Jewish Choices, Jewish Voices: Sex and Intimacy

Case Study

75 Case Study NAOMI IS a 23-year-old female. She has not had a college education and finds herself with several options for supporting herself. She could earn $7.50/hour as a drugstore clerk without benefits, but it is not clear that she could support herself on that wage, and she would likely be fired the first time that she couldn’t make a shift because she is too ill to work. Alternatively, she could take a job as a dancer in a strip club, where she could earn significant money for minimal hours’ work, and where she would have more flexibility to negotiate her shifts and her hours. She regards her body as hers to do with as she pleases and regards sex work as, simply, a form of physical labor. At the same time, she recognizes that women’s sexuality has been commodified by the broader culture, and is aware that stripping contributes to the objectification of women, generally—and of herself, specifically (even though she is compensated and not bothered by this). Which job should she take? Why? If she decides to work at the strip club, should she only take the job under certain working conditions? If she had more economic and professional options that would give her the same salary and flexibility, are there reasons that she should not choose this instead? Does the moral status of her accepting this work change if the job were not in a strip club, but rather as a phone sex operator? As a prostitute? If she engaged in any of these activities, would that make her less desirable as a potential mate? Would our understandings of the situation be different in any way if Naomi were a man? Would any of this change if Naomi were working in photography or film, in which a lasting image is created? Is it morally acceptable to view pornography? Is it permissible to be a patron in a strip club? Is there a difference in how we morally evaluate patrons or consumers of pornography and/or sex work from how we assess those working in the industry? Is there a difference in how we assess workers in the sex industry from how we assess the owners of the establishments in which they work? Case 3: Sex Work and Pornography Jewish Choices, Jewish Voices: SEX AND INTIMACY 76 Traditional Sources Compiled by Uzi Weingarten and the Editors On Licentiousness 1. Maimonides (Rambam), Mishneh Torah, Laws of Marriage 1:4 Before the giving of the Torah, a man would meet a woman in the marketplace,andifheandshewanted,hewouldpayherwagesandhave sex with her.… After the Torah was given, the k’deshah [prostitute, or possibly cultic prostitute] was forbidden, as it is written: “There shall notbeak’deshahamongthedaughtersofIsrael”(Deuteronomy23:18). Therefore whoever has sex with a woman as an act of licentiousness without betrothal has transgressed the prohibition of k’deshah. 2. Rabbi Abraham ben David (Ravad) on Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah, Laws of Marriage 1:4 A k’deshah is one who is ready and freely available to all. But one who is exclusive to one man is the concubine (pilegesh) mentioned in Scripture, and there is neither a transgression nor a penalty involved. On Revealing One’s Body and Notions of Modesty 3. Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 113b Rabbi Yohanan called his garments “my honorers.” 4. Babylonian Talmud, Bava Kamma 86b Our Rabbis taught: If someone insulted a person who was naked, he would beliable[forpayingcompensationforboshet,theinsultandembarrassment involved] though there could be no comparison between one who insulted a person who was naked [in which case the payment would be much less] and one who insulted a person who was dressed. If he insulted him in a public bath, he would be liable [for paying for the insult] though one who insulted a person in a public bath [where the person is already in a state of embarrassment and therefore the penalty would be less] cannot be compared to one who insulted a person in the market place. The Master said: “If he insulted a person who was naked, he would be liable.” But is a person who walks about naked capable of being insulted?—Rav Papa said: The meaning of “naked” is that a wind [suddenly] came and lifted up his clothes, and then someone came 77 along and raised them still higher, thus putting him to shame. “If he insulted him in a...