Assignment:
As a sociologist how would I interpret the practice of prostitution? Contrast this view with the functionalist perspective. Would my comments differ if I took the feminist view? If so, how?
As a sociologist I view the practice of prostitution from the symbolic interactionism perspective. Hubert Blumer coined the term symbolic interactionism and there are three fundamental premises that make up this perspective.
1. Humans act toward things on the basis of the meanings they ascribe to those things.
2. The meaning of such things is derived from, or arises out of, the social interaction that one has with others and with the society.
3. These meanings are handled in, and modified through, an interpretive process used by the person in dealing with the things he/she encounters.