This idea came to my mind, because a reader of my blog commented that “Men marry attractive body and women marry bank balances”. (It is comment number 5 at http://wp.me/plC3a-a9)
I went and searched for the definition of prostitution: The act or practice of engaging in promiscuous sexual relations especially for money.
I searched for prostitution first, not because prostitutes interest me more than wives (if there is any difference between the two), but because I knew finding the definition of prostitution is going to be relatively easy task.
A general definition of marriage is that it is a legal and social contract between two individuals that gives legitimacy to sexual relations.
So, both serve one main purpose, the purpose of physical pleasure. Now, let us evaluate the 2 ‘professions’ on the following 3 parameters – variety, switching costs, and quality.
| Parameter | Marriage | Prostitution |
| Variety | Very low
Adultery is a crime for men under IPC 497, while women can do it legally. IPC 497 applies only to men. |
As desired
You can go to different service providers as per your desires. You are not bound by any ‘contract’ called marriage. |
| Switching Costs
(Switching from one woman to the other) |
Very high
In order to switch wives, you would need to divorce the first one, and divorce is an expensive affair. |
Minimal
There is no cost involved in switching commercial sex workers |
| Customer Service Quality | Low
The service provider doesn’t care whether the consumer is satisfied or not, he will still have to pay for her whether he continues to use the service or not. |
High
Repeat business is a customer’s choice. |
Hence, marriage is equivalent to prostitution in the following manner:
- You might get sex in marriage
I am using the word ‘might’ because you can not have sex against your spouse’s wishes. So if you are lucky, then you will get sex.
2. You are obliged to maintain the woman financially
But marriage is different from prostitution in the following:
- You have to pay for her irrespective of whether you get anything from her in return or not.
2. If you sleep with someone else, that is illegal.
To summarize:
Men do not even get from their wives what they get from prostitutes. Even if the wives were as good, then also marriage can at best be described as long-term prostitution unless the women of this nation start to take equal responsibilities of running the household.
Dedicated to my wife... 