Do you approve sex work? Why or why not?

Sex work is work.

The people that do it deserve respect, and all the social and legal protections that attach to any other kind of work.

Your own preferred attitude to sex isn't the point.

I don't approve of work.

Sex work is going to happen whether it's legal or not. Might as well regulate it and provide sex workers with a legal framework, healthcare, retirement funds, etc.

I'm of the opinion that if you don't want people performing sex work, you should be enacting measures to improve people's quality of life to where that's not their only option. The workers themselves should have legal protections and be permitted to perform their job like any other worker is.

I suspect some people would prefer that as a regulated option anyway, and they should be defended in their choice to do so. Sex work is work.

Sex work is a more respectable career than debt collector, or CEO.

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My take is this.

I will guarantee universal basic job & income for everyone.

Once that's guarantee I'll see if anyone is willingly becoming a sex worker.

Without performing that "experiment" I cannot really respond.

Sure, I don't see why they should be treated any different than anyone else. I think the problem is the stigma around sex in general, and for that I blame religion.

Sex work is work, and work (tying your capacity for labor to your continued survival) is bad. Sex workers should be supported like any member of the proletariat

Sex labor on the other hand? Sure as long as you have removed the exploitive element that comes with work.

Friend of mine used to be a whore. She says it has been the most fulfilling and fun job she has ever had. She got to meet many interesting people. And she also has a lot of funny stories to tell.

It was also fun for her that she could get tax breaks for underwear and other sexy clothes.

Yes, but ideally there should be regulation to prevent pimping, predation, trafficking, and STI spread. At the very least, decriminalization protects sex workers from fear of prosecution preventing them from seeking healthcare, legal help, etc.

Trafficking is heinous, but it also gets irreverantly thrown around as a whataboutism by people who are against it for personal instead of rational reasons.

The root of the problems with sex work, as always, is tying means of survival to productivity, which I am against both personally and rationally :P

I think a great example is OnlyFans. Pornography is close to full sex work, so it's a fair comparison. Here was a field that was dominated by predatory companies and people in the worst places. Actors and Actresses frequently talked about how they were abused, pushed beyond what they thought was acceptable, underpaid, hurt, raped, and honestly still worse.

Enter OnlyFans, a more legitimate way for workers to create their own content, their own pricing, set their own rules and their own boundaries. By legitimizing pornography and pornographic actors it made the entire thing safer for the workers themselves.

It's natural that sex work would follow this. It's wildly known that sex work is not a safe business, and it's extremely predatory. Taking our opinions out of it completely, if the options are A) let the extremely terrible and predatory underground business continue as it has or B) legitimize the business, add protections, and allow them to set their own rules - well then, isn't the moral option obvious?

I don't believe that my approval or anyone else's is at all relevant.

My position is that there's only one person who has the right to decide whether or not it's acceptable to trade sex for money, and that's the person entering into the trade. Assuming that all other contractual requirements are met - they're of legal age and acting of their own free will and so on - it's just as much their right to trade sex for money as to trade ditch digging or code writing or coffee brewing or meeting taking for money.

(edited for clarity)

I think it should be legal and regulated. It's a service that people want and others are willing to fill. We just need laws to protect all parties, particularly the workers.

"Selling is legal. Fucking is legal. Why isn't selling fucking legal?" -George Carlin

I'll kinda take a different approach since everyone's covered the basics with sex work. The problem with how you've presented it, is you're defining an act on how you perceive and want to regulate it. The simple question becomes, "should people have bodily autonomy?"

Everyone has a different opinion on what can be considered intimate/romantic. Some people feel a full body massage is too intimate, others a dinner with a co-worker is too romantic (not agreeing, just throwing out examples). If we start regulating based on how someone feels something should be perceived than it's a slippery slope. I can fully understand that you believe sex to be romantic while also realizing that others don't feel the same way or view it as a positive aspect of it. If it's not being forced on you then it shouldn't be a problem what consenting adults do in privacy.

Its been said in this thread better than I can - but I wish the people who argue sex work is immoral because you're "selling your body" would apply that same logic to labor.

For most of us, our body is the only capital we have and we're taught to devalue that capital into oblivion so those who deplete that capital the most make the smallest possible piece of the pie.

Do you watch porn? Porn is monetized sex with the purpose of getting money, and with a high degree of abuse and exploitation might I add. You and I and any law don't get to define the purpose of anything, we only decide wether something is allowed or not. If you want to sell your body for money you should have the freedom to do so, protected by labor laws and health assistance. This is a very good way to reduce the spreading of diseases and reduce the power of exploitative criminals

Yes

People break their bodies doing other kinds of work and people don't seem too upset about that.

