Blog 8– Sex work vs. “menial” labor

One of this week’s online readings, the photo layout on Jezebel.com, led me to another article on the site. This article, “When did Sex Work Become Less Stigmatizing than Menial Labor?” discusses women who, after being unable to find employment in white collar jobs, which they had training for, went into sex work instead of considering blue collar jobs or menial labor.

I find this very interesting. I was raised on a farm, my father worked in a factory and my mother is a nurse. They promoted a sense of pride in work that “got your hands dirty.” There was no shame in doing any kind of work that needed done, especially if it paid the bills. I have worked in gas stations, restaurants, jobs that required digging in the dirt, and more. Sometimes I miss having a job where I actually feel like I have accomplished something, even if all I have accomplished is stacking crates and cans of oil.

I would never consider working in the sex industry unless I had absolutely no other choice; and I have always had other choices. I have also thought of people who work in the sex industry as people who had no other choice, based on my own thoughts on the subject. The idea that middle class women find sex work less demeaning than menial labor is intriguing to me, and I wonder where this comes from. A woman is certainly free to enter the sex trade if she is able and informed and not coerced. I’ve thought about why women might enter the sex trade, and most of my rationale has involved issues of abuse and oppression.  I’ve been secure in the knowledge that the sex trade comes from systems of oppression, class issues, and more.  I’ve been wrong in some ways, it seems.

Of course, much of the sex industry thrives on the existence of oppression and imbalances in power, but I have never thought that prostitution might seem less shameful than working at McDonalds.  I have thought of money… and that it is a shame that many women can only make enough to support themselves and their families through the sex trade.  This article revealed to me that it isn’t always the money, but the work itself that is often a motivating factor.

I think that our perception on sex, and sexuality, is changing.  I believe that everyone should enjoy healthy sexual expression, and that changing perceptions of sex in our society make this possible. How do we decide, though, when it is healthy sexual expression or the result of existing systems of oppression?  With all the risks involved in sex work, how did it become more acceptable than work that is considered menial or only appropriate for the lower class?  Where did this come from? 

I will continue to think on this.