The prostitution in Medellin, culture & genetics: The Paisa Mentality
Medellin women has the strongest disposition to prostitute themselves in Colombia. Since Colombian woman have among the highest percentage overall in the world, this makes "las paisas" the most apt to have sex for money in the whole world!
This behavior are not just a pure tendency to choose this for economical reasones. It is a behaviour that influences many other social activities and relations. The Paisa Mentality.
This statistics show this pattern very well: " First place in the twentieth century, the city with the highest number of women in prostitution was Medellin. In the early 70's in Antioquia was over 30 per cent of sex workers surveyed nationwide and of that percentage, 70 percent lived in the city, according to Ada Trifiro, in her book "Women in prostitution". The department has also been characterized as the birthplace of the greater number of them in the country. According to the statistics representing 30.6 percent, indicating the publication.
Paisa women (here Antioquia) are the vastly overrepresented in the profession. The Antioquia women represent 13.6 % of the female population, but 30.6% of the prostitutes in Colombia.
It is in the culture of course. Acting likewise in other situations are hence typical paisa. They break social conventions and rules in order to get their hands on a iPhone or a Studio F purse, but also to get grades at the university, get a job, get married into a higher Estrato Social or "extranjero". That is human, but among paisas it is not just human, it's typical!
Cultural, yes, but also genetical, since other parts of Colombia with the same culture not are affected and the paisa region is way better of in job opportunities than other regions in Colombia. One might reason. But actually poverty is NOT the strongest component in explaing prostitution. It is much more about "marriable men" in the strict economical sense!
The more money that flows into Medellin and the more percentage of men that can not attract a female to marry them because of RELATIVE TO THE WOMEN economical shortcomings, the more prostitutes there will be. It will not decrease due to economic growth, research show, it may instead increase, vastly!. The economical "profit" for marriage are the central factor. Since most men continue to have weak "relative" economical performance due to very low salaries for unskilled workers, females, now with "education", are increasing in numbers as well as a percentage of the cohort 18-33 years old.
This according to researchers Lena Edlund and Evelyn Korn study ""A Theory of Prostitution" publiced in Journal Of Political Economy.
[URL]http://www.forbes.com/2006/02/11/economics-prostitution-marriage_cx_mn_money06_0214prostitution.html[/URL]
Already given this strong genetical and cultural behaviour and the new economical circumstances, the number and percentage of prostitutes, in all forms, will continue to increase in Medellin.
Paisas will be even more inclined to do above mentioned things for money, and to it in a typical paisa way.
Hence. For us buyers, we the "extranjeros", there should be an steady influx of new talent into the scene, which should hold back prices. Prices would maybe have been rising fast without this growth of the workforce. But maybe 90% of the 45 k-60 k prostitutes in Medellin never come in contact with extranjeros. But essentially there is no reason to accept steadily rising prices, increasing much more than the average inflation in Medellin. We can negotiate better prices than we think, including myself!
We are the buyers and for us it is essential calculate how our behavioural options turns out:
Pick up your calculator and do the maths; Which option is best, inluding all, for us extranjeros in Medellin? Girlfriend, girlfriends, wife, wife +lover, wife+lover+ prepagos, or just stick to the "best buck for the money"-principle. Marriage can on the other hand be an investment, successful men always must have a representative good looking (for us: latin) wife, or be considered weird.
A study how the "buyers" act is also needed.