Some sex work isn't even very physically involved. Take some pictures in the shower. Video yourself rubbing one out. It's not all walking a dark, rainy, street in your underwear.

All workers should be unionized. Or maybe be in a worked owned cooperative. Capitalism will ruin everything eventually.

Everyone should have access to health care and basic needs.

Laws should be written with input what those they would bind and those they affect. Do sex workers want certain requirements? What do medical professionals think is safest? Laws should not be written to appease the nervous stomach of uninvolved parties.

But this is all fired from the hip because I haven't done any real research. My gut feel is that most arguments against it are inconsistent (eg: "it's degrading! But nevermind the job where they literally clean shit off the floor") or personal nonsense (eg: "it's a sin! But I don't care that your worldview doesn't say so")

IMO, sex should be for 2 people (or more for others who prefer polyamory) who wants to be intimate/romantic with each other. My point is money should not be the purpose.

This is your personal opinion and really doesn't justify laws backing it. It's not founded on anything. Also I've got bad news about how a lot of sex isn't intimate nor romantic.

I approve of sex work, but I don't approve of the abusive madams and pimps of the world. Usually, they are the problem. Protection should come in a different way.

I believe a victimless crime shouldn't be, and that unless a very strong case is made otherwise for a specific person, people can decide what they want for themselves.

Of course people being forced into sex work is bad, but then so is people being forced into working kitchens or call centers. If they decide on it voluntarily that's all good and well.

Also, since I can't resist:

approve of sex work approve sex work

Yes, it's my job to personally rubber stamp every truck stop girl. /s

I personally don't see anything wrong with it, unless it's forced, which is unfortunately common here.

Sex isn't special in the sense of being on a pedestal. Sure, it can be magical in that two people in love come closer together, but that is also true of many intimate experiences. The physical act should not be restricted from being performed, shared, or even monetized because of the sense of morality of others.

Sex workers are working. They may get someone off via their actions, but they're providing a service, same as someone who fixes your broken phone, provides medical care, or unclogs your toilet. It's a form of labor.

My life doesn't include a special realm or being beyond that of people to provide incentives or guidance on how to live. That's entirely decided by people and their own sense of decency. Treat others well, as you'd wish to be treated, and try not to live in a way that negatively affects others. That's the whole of morality to me. I think this will lead to a good life. In no way would paying for or receiving money for sexual acts be affected by it.

Hell, give me enough money and I'll perform whatever sex acts you want.

If you believe that laws forbidding gambling, sale of liquor, sale of contraceptives, requiring definite closing hours, enforcing the Sabbath, or any such, are necessary to the welfare of your community, that is your right and I do not ask you to surrender your beliefs or give up your efforts to put over such laws. But remember that such laws are, at most, a preliminary step in doing away with the evils they indict. Moral evils can never be solved by anything as easy as passing laws alone. If you aid in passing such laws without bothering to follow through by digging in to the involved questions of sociology, economics, and psychology which underlie the causes of the evils you are gunning for, you will not only fail to correct the evils you sought to prohibit but will create a dozen new evils as well.

—Robert A. Heinlein, Take Back Your Government

Absolutely because then we can start talking about protecting and helping the sex workers that need help, and give them a chance to work in a safe environment.

Sex worker have been a thing since at least when we invented writings and still going strong today.

Might be time to give sex workers the dignity and respect they deserve.

There are other ways in which we sell our bodies in exchange for resources. A lot of people point to soldiers, but for those of us in knowledge work, we sell our brains in exchange for stress and depression if things aren't in balance. Think about construction workers who break their wrists drilling down floorboards, or caregivers that expose their immune systems to a high quantity of kids who are likely to spread any bugs they pick up because they don't know better.

Sex work just involves people selling entertainment or enjoyment in a more intimate setting. The fact that it is intimate doesn't change that it's work, and that resources can be exchanged for service.

I think this all comes down to stereotypes specific to a certain culture. Hoping I see my culture in America make it more legal so we don't have some of the issues that come from this market not being legal

Do I approve of sex work?

So, yes, sorta, mostly, but I don't think it's straight forward.

For one, sex work is a very broad category that ranges from selling feet pics to having sex to which you wouldn't otherwise consent with strangers. So under that large umbrella of "jobs wherein you assist someone with getting their rocks off in exchange for money" there's a lot of variation and differing considerations for the impacts on the workers and the clients.

