It seems that the majority of people in Amman have made the connection between so-called “massage parlors” and prostitution. Yet the comments being made in favour of closing down these establishments betray a lack of understanding of what’s really happening. Public figures relish the chance to harp on about the “destruction of the moral fabric of society,” making the prostitutes scapegoats and keeping real issues of poverty and injustice obscured beneath a pile of self-righteous rhetoric.

It’s no secret that Jordan wishes to continue to attract more tourists with money to spend. Both its location and comparatively liberal governing establishment make it an optimal vacation spot, especially for rich Saudi men sorely in need of a break from strict social norms. If anything, the flesh market in Jordan is going to grow, not subside. And while the Jordanian economy (hopefully) continues to expand, trafficking of women from poorer countries is going to grow.

Prostitutes are not the destructors of “moral fabric,” in many cases, they are simply the indicators of poverty levels. Yet I somehow doubt that the Jordanian establishment is going to care much about issues of exploitation. Instead, the optimal handling of the situation is probably going to involve driving prostitution even more underground while tacitly ignoring the human right’s abuses that inevitably arise, pleasing both the ultra-conservatives and the Gulf tourists.

Perhaps Jordan will even follow neighboring Israel’s lead, and have lawmakers argue that prostitution is Ok, as long as it involves Other Women and not Our Women; that the Male Libido cannot be threatened by petty laws and regulations, and if trafficking were to be removed, the Male Libido will be unleashed on Our Women, and nobody wants to see that happen now, do they?

The blatant racism that permeates the Israeli lawmakers’ way of “dealing” with this problem should be familiar to Palestinians, but I digress.

As it stands right now, it seems that the majority of prostitutes in Amman are home-grown, sold or encouraged by their poor families to exchange their bodies for money. These women have no way to climb the social ladder, and have been doomed to languish at the bottom, condemned by their society. Somehow, I seriously doubt that all the passionate defenders of “morality” have their interests in mind. The bottom line is if sleazy massage parlors in Amman are going to be closed, prostitution will not magically disappear. Jordanians watching public persons spew their misguided rhetoric regarding prostitution, need to stop and ask themselves if they want a society with “moral values” which are only skin-deep; a society that does not really address the classism and racism that truly allow the flesh market to thrive and expand.

On global terms, perhaps the only way to somewhat deal with prostitution is to accept, legalize and regulate (I use the word “somewhat,” because poor and unwilling women will forever be forced into prostitution by their circumstances, and where is the justice in that?). Perhaps prostitution will cease to be exploitative when the entire world is rich enough, developed enough, and enlightened enough. Yet considering Rosa Luxemburg’s claim that capitalist systems are always going to need other systems to feed on and take advantage of, I would venture to guess that the latter scenario is a long way coming. I am not equipped to argue whether or not prostitution itself is intrinsically wrong. I am no philosopher or judge. I am pretty sure, however, that exploitation is a pretty nasty side-effect of wealth. And as a long time resident of the United States, I am obviously aware that capital makes the world go round. The question I’d like to ask is, at what cost?

In a capitalist economy, nearly everything can become a commodity. In that sense, the sale of women’s bodies has acquired a whole new dimension. Will Jordanians be willing to draw the line somewhere? Will America? Will the world?

Perhaps we can all start by admitting to ourselves that treating prostitutes as sub-human or evil is not going to inspire positive change.

Tags: jordan, media, prostitution