*Objectification of Women: Men interviewed often compared women involved in prostitution to objects. There was a recurring theme of desiring to seek out the “best bargain” and they subsequently expressed anger if they felt that, during a particular encounter, they did not get their ‘money’s worth’. "Prostitutes are a product, like cereal. You go to the grocery, pick up the brand you want, and pay for it. It’s business.”
*Cultural norms and pressures on men: “I was peer pressured. I didn’t want to, I was afraid of catching something. My friend said ‘You a pussy. You a punk.’
As a rite of passage, or a validation of their masculinity. "It’s a coming into manhood thing."
Some men interviewed expressed their belief that being born male gave them the right to buy sex. “I was like a kid in a candy store. I mean, it was nothing for me to knock off four broads in an afternoon. We’d go by the numbers. Twenty- three A for Mr. Lewis, Please! No, Twenty-four A is the blonde; twenty-three A is the brunette. Jesus Christ. It was just wonderful! The thing that was not wonderful about it was that there was no morality. I had no morality. I had no guilt. I thought: This is what men do.”
*As a means of exerting power and control: "They will do anything you ask them for with no complaints and nothing said back. ‘Your wish is my command,’ like a genie jumping out of a bottle." “…she gave up her rights when she accepted my money.”
*Addiction: 83% of men interviewed for the CAASE study stated that they thought their use of women in prostitution was a product or result of their sex addiction. "It’s like a drug. You get high thinking about it. Your heart is beating fast, you get aroused, get flushed…It’s like having an orgasm before you get it.”
*Pornography’s Influence: Interviewees talked about how they would re-enact scenes from pornographic materials, as well as how it influenced their decision to buy sex. One interviewee talked about preparing younger men on what to buy from women in prostitution. “I’d prepare him for it by showing him porn. Look at pornography and see what sex acts they do and go from there.”
*Seeking Companionship: Some men indicated that they sought out women in prostitution because they feared they would never develop a relationship with someone not in the sex trade. "Don't know if I can find someone else."
Men also stated that they sought lonely women because it allowed them to more easily imagine the existence of an emotional bond. "If they are lonely they need someone to talk to and be intimate with. Makes me feel more like it's an equal transaction of they are lonely."
*Avoidance of Commitment 36% of interviewees said that they purchased sex to avoid emotional involvement or commitment. "You don't care about this person --it's a feeling of no strings. I don't have to see that person anymore if I don't want to." "No real commitment, you can go whenever you want and you don't have to deal with it."