So I guess I approve of sex work in the general sense that I approve of any service industry labor that doesn't intrinsically harm the worker or the consumer. But on the other hand, sex work, particularly having sex, and even stuff short of having sex, bares some higher risk than your average behind-the-counter job. There's risks of violence, disease, and emotional or psychological harm, some of which is higher because of illegality or stigma, but some of which is higher simply because of the intrinsically intimate nature of sex. And sure, there is something kinda squicky about commodifying human intimacy.

But on the other hand, the demand is there (not like I don't consume porn), so the supply will always follow to meet it. So best you can do is ensure that whatever labor sex workers do is as safe as possible, and that the people who do the labor do so freely (to the degree possible in a society that's still capitalist).

Work is Work an it should be safe for everyone. Can you imagine the good they could do if that field expanded to Sex Therapy/Counseling. Where they could really help people with sexual disfunction and self esteem.

Absolutely, as long as there is safety and security for all parties involved. Consent must be obeyed by clients and both the clients and employees should be required to supply current STD screens as well as having a safe location for the work.

Approve of? I guess. The problem isn't the sex work, it's the way sex workers are treated.

I think making and keeping it illegal, and thus unregulated, is the dumbest damn idea possible for the subject. Totally boneheaded.

Is it something that I would consider a good career even if it was legal? Nope. People suck. And people tend to suck the most with hormones going crazy in their bodies, and sex is one of those things that makes all kinds of chemicals flow. So, seems like a difficult, demanding job under the best of circumstances.

Would I hire a sex worker for myself? Ignoring that I'm happily monogamous, it's unlikely I would for sex. I can see myself hiring a temporary cuddle buddy if I was single, and might do so if I end up a widower some day.

Depending on which jobs you count as sex work, I've known anywhere from a few to dozens of women in the field. Strippers, escorts, phone sex workers, and happy ending masseuses. Nothing but respect for them. Even dated a couple of strippers back in the day. One I was with for long enough to have discussed marriage some day

hey look reactionary content from .world! Shocked

Sex work is work.

No, I don't approve of any work. All work should be abolished, including sex work.

In today's world, we all get fucked one way or another.

I approve. I think it should be legalized. I'm not sold on the libertarian view of complete decriminalization though. Capitalism is innately exploitative, and If it's not regulated to maintain workers' safety, and rights, then I'd expect working conditions to be just as bad if not worse for the laborers, which I think is a big reason why so many people want to keep it outlawed in the first place.

Sex work is work. Therefore, yes, I support it.

I think it should be legal, with extra protections for the workers to protect them from exploitation and abuse. Unfortunately though, our entire economic system is exploitative, so I’m not sure if it would ever entirely be by choice that somebody turned to prostitution, though labor itself is never entirely by choice. I only work at my job because I have to, not because I really want to. A worker selling their body to perform legal labor for money is on par with a person selling their body for another’s sexual gratification. Making it illegal just makes it worse for the workers, since they’re obviously going to do it anyways and won’t get any protections from the law.

Sex doesn’t always have to be for love, equating it with love is something religious people have forced on the world to get over their own religion-induced guilt over the whole thing. Bonobos have a crazy amount of sex and use it for all sorts of social interactions, it’s something animals do to feel good and relieve stress. There’s instances of other primates even engaging in prostitution as well, where they trade sex for food, and prostitution is one of, if not the oldest job among humans.

Edit3: improved wording a bit, and added info below; forgot to add this edit

Legalize and regulate.

I share this view with other issues our society faces as well.

Edit: forgot why.

Why:

Sex work as well as drugs will never be outlawed or enforced fully; looking at drugs, it is used as an excuse to jail the working class for slave labor as well as other things when you follow the money.^[[1] The Wire - Daniels Follows the Money | 01:34 | https://youtu.be/9PaBt441FBQ]

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.^[[2] https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-13/]

At this point I'm thinking we should legalize prostitution and criminalize dating.

Dating these days is what prostitution would be if it was published by EA. They added gambling mechanics and season passes.

Sex work is legal here, and I approve of it. It's hard work and I have a lot of respect for the people who do it.

If it is strictly voluntary, it is a work If it is forced for any reason, obviously not.

honestly if my body was anything else, I would try an OF or similar.

Work is work. It deserves every bit of respect and protection as anything else.

yes. why? because regardless of my opinion, when you make it illegal you make things worse for everyone. that goes for drugs, for people moving about on the earth, and all other such things.

If one person demands sex in return for not harming another, it is called rape and we rightly consider it to be a crime. If one person demands sex in return for not starving the other, many people seem to find it acceptable. I would never dare judge someone for the work they are forced to do by their circumstances, but 'sex work' (or whatever you choose to call it) is absolutely not okay. Those trapped in it deserve better.

Sex work wouldnt exist in an ideal world, as its usually not mentally healthy for the sex worker in the long term.

