Reflection:

In this my final blog entry I will briefly summarize the main points of my blog entries and also relate them to other blogs done by fellow classmates on different subjects that can be inter-related through urban geography. I do hope that you have found the blog entries as informative and educational as I have. In choosing a topic for this blog assignment it took me some time to settle on what part of urban geography to consider, however with time and reflection on what seemed interesting to me I decided to focus on the urban social nightlife and some of its characteristics. Some of the topics I focused on included Food, Alcohol, Drug Use, Arts and culture, Crime, Economy, Prostitution and Employment all of which have intrinsic ties with Urban areas and Nightlife. As for comparison I would like to reflect on the blogs and one in particular of Avinash Narine, his blog focused on urban mobility and this was directly linked to one of my blogs entitled Employment in Urban nightlife where I spoke of maxi drivers transporting people to popular night spaces; this is particularly important in the context of urban geography as transportation and mobility of people within cities is very important. You can take a look at Mr. Narine’s blog here: http://urbanmobility17.blogspot.com/        

Another blog entry that I found particularly linked to this one was a blog by Mr. Kevin Samuel where he had written about “Youths In Urban space”. In my own blog entries I spoke of urban nightlife and the industry targeting primarily ‘the young rich’ who had the capital to support a certain lifestyle with little commitments; similarly his blog speaks of youths and some of their social expressions which can be related to Urban social nightlife. He also speaks about urban culture, crime and prostitution just as I had and it was interesting to read some of the different perspectives on the same subject. Take a look at Kevin’s blog here: http://uthmanurban.blogspot.com/ 

Finally I would like to draw from another classmate’s blog. Sevaster Ramlogan wrote blogs on the different arts in Trinidad’s cities and this can be related to the blog I did on arts and culture where art is manifested through different forms expressed as different cultures that go way back in time. In my own blogs I spoke of young people and their urban nightlife experiences as a form and expression of their art and culture. It was interesting to see the different aspects of art as presented by different people through different media as represented by Sevaster. He also spoke about food in a blog entitled “Trinidad's Indigenous Foods!!!” and this was also very interesting to see someone do another blog similar to my own on the topic of food highlighting differences and similarities.  You can take a look at Sevaster’s Blog here: http://urbantriniart.blogspot.com/

Thank you for taking the time to read.

Regards,

Christopher Mohip

Prostitution: A Social Ill In Urban Areas

"Decriminalization is not at all a solution to every injustice that exists in the sex industry; it is a starting point. If prostitution were not an underground activity it would allow us to much more effectively address the serious problems of forced prostitution and juvenile prostitution and the other abuses which are part of an industry that operates completely in the shadows”

In my previous blogs I mentioned that although there are many positive characteristics associated with Social Nightlife in urban areas, there are also negative ones and I may have highlighted a few in past posts. This blog follows along the same line highlighting a very clandestine topic or type of industry that is a part of the Nightlife Industry. This type of nightlife experience is considered unethical by many people but yet there are those that follow this type of lifestyle and indulge in it. It is a very lucrative business and their operations are very controversial however the incidence of hearing such establishments are rare. Apart from deviance from moral, social and religious code and also destruction of many marriages every year prostitution in Urban areas whether establishments or even on street corners lead to many negative results. Some of the negative impacts of prostitution include STIs and other venereal diseases, risk of alcohol or drug addiction to deal with the lifestyle, depression/guilt, high risk of unwanted pregnancy and risk of injury from violent clients among others. When attempting to understand such a sensitive topic a greater understanding of it may be attained when looking at when the industry comprises of. Human trafficking is one of the biggest problems that is caused by prostitution as it involves the sexual exploitation of women and children. It is also believed by some that coercion and exploitation can only be stopped if the existence of prostitution is recognized and the legal and social rights of prostitutes are guaranteed. What does this say for a society that seeks to root out this type of activity? This leads to the morality of prostitution, some say that prostitution as an industry is evil and it does not matter if it is ‘the oldest profession in the world’ it is still wrong, while others see nothing wrong with it. I asked myself the question as to how could a business as such operate under the cover of darkness yet most of the society knows it is in existence, and they are rarely shut down? It is an industry that operates primarily in Urban areas at night and this begs the next question…is it a legitimate business? Some are under the impression that it is a business like any other because it must be managed and work must be put into its daily operations for it to be lucrative while on the other hand some see it as even though prostitution in some areas is legalized, it can never be a legitimate business because it will always be associated with crime, corruption, class, mass sexual exploitation and human trafficking. Who would chose to have a career as a prostitute? In some cases it is chosen because there is “no other means to make money” (truly?), others don’t have a choice (forced) and some do it to make quick money. There are many topics that surround this highly controversial topic and I may have only touched on a few of them, however this type of business does occur in Trinidad and Tobago and it has ties in many aspects of Urban Nightlife, including economy. employment, crime and alcohol and drug abuse.

