I have not watched it, but going by the review it is obvious that the real problem is child prostitution. There was a documentary on this menace so rampant in Goa. The very idea that a term like `sex tourism` exists and is used reveals the mindset of society.

Jang (#4):

If you include informal pimping (like a man using his partner to please his boss to obtain a promotion or a raise), the numbers would be very large indeed...

PS: Next time be careful about what you say re. such sensitive issues.

``Many Westerners find life cold in their countries. Prostitution is of poor quality there``.

Nikki, I was saying this in the European context, and I have Michel Houellebecq on my side.

Thanks

Zafar

if you include informal prostitution (like use of sex to obtain a 2-car garage suburban home), the numbers in the trade are very large.

These Europeans and their fixation with Asian sex trade.

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Zafar,

Prostitution is known as the oldest profession. It can never be eliminated because the supply and demand equation cannot be eliminated. Men need sexual variety. Either they are single or lonely in marriage and hunt for excitement. As long as there are women willing to provide the service for a fee, what can anyone do? The best thing is to educate people about safe sex and make it mandatory. I believe Thailand has done that and its HIV rates have dropped significantly.