6 Myths You Got All Wrong About Sex Work
By: Mallory Mosner
Tags: Sex Work, Culture, Sex, Feminism, Intersectionality

3. “Sex work is inherently harmful.”

Let’s dissect the ways that sex work can be perceived as harmful and shed some light on why this is not the case. One way that sex work can be perceived as inherently harmful pertains to the belief that it is degrading to sex workers. You know what else is degrading? Starving to death. Dignity in work is incredibly subjective, as referenced above. Most people do jobs they’re not passionate about because they simply need jobs. Often, the belief that sex work is degrading is closely linked to conflicting beliefs about the commoditization of sex in general.

Have you heard “sex sells?” You can see it written on all the walls of our deeply repressed, capitalist society. It’s asinine to think that Carl’s Jr. can sell burgers with sex (Carl’s Jr. CEO Andrew Puzder was Trump’s first choice to lead the Department of Labor, despite his atrocious record on exploiting laborers), but if the end-product itself is sex instead of meat, suddenly a line has been crossed. Sex is being sold everywhere — the only difference with some aspects of sex work is that the sex itself is the commodity.

Why is it harmful or degrading for sex to be commoditized? Could it have something to do with the fact that placing value on this work reinforces the value and power of female/femme sexuality (given that the overwhelming majority of sex workers identify as female/femmes)? Because there are plenty of industries that cause tangible harm and prey on male sexuality and sexual insecurities (e.g. the war industry, or the tobacco and alcohol industries) and remain socially acceptable since they ultimately still empower men — at least, the disproportionately male-dominated corporations that benefit from these ploys.

Sex work is a field where many women and femmes can uniquely exercise their own agency; they can create schedules that work for them, make higher incomes, feel good about themselves, and even offer something that is healing to people in need. We don’t tend to think of sex that way, but we probably should.

Sex is a basic human need, just like touch. Do you think paying for a massage is inherently harmful? Or is some of your belief in the inherent harm of sex work rooted in the notion that sex is sacred and shouldn’t be “tainted” by the exchange of currency? Because there are already infinite manifestations of sex and sexuality that are completely vile and institutionally acceptable in society — why should sex work be any different?

This is a trade that has been around for thousands of years and is unlikely to go away no matter how many moral judgments we place upon it. If you take issue with the notion that anyone should resort to sex work out of survival alone, then you should question the disturbingly classist and racist nature of our society, and the inaccessibility of healthcare, education and housing.

You should question why we don’t have federal employment protections for LGBTQ+ folx so that they can gain and maintain other forms of employment. You should question if and how you’ve been showing up for the most marginalized and vulnerable groups who encompass the majority of sex workers; consider whether your utmost concern is truly about dignity, and for whom.

It’s like the great sage Janelle Monáe said: