The idea that selling your labor is the path to “empowerment” makes me want to punch things
I’m not in sex work, so the only thing I’m going to say on this is this:
- I think sex workers should be the only ones permitted to define their own narrative and experiences in terms of the work they do, whether that be demeaning, neutral, or empowering, and
- I think feminists from all stripes of life should listen to and talk about their experiences, and not completely crap all over each other or exclude one another because their narratives don’t align and/or they don’t agree with each other. This includes sex workers and their personal experiences, whatever those may be.
Hello friend, I am a sex worker, also this particular analysis is based on my general belief that capitalism is shitty and needs to be smashed.
I did not know you were a sex worker and offer my sincere apologies. My points still stand—as you are one, you should be allowed to determine just what your experience is like. Just as any other sex worker should be allowed to determine their own experience. I reiterate this because I’ve seen it used as an excuse to continue to dismiss and exclude women from feminism, which is (a) wrong and (b) counterproductive. I…really can’t say anything more on that because, again, I’m not a sex worker, I’m just doing research on the whole thing to get a better understanding of both sides and this is where I stand so far.
We both seem to agree that capitalism is not the best route to take economically. I…honestly don’t know what else to say about it, because both of the ways that I earn money (working as a recruiter to help people with disabilities find gainful employment and occasionally taking crochet commissions) are things that I take pride in and find extremely empowering. Would you be suggesting a model like Switzerland/Sweden has, where citizens get $30k a year?
I’m also uncomfortable with the empowerment narrative that seems so popular around sex work in general and for porn or stripping and other ‘mild’ (ugh) forms of sex work more specifically.
I think that thepeacockangel has helped me identify part of my concern. Capitalism is actually the source of pretty much all the exploitative aspects of many forms of sex work (stripping and porn in particular). When I say sex workers are often exploited in mainstream porn or hustle clubs – I don’t mean as women, or even as representatives of all women, I mean as workers. Lots of people choose to do sex work in a system that limits their choices. And lots of people choose it for economic (not personal) reasons and that’s okay too.
Like, are we excluding the ‘I hate this job but it pays the bills’ people if we focus on empowerment. If you don’t love it you’re somehow less empowered or less important than the person who does? And that idea of you have to love your job is also a neo-liberal capitalist ideal – and it’s unobtainable for most people. So, yeah, reenforcing that doesn’t seem like a good idea to me.
But I think my real problem with the ‘empowerment’ model is that I feel like empowerment has itself been co-opted. Since when do you have to get naked or have sex to be empowered? Like, when did this word change and become something that we only talk about when women are getting naked in front of other people? You hear it about burlesque, and porn, and FHM. Where else do you hear it in dominant narratives?
Why don’t we publicly talk about the empowerment my Muslim friend feels wearing hijab? Why don’t we hear people talking like brillfic about finding empowerment through choices to help others or create (supposedly nanna-ish not naked) art? Or about the empowerment in choosing to be a homemaker? Or the empowerment in achieving success in academia? Or any other of hundreds of ways in which people, and women in particular, can be empowered? What about the empowerment of loving yourself for yourself? Or even just trying to?
So, um yeah. I think my real problem with the empowerment narrative is that it feel like it only applies when our ‘empowering’ choices fit with what capitalist patriarchal systems benefit from. And that bothers me. A lot.
I will refer to the initial two points that I made in my initial post because they are literally the only two I can make. Sex workers are the only ones who can truly define their own experiences and tell their own stories. Some are positive, some are negative, some are in between. They all have their own reasons for going into the industry, and I do firmly stand by the notion that all need to be listened to and discussed.
That’s also my basic attitude towards feminism in general. Race, class, sexuality, gender identification, religious background, appearance—the different groups need to come together and listen to each other, rather than dismissing each other. That’s what angers me—when feminists exclude each other and invalidate each other’s narratives and experiences. Because that’s what causes infighting and us forgetting that the patriarchy is the ultimate enemy.
This is a discussion between sex workers, about sex work, nothing was said about sex work being inherently negative, but that having to labor under capitalism is negative overall, and that “empowerment” is a shitty buzz word that a lot of sex workers do not like, myself included. That said, if you’ve been poor money in the bank sure feels a lot like empowerment to me (of a kind and in a limited way, because capitalism)
Thoughts From The Peacock Angel 