Sex Industry

One important aspect of sex culture that is worthy of discussion is that people don't always engage in sexual acts purely for reasons of pleasure. One of the biggest incentives to have sex for a large number of individuals, the majority of whom are women, is to receive money.

The sex industry is a big business, with prostitution having been around since the dawn of time. Prostitutes come from all ages and backgrounds, and are usually, but not always driven to this work by conditions of poverty. They see prostitution as the easiest way to earn very good money, which can significantly improve their lives or the lives of their families. Others need the money to feed drug habits, or because they had a teenage pregnancy and need to support their children. Some prostitutes however, may not actually need the money, yet they work as prostitutes either because the money is better than what they could earn elsewhere, or because they see it as easy, sometimes even enjoyable work.

Prostitution occurs in many different places and takes many different forms. Establishments like cheap brothels and activities like curb crawling are often the stereotypical ideas of sex for sale- cheap, dirty and potentially dangerous. However, prostitutes also work in classier establishments too, such as strip clubs and massage clubs. Other prostitutes will not Ôgo' with clients as such, but instead will work as pornography actresses and actors.  Then there are escorts, who will usually come to visit their clients at home or in a hotel, rather than be picked up themselves.

While there are undoubtedly a significant number of prostitutes that come from developed countries, there are many more prostitutes in developing countries where opportunities for women to gain education and work are much more limited. Such situations have led to the rise of sex tourism, where both men and women travel to poorer countries specifically to pay for sex with prostitutes in countries such as Thailand, the Philippines, Brazil and so on. Another significant problem is the sexual slavery/trafficking of vulnerable women from such countries.