But since we dont live in an ideal world I would rather legalise it and create laws that protect sex workers instead of criminalising them.

Its the same with all drugs (including cigarettes and alcohol).

Yes.

If they hurt no one else and infringe on no one else's rights I have no business policing what two consenting adults do with their bodies, time and/or money.

Edit: it should also be totally legal, like all drugs.

See, I wasn't really sure, but I think this thread has helped convince me that it's probably okay. I was for sex work before, but then I had heard that countries with more lax sex work laws had more human trafficking. But that might just be a result of work in our moder capitalist hellscape. Part of me thinks sex work should be illegal until capitalist is abolished, but part of that is probably just some ingrained puritan attitudes of sex and personal philosophy about its intimacy. It doesn't mean the state should ban people from selling it and it doesn't mean I have to partake if it's legal.

I'll probably keep reading this thread to evolve my attitudes on the subject more, but thanks everyone for the interesting comments on a subject I don't think about much (sex work... Sex itself I think about all the time lol).

Yes.

I used to think it's impossible for a human to "want" sex work and default to the idea that it is inherently exploitative. Don't get me wrong, there is exploitative sex work. But if that part is not present and they are willing to work there, what right do I have to stop them?

im a believer in victimless crimes legalization but I do think it should come with big regulation and not just to collect taxes. Advertising should be restricted to the adult establishments (in other words they should all only be able to advertise at their own places so no billboards on the road but walk into a liquor store and it will be all over once your inside). health and safety should be paramount (both johns and hookers should be regularly tested. hookers monthly and doctors should be able to give one a card to say they show no stds after testing on such and such a date you can get once a year). There should be regulation that establishments cannot have over a 20% and can't charge anything additional if they do take a cut.

My approval is irrelevant. People do it, and people pay for it, so it deserves all the same respect and rights as any other work. No one's value comes from my opinion of what they do to pay the bills, and it is not my place to tell people what sex "should" be.

I disapprove of other people's choices only when it negatively impacts the life of others. If sex work is legal and regulated and taxed and there is a robust social safety net, then all that's left to disapprove of is the sex itself, which is for religious zealots, not normal people. Sex is a drive honed over hundreds of millions of years, there is literally nothing more normal.

If it has been made illegal, then I may disapprove of the laws which make it illegal (ie: we don't disapprove of anti-trafficking laws), but if such laws are in place, I cannot approve of the illegal work, because unsavory shit comes along with it that negatively impacts other people.

Yes and no. I generally don't care what consenting adults do between each other no matter if there is money involved.

BUT: I have also seen the ugly side of sex work due to working as paramedic in some not so nice areas. Very often sex work is not really consensual and very often people are forced into it one way or another. We have to definitely handle this situation as a society. This includes more accessible social welfare (and yet we are miles ahead of the US here), very rigid surveillance of the situation and prosecution of people exploiting sex workers.

Funnily enough I think porn by now is far worse than sex work - while someone can get past sex work somewhat easily (I know a consultant doctor who is a former sex worker) by simply changing the environment it is almost impossible with porn. The internet does not forget and while you can always deny doing sex work for porn there is physical evidence that people did that. Add the upcoming AI fakes and it becomes even more of a problem.

Tbh,I have no idea how we should tackle that problem.

Work is work.

Is sex work selling your body? Is doing masonry carpentry or road fixing work anything less than that?

Is sex work ethical? Is working for a weapon manufacture ethical?

I think the point on sex work is a different one: exploitation. That is wrong and should not be allowed or tolerated. But is it avoidable?

The focus should not be on the sex workers tough, but on the clients. The sex workers will always be there as long as there is demand for them.

So, yes, give sex workers the opportunity to work in a safe and not abused environment, so that it can be a choice like any other work. Which means, legalize, regulate, and so on.

They often say it's the oldest business in the world. Which might not be relevant to how we should treat it as a society today, but what seems obvious to me is that when you de-facto criminalize and discourage something the working conditions are going to suffer.

There probably isn't a place in the world where it isn't practiced yet we love to pretend like we're somehow past that. Not sure how much of that is based in religion and how much is just us being in denial of our own biology-based desires in a secular modern society. Either way it is hurting people who are just as entitled to making a living as anybody else.

I think it depends by what you mean by support. I support people's legal right to practice all forms of sex work. I think it's silly to outlaw sex work.

