Edit:
Here is a list of resources to learn about sex worker from actual sex workers who are engaged in the struggle for worker's rights:
- https://www.nswp.org/resources/types/nswp-briefing-papers-248
- https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/white-mans-burden-revisited/
- https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/from-brothel-to-sweatshop-questions-on-labour-trafficking-in-camb/
- https://titsandsass.com/the-massage-parlor-means-survival-here-red-canary-song-on-robert-kraft/
- https://medium.com/purplerose0666/the-af3irm-agenda-b5ec31216904
- https://medium.com/@katezenjoy/dear-esperanza-5aa7db4d501a
- https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/decriminalising-sex-work-in-new-zealand-its-history-and-impact/
- https://www.mayamorena.com/anti-equality-model-campaign/2021/5/22/pscegcnr680fh4oazlmwe8i5527o9j
Bigger repo of theory / resources:
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oWxx3yodCJJGxTmqgCeB6csVAeRkllSQq_VUe78MJA4/view
Books to check out:
- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36224357-sex-lies-statistics
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"Sex work" is "good" in like 5 rich countries, so we should support it, actually.
Seriously, fuck this "sex work" thing, it mixes up victims of slave trade, foreign prostitutes who will be deported if they speak out, people with OF, strippers, dominatrixes, scorts...
Sex work exists in all cultures and was present before colonialism. Like all labor, it can/has been exploited by capitalists, particularly in the global south.
Victims of the slave trade are victims of the slave trade. The slave trade affects all workers in varying ways, especially agriculture.
How would sex work function outside of capitalism?
Stripping and porn are basically performance arts but with eroticism. People will still have passions for performance and it’ll look different for different people.
I imagine prostitution would be less popular since there’s no need to sell one’s body, but if someone likes having sex as a service then they’ll do that with more safety in mind because they don’t have to worry about economic coercion or being arrested.
And there are people that will voluntarily provide sex as a service with all their needs otherwise met?
I don’t see why not. “Sex therapy” is a relatively niche field at the moment. They have strict boundaries with the clients and only have sex under certain circumstances. Some people also just really like sex but don’t want the relationship. It’s like a one night stand, but your name and personal ‘brand’ is known. I imagine dominatrixes will still be popular post-capitalism (even if they’re not strictly related to intercourse)
Content creators but NsFw
I realize this is vague, but the same way as any other work. It's a service people have always needed. I can dig around and see if I can find some specific writings on this.
People don't need sex.
Ehhhh... That's a kinda bad take. Sex and intimacy can be important to some people and their sense of wellbeing. "Need" may be a bit of a conflicted term here (does need mean "will die without it"? Or does it include things like my allergy meds, which I won't die without, but which massively increase my quality of life?), but a charitable reading of the post you're responding to seems to be reasonable - sex work has existed throughout history for a reason, after all.
So, hunter gatherer societies had sex workers?
Very likely, yes. Sex work has been a trade for thousands of years.
Really? That is what you're gonna focus on?
Recorded history, then.
Either going union rate or private negotiations? :shrug-outta-hecks:
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Unions are good thing in specialized spheres of production as well, like I don’t know average preparation time of a worker for job, or usual time in business before retirement, and I don’t think it’s ideal to offload this onto government in idealized society.
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Sex Worker Unions are very much a thing and they're awesome.
Yeah, speaking in generalities just confuses the issue further. Are all sex workers explicitly leftist? Leftist adjacent? What about class distinction?
no
no
yeah no shit
This is a super important point and one I get hung up on a lot when thinking about this.
There’s a clear distinction in my mind between the former and the latter. I don’t mean to cheapen people with OF, but let’s not pretend it’s the same.
Maybe this makes me a swerf. Idk. This deserves a broader discussion.
I see SW discussion on twitter and more often than not it’s people with OF accounts and maybe a stripper or two, not someone who has worked under a pimp to buy drugs they are addicted to because they’re afraid of going to jail by seeking rehab… or feed their kid
Also a ton of OF stuff is now run by pimps as well, especially in more poorer countries where the USD to local currency exchange rate is good enough for pimps to take a large cut while still paying the people under them more than they would earn elsewhere.
(This felt bloody gross to type out as well)
:agony-immense:
sex != relationships
"our job is literally to get off our asses, meet people, and connect with them on a very personal level. But no, apparently we’re the ones who are alienated from love and affection."
You literally quoted her saying this.
Implying that the existence of sex work somehow eliminates or cheapens individual romantic and sexual relationships is regressive and not based in reality.
They're two very different things. While session-based, sex work requires the ability to make personal connections. This isn't the gotcha it seems like you think it is.
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