Graphic By: Julie Brennan

I am not endorsing prostitution. I am not looking at this subject blindfolded, and I realize that all parties involved AND their families can be hurt, and in many different ways. Prostitution has the potential to damage the household structure, spread disease and cause people to end up in jail. Trust me, I am not denying that it can be bad for society. Religions in general traditionally don't approve either; this I know, but I want to leave that out of the argument altogether and stick to more of a humanitarian approach.

Prostitutes have an illegal career, but, hey, so do moonshiners. Both perform services to our society that can have very painful repercussions for their customers. Yet I still have not seen a video game that portrays a Yankee heading down south to kill him a bootlegger or two and then steal his white lightning. Alcoholism can break apart a family just as fast as extra-marital affairs, so why all the hate towards sex workers?

Americans, for the most part, assume that prostitutes are immoral people. On average, women are driven to this profession by a severe lack of money and/or education. Clearly, through such movies as Pretty Woman and Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, we can see that prostitutes are good, decent people. Even the tag line for Pretty Woman describes Vivian, Julia Robert's character as, "the prostitute with a heart of gold." Granted, Monster, about an actual prostitute, is a step back from the sympathetic perspective, but Aileen Wuornos was the only one of her kind, right? Right?

But honestly, prostitutes are just trying to find their way in this crazy world we live in -- a way which is within their own moral boundaries. How many little girls grow up wanting to sell their bodies to the highest bidder and typically be psychologically and physically abused by a pimp? This is a very real and sad situation that most of us are fortunate enough not to have to deal with, but the reality is that many people in this world do. As a society, we should realize that there are some idiots in the world -- idiots that are actually inspired to make videogames a reality in an unacceptable way. There have been several instances where minors have blamed true-life car thefts on Grand Theft Auto. In 2003, William and Josh Buckner said they shot other teens because the video game had encouraged them to. We need to recognize that the games we are playing are just that, but that they do reflect how the public perceives and respects sex workers. I'm not saying to stop playing the game or to ban it; I am merely showing that this game illustrates that Americans don't consider prostitutes to have feelings. We all have to work for a living.