I have been planning to blog about this for a while but then a blogger whose work I follow beat me to it. Here are the opening paragraphs of his brilliant long post on the subject:
By now I am getting extremely annoyed with a certain discourse around sex work that has become popular amongst some sectors of the North American (and occasionally European) left. Originally a discourse that was limited to lifestyle [and predominantly male] anarchists, as well as a few hippy sex fetishists, the political assertion that sex work is liberating, and that the liberating potential of sex work should be treated as part of a radically progressive politics, is now being embraced by the broader left-wing population and gaining the support of so-called feminists, socialists and communists who should know better. Indeed, the unqualified pro-prostitution position is being treated by some as a litmus test for numerous radical commitments as it is now attached to, and turned into a falsely essential component of, feminism, queer and trans liberation, and other anti-oppressive political positions.Before going any further I want to emphasize that I believe that sex workers should have the right to unionize and that prostitution should be decriminalized. The normative status of sex work, the so-called “oldest profession”, in capitalist society is clearly a result of patriarchal hypocrisy that preaches sexual puritanism on one hand and then reinforces this puritanism by, on the other hand, allowing sex to proliferate on the black market and in especial sites.
Choice feminism insists that every “choice” should be equally respected and valid. Of course, it’s easy to forget how many choices are made because no other option is available and how often oppressive systems coerce people into enthusiastic participation in their own oppression. More and more often, I see my blogroll polluted by posts from pseudo-feminists that condemn any critical analysis of prostitution as anti-feminist and non-progressive. It is especially annoying to read something like the following on a feminist site:
When I was working in public health, I heard about an amazing Brazilian anti-HIV campaign called Maria Without Shame, which featured pictures of a sex worker accompanied by slogans like: “You need have no shame, girl. You have a profession.”
Notice that this “amazing” campaign is addressed exclusively to women. Also, observe how the word “profession” is being used in this context. Of course, the pseudo-feminist who gushes about the campaign is not in the least concerned why a patriarchal society with horrifying levels of poverty like the Brazilian society is so interested in selling prostitution as a legitimate and respectable profession to its women.
Instead of “celebrating sex work”, I believe we should analyze the underlying causes of prostitution and address them. This cannot be done unless we drop the inane “every choice is valid” kind of reasoning.
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