Home Issues 21 Space power s gender β socio- sp Focusing on prevalent socio-spatial forms of control, that aim at excluding the field from Β« normal Β» everyday life, the first part will demonstrate how and why prostitution, though legalized and more and more accepted, remains powerfully stigmatized to this day.
In the second part the paper indicates how spatially oriented regulation- and control-strategies are central stabilizing factors of enduring bourgeois gender orders. Though previously an Β« intentionally secretive and suppressed grey area Β» Laskowski, , p.
Autobiographical descriptions of the trade by prostitutes have become best-sellers in bookstores see e. Moos, and clients β for a long time perceived mainly as an Β« anonymous, shapeless mass Β» Bilitewsky et al. Prior to this law, any agreement between clients and prostitutes was viewed explicitly as immoral and contrary to public policy German Bundestag, , p.
With the new law the legislator ascertains that the former assessment of prostitution as immoral Β« does not correspond with contemporary convictions and is not shared by large proportions of the population Β» ibid.
Against the background of the ProstG prostitution in Germany is perceived as Β« completely legal Β» Essential City Guide, , p. Not only are prostitutes entitled to claim their rights but the whole field appears to have shed most of its former taboos and stigmatisation, as exemplified by the Frankfurt City Guide :. Local residents Β« fear Β» Der Tagesspiegel , October 5, an increase of prostitution in their city, they are Β« concerned Β» ibid.