References:

Hubbard, Phil. Sex and the city: geographies of prostitution in the urban West. Aldershot:            Ashgate, 1999

Read More:

http://guardian.co.tt/news/2012-07-22/cops-arrest-prostitutes-central-bar

http://dailynews.co.tz/home/?n=14012

Listen:

Prophet Benjamin- Delilha on the loose

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIDLifCP56k

Employment In Urban Nightlife

Employment in the urban nightscape occurs on many levels, from the wealthy club owners at the top to the street vendor that sell outside the clubs trying to earn an honest living to support themselves and their families. The growth of Urban Social Nightlife has acted as a catalyst facilitating the growth of many other industries that have provided employment for persons that would have in some cases not been employed otherwise. Although education is ‘free’ in Trinidad and Tobago, some persons find it difficult to reach as far as secondary school level. There may be various reasons as to why such persons would not reach this far but it then leaves them in a situation as to where they can get a job to support themselves and in some cases their young families. Some decide to go into trafficking and using drugs as mentioned in one of my previous blogs and this can too often lead to abounding negative effects. With the growth of the night-time industry it has provided a way out for many of these who are unable to obtain a regular 8am – 4pm job. Occupations such as selling doubles, burgers, pies, corn soup, cow heel soup, fries, punch, ox-tail soup and fish broth are well accepted by urban nightlife patrons that enjoy having some of these favourites. It does not stop by just food alone, as I can elaborate an example taken from my own personal experience in venturing into the nightlife scene as a university student. During the week when students decide to go out liming there is a shuttle service provided by drivers that own maxis and this takes patrons to designated places on specific nights. The shuttle usually transports tertiary level students to the Zen Nightclub on Wednesday night and also to Ariapita Avenue as well as Thursday night to the 51 Degrees Nightclub. This transportation service provided by maxi drivers such as “Emperor” has provided a means to which they can access extra capital that has only been made possible by the nightlife industry. Drivers can earn up to one thousand dollars a night for one trip and on some nights several trips are made. Police also obtain employment as too often when venturing to popular liming spots in Port- of –Spain and also San Fernando the police presence close to nightclubs and areas where social nightlife is ‘booming’ is ever so prevalent. One person that I remember vividly was an elderly lady selling mints, cigarettes, small chocolates and small novelty items outside of the Zen Nightclub, although some may see her type of ‘employment’ as irrelevant or too small to make anything substantial, I was surprised to see the amount of customers she had buying from her as persons waited in the line to get into the nightclub. Despite the fact that it was a small form of business, her type of employment was honest and she did it with a smile on her face which to me was very admirable. The Nightlife industry has provided many jobs for persons that in some cases would have not been able to make an honest living otherwise, this industry is ever expanding and so too are the new types of employment that are created.

The above picture was taken at a popular establishment known as “Shakkas Punch” in Marabella, southern Trinidad to which I regularly on weekends show my patronage. The guys that make these punches use the nightlife industry to earn an honest living and their hours of operation are no earlier that 8pm until whenever they are sold out.