On a personal level, I think sex workers are a "final frontier" when it comes to workers' rights and we should stand together in solidarity and demand certain standards for sex work so it can be done ethically. Things like:

• all sex workers must be independent contractors or cooperatives. They cannot be owned by a company or third party.
• all sex workers have the same protected privacy status as priests in terms of what they can be compelled to disclose. Everyone should have the right to sexual privacy with their kinks including the sex worker.
• if a sex worker does want to report suspected illegal activity, they are completely protected. It is up to the worker whether they will disclose information regarding encounters (ps, you DEFINITELY want this. Sex workers hear terrifying things they cannot report for fear of repercussions).
• it is rape to lure a sex worker into sex under false pretenses (or sexual assault/battery). Including lying about HIV sti status, lying about ability to pay, or lying about anything that would affect her ability to say yes or no to the interaction
• all sex workers should be allowed to politely decline any client, no repercussions. Including strippers.

----paragraphbreak----

I personally see people as a Dominatrix. I only see people I genuinely like. Due to the nature of people who see Dominatrixes, most of my subs are not sexual anyway, and I decide sex on my terms/comfort. I am polyamorous and very good at FemDomming, so I figured it would be a fun job at the end of the world. I get to meet a lot of people and travel, it's pretty fun. I think if I was doing more survival work it would be different, or if I was doing full service etc. But I genuinely like every sub I take on (otherwise it's really boring and not fun, which defeats the purpose of this job in the first place). Sex work doesn't have to look like a hookup. Usually most people are looking for connection, even with porn and stripping.

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Totally fine, work is work, you decide what you want to do with your life and if that fills the gap more power to you.

We need more regulation though, like Amsterdam where if you're working you have to get weekly check ups, and psychological counseling should be freely available.

Sex work is a good industry but it also harbors trafficking which needs to be cracked down on hard.

I think George said it best.

I think it's dangerous now, without regulation and protection, and I think it's a long way from how I feel it will eventually come to be viewed; as something more akin to performance art or a form of therapy.

If someone is willing to do something I don't want to do and get paid for it, yea, I think it's work.

power imbalances are born from necessity, i disagree that sex work is empowering for anyone partied to it, but i also dislike any work that places another beneath another creating class division. so while i see sex work as bad, i see sex work creating division it is something to be accepted with in our current society and if a sex worker says they feel empowered by their work then so be it.

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Yes, as long as everyone involved is consenting. It needs to be destigmatized especially in healthcare settings.

The choice/situation blends in with every occupation so as long as no aggression or wrongful leverage is involved.

No I don’t approve sex work. Who am I? The sex work administration? Do you need a stamp from me to perform sex work? No?

Then who cares?

Like most people say here, if that's something you want to do that's all good so long as you're protected by law and workers' rights and all that jazz. Personally, though, I don't really understand it. I mean, why would anybody want to do this with all the risks (rape, diseases)? I'm open to receiving perspectives and education, currently I just don't really "get" it.

Yes because it's none of my business what other people do with their autonomy and they should be protected in their right to do what they want to do with their autonomy

All workers deserve respect. Labor is our means for survival in the modern world, the base good everyone trades for their livelihood.

Regardless of the type of work, all workers deserve respect. Ya gotta eat.

Why not? People have less and less other jobs to do. From stories of courtesans realise that life forced them to do it. So that we understand each other - if you are "bitching", do it not on the side, but officially - because then the other party suffers - in false version.

Yes. I am a libertarian.

Always a great question to ask software nerds. Great thread idea dude!

sex work yeah I sure hope it does!!!!!!!!!!!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Yep. There is definitely a strong market for it. And i firmly believe it alleviates tensions enough to prevent a lot of assaults

It have side effects on the people who do it: yes, I don't give a flying fuck about it: yes

it should be decriminalized and it shouldn't be financially compulsory for the desperate

I think whether anyone approves of it or not is really irrelevant. People have bought and sold sex for thousands of years and will continue to do so.

The only questions is whether you think the sex trade should be illegal or stigmatised. My personal opinion is that criminalising sex work is a fools errand and that it's no ones business if two consenting adults want to trade money for sex.

The purpose of sex should be defined by the participants, not by third parties. Government (public, third party) interest in the private act should be limited to protecting the participants from fraud, undue influence, unexpected diseases, unexpected pregnancies, violence... Basically, so long as everyone involved in the act is aware and freely agrees to the purpose, the actual purpose is functionally irrelevant.

Sex work is work.

I can see regulations against establishing an employer/employee working relationship, and instead mandating a private contractor relationship: an employee can disciplined or fired for failure to perform, or for refusing to serve the employer's customers; a contractor can pick and choose their own clients.

The right of assembly; the freedom of association should broadly protect mutually consensual activities.

Nope. I believe people should carry, or rather deserve, more dignity than that.

No. Like sexual liberation, it's harmfull towards human civillization.