{"id":48,"date":"2020-01-24T08:11:59","date_gmt":"2020-01-24T08:11:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/wgst106lv\/?p=48"},"modified":"2020-01-24T21:46:37","modified_gmt":"2020-01-24T21:46:37","slug":"intro-sex-work-feminist-or-far-from-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/wgst106lv\/2020\/01\/24\/intro-sex-work-feminist-or-far-from-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Intro: Sex Work, Feminist or Far From It?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CLAIM: The polarized feminist perspectives on female sex workers contributes to systemic sexual violence against that industry<\/em>, but can be amended by developing a more diverse culture of feminism. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opinions towards sex work vary drastically among women and men. I am considering sex work here as a feminist issue, largely because of its polarizing effect on the feminist movement. Some self-identified feminists consider sex workers as oppressed women who are manipulated into an industry that exploits their bodies for the sexual pleasure of men. Others see sex work as the reclamation of women\u2019s sensuality, sexual desires, and bodies. Regardless of these polarized opinions, the lack of consistent support from the feminist community for sex workers puts this community in danger.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\tThe negative stigma towards female sex workers is so important to address because it contributes to systemic violence against them. For example, in 2010 anti-sex-work organizations attempted to combat the demand for commercial sex by backing acts like the SESTA (Stop Enabling Sex Trafficker Act) and FOSTA (Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act). While an effort to reduce the exploitation of women\u2019s bodies and the illegal trafficking of human beings through the US, these acts were a financial blow to the sex worker community. This resulted in \u201csex worker\u2019s losing online platforms that helped them stay safe at work\u201d and there was an \u201cincrease in reports of homelessness and violence\u201d (The New Republic 2019). Although it is essential to end illegal sex trafficking, we must caution ourselves in placing this hateful attitude towards women who engage consentually into sex work. We should not hate women for capitalizing off their bodies when their whole life they\u2019ve been socialized to believe that their value is dependent on it. Condemning women for sex work would be hypocritical if we identified ourselves as true feminists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think one of the underlying issues here is differing values on the link between modesty and self-empowerment. Some women find modesty empowering, while others prefer to reclaim their bodies and sexuality for their own. The value of modesty also is blurred by the historical sexual oppression women face through the sexualization of their bodies, coupled with the ironic condemnation of female sexual pleasure. But again, regardless of one\u2019s perception of empowerment, feminism is the advocacy of all women\u2019s rights. Thus, the question remains. If feminism is inclusive of all women\u2019s culture, experiences, background, and views, why can\u2019t feminists respect all women\u2019s right to dress modestly as well as their right to embrace their sensuality? Perhaps a more inclusive feminist approach to sex trafficking could help protect these women from violence.\u00a0
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/newrepublic.com\/article\/155481\/liberal-feminism-sex-work-problem<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CLAIM: The polarized feminist perspectives on female sex workers contributes to systemic sexual violence against that industry, but can be amended by developing a more diverse culture of feminism. Opinions towards sex work vary drastically among women and men. I am considering sex work here as a feminist issue, largely because of its polarizing effect on the feminist movement. Some self-identified feminists consider sex workers as oppressed women who are manipulated into an industry that exploits their bodies for the sexual pleasure of men. Others see sex work as the reclamation of women\u2019s sensuality, sexual desires, and bodies. Regardless of these polarized opinions, the lack of consistent support from the feminist community for sex workers puts this community in danger.\u00a0 The negative stigma towards female sex workers is so important to address because it contributes to systemic violence against them. For example, in 2010 anti-sex-work organizations attempted to combat the demand for commercial sex by backing acts like the SESTA (Stop Enabling Sex Trafficker Act) and FOSTA (Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act). While an effort to reduce the exploitation of women\u2019s bodies and the illegal trafficking of human beings through the US, these acts were a financial blow to the sex worker community. This resulted in \u201csex worker\u2019s losing online platforms that helped them stay safe at work\u201d and there was an \u201cincrease in reports of homelessness and violence\u201d (The New Republic 2019). Although it is essential to end illegal sex trafficking, we must caution ourselves in placing this hateful attitude towards women who engage consentually into sex work. We should not hate women for capitalizing off their bodies when their whole life they\u2019ve been socialized to believe that their value is dependent on it. Condemning women for sex work would be hypocritical if we identified ourselves as true feminists.  I think one of the underlying issues here is differing values on the link between modesty and self-empowerment. Some women find modesty empowering, while others prefer to reclaim their bodies and sexuality for their own. The value of modesty also is blurred by the historical sexual oppression women face through the sexualization of their bodies, coupled with the ironic condemnation of female sexual pleasure. But again, regardless of one\u2019s perception of empowerment, feminism is the advocacy of all women\u2019s rights. Thus, the question remains. If feminism is inclusive of all women\u2019s culture, experiences, background, and views, why can\u2019t feminists respect all women\u2019s right to dress modestly as well as their right to embrace their sensuality? Perhaps a more inclusive feminist approach to sex trafficking could help protect these women from violence.\u00a0 https:\/\/newrepublic.com\/article\/155481\/liberal-feminism-sex-work-problem<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2627,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"qubely_global_settings":"","qubely_interactions":"","kk_blocks_editor_width":"","_kiokenblocks_attr":"","_kiokenblocks_dimensions":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research-project"],"gutentor_comment":0,"qubely_featured_image_url":null,"qubely_author":{"display_name":"lverheyden","author_link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/wgst106lv\/author\/lverheyden\/"},"qubely_comment":0,"qubely_category":"Research Project<\/a>","qubely_excerpt":"CLAIM: The polarized feminist perspectives on female sex workers contributes to systemic sexual violence against that industry, but can be amended by developing a more diverse culture of feminism. Opinions towards sex work vary drastically among women and men. I am considering sex work here as a feminist issue, largely because of its polarizing effect…","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/wgst106lv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/wgst106lv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/wgst106lv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/wgst106lv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2627"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/wgst106lv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/wgst106lv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/wgst106lv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48\/revisions\/56"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/wgst106lv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/wgst106lv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/wgst106lv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}