Topic: Prostitution Brenda S Prostitution is often regarded as the world's oldest profession. It has existed since time immemorial and probably will continue to do so. Indian culture with its vast diversities is no exception. On one hand it has condemned prostitutes by ostracize them and on the other hand it has accommodated it as in the case of the advise system. It was in this backdrop that I developed an interest to study this inherent contradiction.
There are two other reasons for choosing this topic- a) the interest generated through a class discussion; and b) the question of legalization of restitution that has come to the forefront with an increase in the number of rape cases and crimes against women registered. I am interested to study this with the help of advise system, an organized system in prostitution. The advise system, in particular, has captured my attention because of a documentary that was screened in the class.The documentary opined that the institution was dominant in South India and most importantly that it had religious sanction. Such alarming information, I thought, definitely required a deeper study.
Also since, thankfully, the institution sees not exist now; the measures or the nears through which it was washed out of the society interested me. But before reviewing various articles on prostitution and advise system it is important to get a conceptual clarity.Bloch held that prostitution was a distinct form of extramarital sexual activity characterized by being more or less promiscuous, was seldom without reward, and was a form of professional commercialism for the purpose either of intercourse or of other forms of sexual activities and allurement, resulting in due time in the formation of a special type. Plough & Plough, 1996) The term advise literally nears "servant of the god". It refers to the class of women who through various ceremonies of 'marriage' are dedicated or dedicate themselves to the deities of temples and other ritual objects.
Cravings, 1985). Most often these deviant's were used to satiate the sexual needs of the priests and also the upper class men. The following is a review on five scholarly articles on prostitution and advise system. Article 1: The article has an interesting approach towards prostitution. The main objective of the article, as the title suggests, is to look at the current research and changing interpretations of prostitution. By finding it difficult to come to a consensus on the definition the writer gives the background in which prostitution evolved.
In fact SST. Augustine held that If prostitutes were removed society would be polluted with lust and established patterns of sexual relationship would be endangered (I. E. , males might turn to other males. The writer also expresses ambivalence and is of the strong viewpoint that prostitution was not widely studied in the past and in the present the figures are inaccurate because even in those countries where prostitution has been r is legally regulated, only a portion of women actually practicing prostitution are listed on the official roles.
In the paper, the writer also sights various findings of many different scholars that were conducted around the world. Their conclusions suggest that there was a much higher proportion of the female population engaged in prostitution in the 19th and early 20th century than there is now. This can be attributed to the economic and social conditions in these countries. It is interesting to note that the writer pays attention to prostitution and military.
He says that during he Japanese military recruited prostitutes because sexual satisfaction of the soldiers and sailors has always been a concern for the military.Further the article explores various causes that lead to prostitutes becoming prostitutes like social, religious, economic and many others. Various psychological studies and interpretations of prostitution is also given in the article. An important component of the article is that the writer talks about feminist approach towards prostitution. The writer says that dominance of men over women has led to the conceptualization of women as property and the double standard.What the feminist approach attempts to do is to look at the subject from the woman's point of view, rather than the more traditional one which, perhaps unconsciously, was really a male viewpoint.
One of the solutions suggested is to discriminative prostitution for that will relatively reduce the stigma attached to prostitution. The other solutions as suggested by the author is that organizing themselves and broadening scope of their trade by using the term, Women in the Sex Industry will prove helpful. According to the author the discussion on prostitution remains incomplete without talking about AIDS.To conclude the author says that study of prostitution has seen a pool of change over the years and many different perspectives read the issue differently. (Plough & Plough, 1996) This particular article is partly in consensus with the reader's reason to opt for this topic.
The author is of the opinion that decentralization of prostitution will lift the status of prostitutes in the society. But it is not mentioned whether such an act will reduce the number of crimes committed against woman. This is along the same line of thought as the reader's.Similarly, to the understanding that prostitution is overtly ejected but inertly accepted it is explained by the author when he talks about how prostitution has existed since a long time and only now it is studied and generously interpreted from varied perspectives. Article 2: The primary purpose of this article is to highlight the various significant phenomena attached to an Indian goddess cult. Here the author provides first-hand information on a variety of ritual officiates who are regarded as having been "caught" by the goddess Hellman.
Llama" meaning 'mother of all' is one such deity in north Karakas where a large section of pilgrims flock to. The author explores some of the beliefs and practices surrounding the goddess. Right from sickness to the day to day activities, it is all attributed the goddess. He says that one strong belief revolving around the goddess is the so called advise system (servants of god).
These deviant's undergo a rite of initiation after which they cannot refuse right of sexual access to men, especially to the Hellman temple priests. Most deviates, usually called basic, are not attached too particular temple.Interesting to note is the point that the girls dedicated are not always young, pre-pubertal girls. Also, daughters who are less likely to get married will end up as a advise. The writer however draws a clear line of demarcation between commercialism prostitutes and the deviant's of the village as a advise cannot refuse the advances of any man in her village. Moreover, the author noticed that a common trend among these basis's is that they all belonged too lower caste.
He points out that, in fact, these deviates Justify the same by stating that Hellman herself was once a prostitute.Thus the writer concludes that a large section of the population belonging to this geographical rewriter are solely driven by the beliefs associated with this Indian goddess and the belief system includes even a socially unaccepted institution such as prostitution. (Bradford, 1983) From the article it can be seen that the system of advise has religious sanction and hence is UN-questionable. More so there is a clear mention in the article stating that the practice is highly in Southern State of Karakas; re- emphasizing that the practice has its base in the southern part of the country.However, there is no mention of any measures that have been adopted in connection o the abolishment of the system. Or probably the Hellman belief still has its hold over the people because religion still remains the dominant guiding factor in the lives of millions of individuals.
