Saturday, January 14, 2012

Article: Fieldwork on Prostitution in the Era of AIDS

10 comments:

  1. In this article, Fieldwork on Prostitution in the Era of AIDS, I found many sections interesting and educational. I thought the poem/statement at the beginning of the article was very dramatic, but true at the same time. Many people believe that all prostitutes are bad human beings. After reading this article it is obvious that they are not "bad" just different then the majority of us; though this lifestyle is very different from the ones most of us have chosen. After constructing numerous interviews with prostitutes, the reporter really got to know many of the women involved. Through this process, the reporter started to feel guilty when she was able to go home to a warm apartment with a bed. Many of these women involved in prostitution that the reporter interviewed, did not have these options. Not too long into the interviewing, the "pimps" gave the reporter a street name and stood up for her if anyone harassed her. I found this very interesting, because she is a woman but they understood she was not a prostitute on the streets. This article selection was very interesting and informative, in the sense that the bond the reporter created with the prostitutes and pimps of the streets.

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  2. Throughout this article, Fieldwork on Prostitution in the Era of AIDS, the reporter writes about her experience with prostitutes and what she learned while interacting with them.The first thing she had to do was figure out the settings of where these individuals gather. I found it very interesting that prostitutes do not just gather in alleyways, but in hotels and others' apartments. Many believe that they just group in dark alleys in scarce streets, but that is not the case. The reporter developed relationships with these woman, in which she was able to learn much more about these prostitutes' lives. Ethical questions were raised once the reporter developed a better understanding. She was faced with situations where pimps abused the prostitutes and some prostitutes had to engage in sexually acts that they did no consent too. During these rough situations, all the reporter could do was show empathy for the women. She had began to develop emotions for these people along with her relationship with them. These pimps and prostitutes on the streets came to realize that this reporter was just their for learning and would watch her back because they understood what she was their for. Overall, I found this article very intriguing and compelling. It is assumed that prostitutes are faulty and defective people, however that is not true. They are just individuals who have chosen this as their way of life just as we have chosen our own way of life.

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  3. This excerpt from Claire Sterks' book on prostitution is an interesting case study because of the degree to which the researcher immersed herself in the culture of the groups she was studying. Beyond the individual story and details about her prostitute subjects, the article is also worthwhile because of what it can reveal about the methods and practices of fieldwork. As exemplified by the countless hours of relationship building required for the researcher to interview the subjects, fieldwork often necessitates a huge amount of time, energy, and effort to successfully complete a research project. One of the most compelling facets of Sterks' article was how she listed the six themes of her research. By laying out and explaining those themes, Sterks was able to introduce readers to her work while also making a claim for why the findings of her research matter in real world applications. Her discussion of the ethical obligations of fieldwork was also quite compelling and could be applied to almost any fieldwork or research activity.

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  4. I found it highly interesting that Sterks included some impromptu poetry that was written by one of the prostitutes with whom she was spending time. This inclusion gives a very intimate view of the life of a prostitute, expressed in a very simple form of art. I also find it interesting that her fieldwork was done not only in New York City, but in Atlanta as well. It strikes me that not every field researcher would appreciate the differences in the "morality" between the North and the South, and the fact that Sterks clearly does speaks very highly for her overall perceptiveness.

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  5. This article is very interesting. I find it to have been very informative in many ways.I understand that a cultural anthropologist can sometimes put their lives in danger when it comes to studying their subjects. I do not really want to call them subjects but I suppose prospects would be a better term. I am not really sure what term to use. I am sure that either term is not correct. Any who, the article baffles me because at first I thought that it will talk about Aids and prostitution together, most the time. To be honest with you, I got more out of article, prostitution. I learn that the anthropologist studying them found that their way of living was their type of survival skill. They did what they had to do in a sense.

    Also, this is off topic, but the poem really was out there. Interesting but out there. I am surpass by the fact that the anthropologist wanted to start her book off with the poem. Interesting because the poem makes the people appear dumb, trashy and not educated but they are. I say that because the summary in beginning of the book/articles explains that most of the prostitutes are well educated.

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  6. In "Fieldwork on Prostitution in the Era of AIDS", The poem presented at the beginning jumped out at me. The poem by "Piper", begins the poem with the words, "Prostitution is a way of life. IT IS THE LIFE." Why does Piper capitalize those words? Does she mean it is the only way of life for her, for people in her simialr prediciment or is just so amazing to be a prostitute that it is the only way to live correctly. Piper also repeats the line, "The Life is rough. The Life is tough." She puts out in the open that it is not easy being a prostitute andputs emphasis on it by repeating it.

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  7. After reading this article I felt like I had a better understanding of women doing prostitution and the reasons why they do what they do. I liked how the author Sterks was able to write her book on actual lives of women who did prostitution, so that readers like me, get a deeper connection on the outlook of prostitution. I also found it interesting that an anthropologist would even think about doing a research about prostitution, which made me think that anthropology is such a wide range of possible subjects and ideas to study. Reading this article made me not judge women who do prostittution as much as I use to, due to the facts about some of the women in this article that was interviewed. when I read that poem from one of the prositutes I knew that not all prositutes just basically gave up on life and education, these women are wise and just went down the wrong path in life. This article wants me to read more on her research about this topic of prostitution. This article in the end, really gave me a different view on women who do prostitution and how anthropologist are able to study and observe just about anything they want and in the end benefits our society to know these facts about what was researched.

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  8. This article left room for my mind to compose a mental journey for the author. As she spent time discussing the types of people she interviews and the different locations of her contacts, I could not help but get lost in the world that she must have been walking in to. I guess my innocence took this material as a bit shocking, not in the sense that I have had no exposure to this type of world from documentation, mtv, or video games (sadly). Being a 19 year old college student, who has been blessed to live with two parents, shelter, and always know that there will be a meal on the table, hearing the conditions into which this anthropologist walked captured my thoughts in a way of curiosity, and grief for these Women. Women who had to give up condoms in fear of losing costumers, knowing the consequences of opening themselves up to the possibility of HIV, deal with pimps on a daily basis, and use drugs to help deal with the emotional and physical stresses of their life.

    The article in itself was enlightening of this lifestyle that is hidden from public knowledge. I enjoyed learning about this topic and was glad that it was involved in this course.

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  9. I really enjoyed reading this article. It was very interesting to see how she got into the lives of these women and even the "pimps" she came to know. I also thought it showed character of the one pimp that stood up for her in situations. It was unfortunate that she was mugged that one time, but it almost seems that it could be a hazard of the job. I also had no idea that this could be a topic for field work in anthropology.

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  10. This was very well done and extremely insightful. I thought it was very interested how deep she was able to connect with the other women and "pimps" Gaining their trust was huge in conducting this study. I think that you can look at the mugging and say that she blended pretty well. Basically is she wasn't in the line of danger in this situation then she wasn't doing her job.

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