"It took me a long time to understand what Egyptians meant when they said “prostitute,” and during the first year of my anthropological fieldwork, I was plenty confused. Every time the word “prostitute” came up in conversation, I listened carefully to try to understand the context and how it was being used. It seemed to have to do with behavior, dress, social class, and sexual experience. But it wasn’t until I could finally shed my own cultural preconceptions about prostitution fundamentally being tied up with money and sex that I finally understood what my Egyptian friends meant." Give me a break. Like American and European men don't use words like "sluts" and "whores" loosely and casually? These are manifestations of global sexism and misogyny. (thanks Toufic)