It's provocative; It gets the people going.

Feminism at its finest is an active replacement of one way of thinking that was, as of late, dominated by a male perspective. Since the introduction of feminism I believe important conversations have been started regarding the societal framework we have made that induces many cultures that are depriving women of their human rights. This goes beyond a cultural issue in which gender roles are all different. I think that a lot of the grievances theorists like Sally Slocum, “Women the Gatherer” author, and alike have revolve around the creation of not only a male dominated culture but a male dominated way of thought and action. I want to tie the instances theorized in Women the Gatherer to one of the darkest parts of the male-centric society: Sex trafficking. The trade is made up of an estimated 20.9 million people who are forced into sexual servitude. Out of these, 98 % are women (http://www.equalitynow.org/node/1010). There are no other fields of labor like this and it is as they say, ‘the world’s oldest occupation.’ Selling one’s body whether willing or forced is operating on one of the most basic instincts that people have; their carnal sexual drive. Only trumped by our will to survive, the human sex drive is a necessity for the perpetuation of life on this planet.

However, my question is how, if at all, we, as a human race, facilitated sex trafficking as a side effect of sociological and cultural development. When academic fields like anthropology began they were dominated by the views of males and even framed as a narrative authored by men as well as starring men. How does something like referring to Men the Hunter as opposed to Women the Gatherer as the major food source for a primal village create opportunity for something as awful as sex trafficking. It is the compilation of ignorance of feminist thought and under estimation of the power of a dominant perspective and its ability to alter the perceived inferior groups. This dominant perspective detailed by Slocum saying, “… there is a strong male bias in the questions asked and the answers given.” These biases became conducive to the society known today in which sex trafficking is at its highest rate in history and can, in some ways, be attributed to an unconscious but highly relevant pattern in society that includes the necessity of pleasing the dominant male. I do not think this is a malicious plan that men had in mind that has finally come to fruition. I believe there are some faults to be placed on how we construct any society with dominance and the resulting effect. “A pattern developed of a male hunter becoming the main supporter of “his” dependent females and young” (Slocum) From these patterns we see the hierarchy develop and the placement of women in society as dependent as well as available for use in whatever ways are deemed economically or culturally viable. It is these subtle constructs that place women in subordinate positions and create a culture of service to the presumed dominant male. The lack of accurate recording of origins left out things like the fact that, “food sharing and the family developed from the mother-infant bond. The techniques of hunting large animals were probably much later developments, after the mother-children family pattern was established.” (Slocum) The focus on men as the foundation for families was not only inaccurate but irresponsible to place one gender in charge of a family unit. It increases displays of sub ordinance in society and quiets the voice of women in comparison to men in substantial fields like academia. The creation of “Man the Hunter” as a cultural construct could explain some of the unfortunate roles women take in today’s society as subservient and elevation of women’s roles might empower and eliminate things like the sex trade which an almost solely female trade.