Article 3: The author of this article explores a completely different perspective of the Advise system. He explains how the emergence of two parallel equally vociferous reform and revival movements have affected this age old institution of advise system. The article is divided into two parts.The first part gives a detailed description of the practice of advise system in the state of Tamil Nadia. It clearly states that the deviates are in real practitioners of Sadie, now called Probationary.
Eventually, these ladies were forced to satisfy the sexual needs of the upper class men. The author mentions that in this process the carriers of the traditional dance no longer performed the function they started with. The reason for advise is clearly stated by the author for he mentions that "conscious economic motivations which lay behind the temple dedications". All this continued to exist prior to the legislation of 1947.
The second part brings to forefront the legislative measures which banned all ironies and procedures by which young girls were dedicated to Hindu shrines. However, reformist saw this as uplifting the situation of exploited women. The writer contented that the reformist included missionaries, doctors, Journalists, administrators and social workers- were strongly influenced by Christian morality and religion. This law was much debated and many saw this as endangering the traditional dance form. But the revival of Probationary as the ancient and 'pure' Indian art almost simultaneously was welcomed by many.This revolutionary movement was initiated by Risking Devil Randall.
The writer, thus, concludes by stating that two processes- reform and revivalism worked simultaneously to restore the status of a lost art form and at large the status of women. (Cravings, 1985) This article once again re-emphasizes the fact that the advise system is pre-dominantly south Indian. It also confirms that the advise system has religious sanction due to which it is widespread. This article also looks at the legislative measure that was proposed to abolish advise system in accordance with the set objective.But what is interesting to observe is that the article pays special attention to the consequences f the legislative measures that were implemented from time to time and most importantly, to the status of women. Article 4: The article pertains to the existence of advise system in Arioso.
The author is well aware of the fact that such a practice existed in south India. So he explores the various possibilities through which the institution of advise reached the state of Arioso, its importance, the life of Deviates visa-¤-visa the society etc. Tit a specific reference to the practice in the Again¤that temple of Purl. The writer suggests that the system was at its peak during the Imperial Gang period, and since the Gangs name from South, it is argued that the Advise system came to Arioso from the South India. In fact, the Gangs were so mesmerism's by music and dance they even built N¤attendants. At the Jonathan temple, the advise system emerged simultaneously with the construction of the temple.
The deviant's served Lord Jonathan right from bath to putting him to sleep.Not everyone was eligible to become a advise for they were recruited. There were even specialized Deviant's like those who only danced, who only sang or others who fanned the lord. Eventually they were required to be engaged for providing entertainment to the royal courts.
Gradually the system stretched further and included Landlords and wealthy people. Finally, it ended up with anybody and everybody who could pay. Thus, the system was converted into nothing more than mere prostitution . This disassociated them from works devoted to the temple.
The author reasons this act is as a consequence of poverty. The deviant's were given merely food and only food will not help them to survive. This solution-less debate continued till the Government of Arioso took over the Temple Administration by the Again¤that Temple Act of 1955. Today the system no longer exists in the temple.
The end of the system came very suddenly. Although it had existed for many centuries yet suddenly it faced decay. Thus the author aims at expanding the knowledge about the presence of the system beyond the borders of South India. Patria, 2004) This article provides an interesting finding.
Against the commonly held belief that the advise system is predominant in South India, this article brings to light the prevalence of such a system in the state of Arioso. But the common feature is that even there, deviant's are religiously sanctioned and eventually the system was challenged leading to its extinction. Legislative measures have worked wonders in restoring the lost dignity of women through this system. Article 5: The author, in this article, describes the advise system in detail.Right from how girl is initiated through a ceremony, to how and by whom she is maintained by, the functions she performs, her ritual and economic rights and even her adoption rights.
Then the author brings to light the debate between the conservatives and progressives regarding the Advise Abolition Bill which declared the initiation ceremony in the precincts of Hindu temples or any other place of worship as unlawful; gave legal sanction to the deviates to contract marriage; and prescribed a minimum punishment of five years imprisonment for those who were found guilty of aiding and abetting the advise system.But the crux of the paper is interesting to note. It analyses a novel written by a advise who broke away from the system and espoused the cause of women as a part of the early Dravidian Movement. The approach of the author is no different as it looks at the inherent contradiction in the advise system. However, by talking about an insider's perspective (mimic view) the article is highly resourceful. Thus, the author gives a comprehensive picture of her thesis.
(Indiana, 1991) This article is in complete consensus with the reason to study this topic.It vividly describes about how such a system came into existence and how it diverged from its set goal. It mentions the existence of the system in Tamil Nadia, a South Indian state. The deviant's were ideally supposed to serve the deities to whom they were dedicated to but it turned typos-truly.
The interruption of the legislative measure has provided solution to the problem, fulfilling all the set criteria to study this topic. Conclusion: Thus, the various articles that provide information to the extent prostitution and in particular advise system have been studied.The articles have varied shortcomings but that can be understood owing to the fact the variables for any single study is limited. Also except for probably two articles, most of the other articles fail to look at the causes leading to such a situation or the outcomes of the phenomena. Most scholars are concerned with the description of the situation and why the system should be abolished. This is probably because of the time periods in which these studies have been conducted.
The need of the hour is to have dynamic studies conducted on the topic with contemporary perspectives.Moreover, it can be noticed that 3 other areas have been neglected or have not received sufficient attention- a) Contamination and exploitation of women; b) Endangerment of a traditional form of art, and; c) psychological trauma experienced by the women. One might, however, ask the need of studying something that does not exist anymore. But the answer lies in the fact a full fledged proof about the abolishment of this system is not available.
So unless we ensure that this evil is completely driven out research in this field cannot be neglected.
