Melissa – 40 years old. Molly, a 20-year old, was accepted into NYU, but sadly the scholarship only covered a forth of first year tuition. While she was waiting for her loan approval, Molly’s friend who was an erotic dancer suggested Molly to try dancing as a way to make money. Molly decided to give it a chance. She learned how to dance very quickly, and she also had grown to love it. Molly earned a large amount of money to pay for her school tuition each semester. Now Molly is an executive marketing research analyst for Diakin Co. Do you think it was right or wrong that Molly decided to become an erotic dancer to put herself through school? The subject thinks that it’s wrong mainly because this job is unhealthy for those who are involved in the industry. In her opinion, the industry promotes the objectification of women. The atmosphere surrounding the clubs has no positive attributes, which causes the women feeling worthless and ashamed. Majority of the women in this industry are exposed to situations that are dangerous and unforgettable such as rape, metal issues or drug usage. Melissa also concerns about the consequences that may follow Molly after erotic dancing; for example, the chances of Molly getting sexually assault would likely to happen or Molly could potentially develop a self-esteem issue. Furthermore, Melissa expressed her opinions about a country where young women would have to think of this path as an option to make money, and those men who look at women as objects. Melissa understands those women who have to somehow earn money to maintain their needs, but the monetary benefit doesn’t outweigh the psychological consequences that may follow. If Molly was to be Melissa’s close friend, Melissa would help Molly explore other options and talk to Molly about her concerns, but she would never judge nor talk negatively about Molly’s decision.
Stage 6: Individual principles and conscience orientation would fit best for Melissa because she is focusing more than the fact that Molly chose to dance. She expresses her belief on the industry as a whole. She recognizes how dangerous the industry is to those who are involved and the consequences that they could potentially face during and after the career. Melissa understands Molly’s situation, but she doesn’t agree with Molly’s decision. She rather helps Molly find a better option because of how dangerous erotic dancing can be.

Benny, 32 years old. Molly, a 20-year old, was accepted into NYU, but sadly the scholarship only covered a forth of first year tuition. While she was waiting for her loan approval, Molly’s friend who was an erotic dancer suggested Molly to try dancing as a way to make money. Molly decided to give it a chance. She learned how to dance very quickly, and she also had grown to love it. Molly earned a large amount of money to pay for her school tuition each semester. Now Molly is an executive marketing research analyst for Diakin Co. Do you think it was right or wrong that Molly decided to become an erotic dancer to put herself through school? The subject doesn’t think it’s wrong because Molly was focusing on school, and she wasn’t hooked up on drugs. Molly was earning money for her tuition to become successful for her future. In her belief, there’s nothing wrong with a job that isn’t against the law or hurting anybody because erotic dancers are similar to movie starts or dancers. It’s a different style of performance. To elaborate her thinking, Benny expresses that exotic dancers’ intentions are to entertain their audiences, and as long as they’re not going home with their audiences, there’s nothing wrong with dancing. Benny thinks that erotic dancing is better than stealing or selling drugs because those are against the law. Moreover, Molly used the money that she earned to pay for school tuitions, and she did not waste money on fancy clothes or accessories. Now Molly doesn’t have to pay for her college loans like most of the college graduates. Furthermore, Benny thinks that erotic dancing doesn’t justify who Molly is because she is now successful. Stage 5: Social contract orientation would fit best for Benny because she understands the situation from Molly’s perspective. Benny did not judge Molly by how the society view erotic dancers since many of us are conditioned to think poorly of them. Porshia, 22 years old. Molly, a 20-year old, was accepted into NYU, but sadly the scholarship only covered a forth of first year tuition. While she was waiting for her loan approval, Molly’s friend who was an erotic dancer suggested Molly to try dancing as a way to make money. Molly decided to give it a chance. She learned how to dance very quickly, and she also had grown to love it. Molly earned a large amount of money to pay for her school tuition each semester. Now Molly is an executive marketing research analyst for Diakin Co. Do you think it was right or wrong that Molly decided to become an erotic dancer to put herself through school? This subject doesn’t think it’s wrong because it is a very common story. She expressed that there’s no shame in erotic dancing to make money, but if Molly were to do it for male attention, then it would become a different story. She believes that people shouldn’t need attention from others to feel good about themselves because when you’re alone, the likelihood of you needing others to make you feel worth something is high. She also stated that many women go into sex industry whether it’s dancing, web caming, or pornography because a lot of women find themselves through embracing their sexuality. They become more confident and self-aware because there’s a stigma around women and their sexuality that they have to be sexy and also a virgin. For example, those women who are overly sexual deem as sluts, and those who are not sexual consider as prudes. It’s a challenging way to live, but once women realize that it’s utterly meaningless, they could be sexual or asexual as much as they want too. Stage 5: Social contract orientation would fit best for Porshia because she understands that women suffer with sexuality in the society for a long time, and she believes the society can’t define women depending on how sexual or nonsexual they are. The issue makes majority of women feel insecure, and Porshia strongly believes that it doesn’t matter what the society thinks, as long as women are comfortable in their own skins.

In conclusion, Kohlberg’s theory isn’t consistent because I believe that depending on the circumstances, people’s morality could be in different stages. For example, I would be in stage 4 because I don’t speed on the highway to avoid getting a ticket; however, I would be in stage 2 because I say please every time I want my boyfriend to buy me lovely things. In larger social issues, I grasp that many people do not reach stage 6 in Kohlberg’s theory because they don’t make an effort to recognize the other side’s point of view. For instance, majority of people who are against gay marriage believe that it’s wrong mainly because of God since they don’t acknowledge the science segment of homosexuality; however, it doesn’t mean that these people are horrible because they have a different view on gay marriage, but their morality stage for this issue would be in Stage 1 since it’s a punishment for supporting homosexuality. Furthermore, I was very surprised by my subjects’ answers because they all support women in their own ways such as Melissa doesn’t like the fact that women are being objectify, Benny thinks that jobs shouldn’t define who they truly are as a person, and Porshia believes that women should embrace their sexuality. I did not expect these answers because we as women are conditioned to think that erotic dancing isn’t an ideal job; yet my subjects didn’t concentrate on the erotic dancing part so much. They were focusing more on the issues that play in the society. From this research exercise, I’ve learned that people will always have reasons to their thoughts. I thought that this exercise was comparable to a therapy session, and it taught me to ask people enough questions to tease apart their thought process. Since my last two subjects had a hard time answering my questions, it made me think if people are aware of their reasoning to their thoughts.