Abstract Book of the 7th Global Conference on Women’s Studies
Year: 2025
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Fragmentation of Women’s Indentity through Prostitution
Nazan Eda Mumcu, Eylül Ayan
ABSTRACT:
Alienation is embedded in the capitalist structure. However, it manifests in a particularly cruel way in certain types of “work” typically associated with the “female labour” such as prostitution. Yet, a critical distinction is often overlooked: unlike other forms of labour, in prostitution, the labour process is carried out directly within the female body. This transforms the person into both the object and the subject of the transaction which fractures the individual into self and body. We argue that this dual alienation results in a profound, brutal loss of personal autonomy and humanity. The lack of a successfully functioning law regarding prostitution also supports our argument. On one hand, there is Germany, where legalization has failed to protect women, enabled trafficking, and caused severe trauma, partly because it decriminalized sex buyers and framed prostitution as a job. On the other hand, there is the Nordic model, which is seen as more
successful but still has shortcomings, such as exclusion of immigrants. This study examines the distinct nature of alienation in labour carried out within the female body, arguing that forms such as prostitution is uniquely exploitative and dehumanizing within capitalist systems. Moreover, while sex work causes separation of body and self at the micro level, it also mediates systemic problems such as human trafficking and drug addiction/trafficking at the macro level. Based on these implications, we argue that sex work is not a profession but survival and class struggle that falls on the shoulders of women and transgender people.
Keywords: prostitution, alienation, the self, fragmentation