Disclaimer: Person-first language kind of irks me.

In class today we discussed human trafficking, and at one point the prof began discussing the importance of sensitive, person-first language when addressing prostitutes directly or indirectly...not necessarily involving cases of sex-trafficking.

I raised my hand.

Me: "So when out in the community, I think it's safe to say we'd all feel comfortable introducing each other and ourselves to outsiders as being a social worker...true?"

Nods.

"I think we'd all do this, and moreover that none of us would express ourselves as, 'Being one who works within the field of social work.' So why is it that person-first language isn't consistent?"

Prof: "Because of the connotations and stigma associated with prostitution."

Me: "Right, I don't necessarily disagree with that, but what does treating prostitution linguistically different than we do social work do for this stigma differential?"

Kid in class: "There are a lot of prostitutes that feel shameful about their status as prostitutes."

Me: "Undoubtedly, but back to my question at hand: How does the way we approach the profession with our language impact the shame and connotations related to prostitution? Could this not be understood as yet another way our society perpetuating slut shaming?"

* * *

Granted, I take a controversial line often in class just for the sake of sparking discussion, and while the above falls into this type of interaction, I gotta say some of it resonated true with me. What are your thoughts?

I agree the the term "prostitute" can have a negative stigma associated with that term. Perhaps a better term of art would be "Whore"

Sex worker?

they are called service providers

Prostitution is illegal right?

May not apply in all jurisdictions or time periods.

Lol I don't think you're really being as "controversial" as you think here, just that annoying, contrarian turd that always feels compelled to take any stance necessary to get maximum attention in the middle of class.

STFU and take notes like you should. You are that annoying guy every social studies class has.

So, the word prostitute has a shame stigma as well as a legality stigma. So if it's nothing to be ashamed of and is a mistake to prohibit; what's the problem?

Next we'll have weed smokers complaining about being stigmatised when us normal,law-abiding folk call them out for being dirty stinking hippies!

Medical marijuana my friggin' ass!

I don't complain or accept stigmatization. I take action. Fight teh POWER! Also a clean, well-groomed long-hair human. Medical Marijuana is possibly good for your ass though, or a beer. Or a service provider...

In other words, being the ikestoys of the class?

Bonus points for trying to come across as an authority about topics you know very little about and for NEVER admitting you were wrong about something.

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What a fast week

Kid in class answered your question but you're too stupid/too much of an aspergers-type person to realize it.

They are called "bankers".

I actually think there is some merit to what the OP is questioning. What I'm uncertain of is if that was the appropriate time to start that discussion.

I think the 'negative connotation' with prostitute isn't because of the word but because of the service they provide. Disguising it with different words doesn't remove the stigma. The only way that would have is if there was a legal and cultural shift in our attitudes towards the profession. While I'm always ready to be surprised, I don't see this changing anytime soon. (though if you asked me 10-15 years ago would we see a shift in the attitudes towards marijuana I wouldn't have seen it coming)

hahahahah so this. You're that guy. Congrats.

How can we miss him if he wont go away?

....

I believe the correct, and stigma removing, term was once quoted by a famous philosopher: "Relaxation Therapist".

I'd make a reasonable bet you didn't major in a social science, and that you were close to as obnoxiously active in whatever class it was you found interesting and/or excelled at. Or maybe you weren't, IDK. Regardless, yeah I'm that contrarial turd and take pride in it. And for the record, I think your approach, if not entirely flip, of STFU and take notes dulls the mind and fosters zero learning.

I can admit to being wrong about things. For one, I was wrong in believing there was a 90% chance a dude of average intelligence could be a successful (90% chance of not being fired) pharmacologist with 40 hours of intensive training. I'm fallible and pretty open-minded.

No the kid didn't.

The kid wasn't getting past the stigma itself and how some/many prostitutes feel ashamed of their trade. My question points to how our careful labeling efforts IRT said trade, and NOT so careful labeling efforts to more "socially acceptable" trades, might perpetuate the very stigma that causes prostitutes to feel shameful; it was about how perhaps our use of language, despite good intentions, might make the situation worse.

This is pretty true. It's important to differentiate prostitution from sex-trafficking as they're not the same.

Alright, sure, congrats to me. Maybe I am that guy. I know some days I certainly am, maybe more often than I'd like to admit.

But if we're judging each others scholastic demeanor by the way in which we post here, then who are you? The guy with 63 eye rolls and cheap one-liners per hour? I'm sure you're a big hit in class as well.

PS - You ask the wife yet about communication studies, specifically about how influential they are to practitioners? Yeah, I didn't think so. I understand though, I mean it'd be pretty awkward when you'd have to confess to thinking said studies are nothing short of an absolute joke. After all, her f***ing vocation/profession is pretty much founded on communication and having a refined understanding of human behavior, which comes from...you guessed it...social science and social research.

I think maybe you and OP miss the point which is not to remove the stigma. The stigma is controlled by social forces so slow moving that it is more or less immutable. The choice of alternative language in this case, as in most similar cases, is to establish the communicator as respectful and nonjudgmental in order to set the proper context for the communication. The stigma is well known and unspoken. But you can choose how much you want to emphasize it's importance by the choice of words. So if you wanted to establish a different context you might walk up to the sex worker and call her a bitch or a ho, like if you were a pimp or a gangster and she was working your territory without your permission and you wanted to establish a dominant position in order to control her.

This is probably one of the best examples of why you're an idiot. No one is judging your scholastic demeanor by how you post here. We're judging based on how you describe yourself. Seriously, you're always just shy of being intelligent.

Get on that study then, you can change the world. I hope for your sake you aren't this clueless in the real world, because your life would suck balls

I study a hard science so there isn't much room for class discussion

Count me as not shocked! Explains your contempt for the involved kid in your social studies classes, as you were probably watching the clock anxiously, hoping for class to be over soon!