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The casual characterization of sex work as a victimless phenomenon is a mistake we better not make. Prostitution and sex work is often rooted in poverty: https:

by pen2l 5y ago

The casual characterization of sex work as a victimless phenomenon is a mistake we better not make. Prostitution and sex work is often rooted in poverty: https://dspace.wlu.edu/bitstream/handle/11021/34747/RG38_Woodward_Poverty_2020.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y https://dspace.wlu.edu/bitstream/handle/11021/34747/RG38_Woo... I especially dislike this unthinking and unconsidered memeing of sex work because it only serves to normalize the profession and has a net-deleterious effect on society.

s1artibartfast 5y ago
>Prostitution and sex work is often rooted in poverty Work that alleviates the hardships of poverty is a good thing. This is a positive good, not a mark against sex work. Same with other low skill jobs with low barriers of entry.
standardUser 5y ago
I know many sex workers and every one of them would tell you to stop spreading this kind of negative propaganda.
- pen2l 5y ago
  I'd rather that your sex worker acquaintances spend their energy surveying the existing body of academic literature on the subject than to make pleas to me. Not trying to be snarky here, and I'm not mounting a defense for complete prohibition of prostitution and the varying types of sex work, I'm just terrified by the increasing acceptability of the work in common society: I want little girls to have engineers and doctors as role models instead of being prodded into sex work by virtue of its encroaching and increasing presence and exposure, a trade that obliges (commonly) the woman to invest their time pleasing men, a trade that has diminishing returns overtime as they age. Leaving aside the mountain of studies that pinpoint poverty as root of most sex work the continents across the globe and related psychological issues brought on by the experiences later on, if you cannot accept earlier-stated premise, then I reckon we come from differing views and further debate on this forum on this subject will likely be fruitless.
  - Manuel_D 5y ago
    The "existing body of literature" is dominated by sex-negative academics that consider all compensated sex to be exploitative, ignoring the agency of sex workers. Apply the same logic to any other type of work and it's clear how shallow these arguments are. Sports also have diminishing returns as athletes age. I'm confident fast-food workers wouldn't be doing their job if they didn't need it to put a roof over their head and food on their table. Yet these don't elicit the same negative response.
    - yucky 5y ago
      >Apply the same logic to any other type of work and it's clear how shallow these arguments are. Nobody wants their kids to grow up and do sex work, no matter how progressive they claim to be. So yes, there is a clear difference.
    - colpabar 5y ago
      > The "existing body of literature" is dominated by sex-negative academics Off topic, but congratulations, you've just found an example of why the phrase "trust the experts/science" is not a good argument!
      - sascha_sl 5y ago
        If you want an even easier way to phrase it, "appeal to authority" does just fine. One of the few fallacies that stops being a fallacy if your science checks out. Which it doesn't here.
sascha_sl 5y ago
All work done by poor people is cocercive, I don't see your point. And unlike a lot of low end service jobs, some people actually seem to enjoy doing sex work and make a much more reasonable wage.
colpabar 5y ago
I think a lot of this is largely due to the ever expanding definition of "sex work". I can't say for sure, but I'd be willing to bet that the "sex work" the characters in this twitter thread are involved in is selling nudes on the internet. If you want to call that sex work, fine, but let's not ignore all the horrific things that more "traditional" sex workers experience. It's just odd to see an attractive western woman advocating for "sex work" because she made a killing on onlyfans from her bedroom. That is not the reality of most sex workers!

by pen2l 5y ago

s1artibartfast 5y ago

>Prostitution and sex work is often rooted in poverty Work that alleviates the hardships of poverty is a good thing. This is a positive good, not a mark against sex work. Same with other low skill jobs with low barriers of entry.

standardUser 5y ago

I know many sex workers and every one of them would tell you to stop spreading this kind of negative propaganda.

pen2l 5y ago
I'd rather that your sex worker acquaintances spend their energy surveying the existing body of academic literature on the subject than to make pleas to me. Not trying to be snarky here, and I'm not mounting a defense for complete prohibition of prostitution and the varying types of sex work, I'm just terrified by the increasing acceptability of the work in common society: I want little girls to have engineers and doctors as role models instead of being prodded into sex work by virtue of its encroaching and increasing presence and exposure, a trade that obliges (commonly) the woman to invest their time pleasing men, a trade that has diminishing returns overtime as they age. Leaving aside the mountain of studies that pinpoint poverty as root of most sex work the continents across the globe and related psychological issues brought on by the experiences later on, if you cannot accept earlier-stated premise, then I reckon we come from differing views and further debate on this forum on this subject will likely be fruitless.
- Manuel_D 5y ago
  The "existing body of literature" is dominated by sex-negative academics that consider all compensated sex to be exploitative, ignoring the agency of sex workers. Apply the same logic to any other type of work and it's clear how shallow these arguments are. Sports also have diminishing returns as athletes age. I'm confident fast-food workers wouldn't be doing their job if they didn't need it to put a roof over their head and food on their table. Yet these don't elicit the same negative response.
  - yucky 5y ago
    >Apply the same logic to any other type of work and it's clear how shallow these arguments are. Nobody wants their kids to grow up and do sex work, no matter how progressive they claim to be. So yes, there is a clear difference.
  - colpabar 5y ago
    > The "existing body of literature" is dominated by sex-negative academics Off topic, but congratulations, you've just found an example of why the phrase "trust the experts/science" is not a good argument!
    - sascha_sl 5y ago
      If you want an even easier way to phrase it, "appeal to authority" does just fine. One of the few fallacies that stops being a fallacy if your science checks out. Which it doesn't here.

sascha_sl 5y ago

All work done by poor people is cocercive, I don't see your point. And unlike a lot of low end service jobs, some people actually seem to enjoy doing sex work and make a much more reasonable wage.

colpabar 5y ago

I think a lot of this is largely due to the ever expanding definition of "sex work". I can't say for sure, but I'd be willing to bet that the "sex work" the characters in this twitter thread are involved in is selling nudes on the internet. If you want to call that sex work, fine, but let's not ignore all the horrific things that more "traditional" sex workers experience. It's just odd to see an attractive western woman advocating for "sex work" because she made a killing on onlyfans from her bedroom. That is not the reality of most sex workers!