The Sex Industry: Oppressive or Empowering?
When people think about the sex industry, they tend to envision pathetic women exposing themselves to desperate men, and assume that all people involved in the industry (both consumers and suppliers) are the riff raff of society. However, the sex industry is surrounded with much deeper issues than one may see at first glance. What such jobs as stripping, working at a peep show, modeling nude, and even prostitution reflect about a society and gender roles make these careers very controversial. That is why the question arises of whether the sex industry serves to empower women in some sense or whether it solely oppresses women by embodying major issues surrounding gender stereotypes. A woman in a small room shaking her butt in front of a window where a man sits and watches her from the other side may have very mixed feelings about what she is doing, why she is doing it, and how she ever got mixed up in such an industry. It is also important to realize that the men who support the sex industry must be examined more closely to get to the bottom of the major issues and attempt to resolve the controversy surrounding the industry. Both the men and women participating in the industry show that it is a very complex and symbolic trade.
One view of the sex industry is very common: the view that the industry is oppressive and very negative for women who are sex workers. The simple fact that this industry exposes women’s bodies is enough to turn many conservative thinkers against it.
“Religious and secular moralists have frequently condemned pornography for its harmful impact on sexual mores, children, and public order and decency,” (Shrage). As a result of this, pornography has been regulated, and is the focus of many feminist activists. Some feminists link pornography to violence by suggesting that pornographic magazines and films “eroticize the sexual assault, exploitation, and torture of women” (Shrage). Some films and magazines do seem to express a sort of dominance over women. Films tend to link violence and macho behavior with sex. The sex industry is definitely seen by conservatives as harmful to public order and decency.
Along with being harmful to society as a whole, the sex industry can be seen as very demeaning and exploitive, and therefore harmful, to women and the workers themselves. In fact, the sex industry has been called a “testimony about our cultural structure,” (Guidroz). This suggests that by examining the sex industry it is possible to discover important aspects of our culture and ideas related to gender. The sex industry therefore can be seen as an embodiment of gender issues. Women exposing themselves and selling their sexuality leads to the development of bigger issues relating to gender. Men can begin to see women more and more as objects, because when women are stripping or posing nude, that is all they are (Miles). This idea of women being simply objects is one of society’s biggest problems in terms of sexism. “To treat someone as a body for another’s use, without recognizing that she too is an object with desires, is to treat someone as a slave, as a subhuman creature or object, and therefore violates her dignity as a human being,” (Shrage). Therefore, the sex market causes women to be lowered almost to the position of slaves for men and allows these women (and therefore women in general) to be exploited.
It is important to understand, also, how men fit into this issue. A relationship of “mutual exploitation” may exist between women in the sex industry and the men that support the industry. Men seem to be exploited in a sense because they are paying for sex or sexual stimulation, and the fact that they find it necessary to look at porn, or go to strip clubs, shows that men have gender related issues as well. At a strip club, men are paying large amounts of money to have women dance for them, showing some degree of desperation. Also, men’s views on the sex industry (specifically strip clubs) show that men are not necessarily drawn to the idea of exerting dominance over women and often times they have very different motives not related to showing domination. Men often times feel that strippers are willing to listen to what they have to say more than other women (probably because they have no choice), and that they don’t have to be worried about saying the wrong thing to strippers. They can relax in the strip clubs and just let loose. In this sense, it is not so much about exploiting women and keeping them down. It is just about the men themselves more than the women they are paying for service. Katherine Frank wrote her article after being a stripper in a club and personally interviewing many men. She constantly brings up how men feel relaxed in strip clubs because they can open up to these women. They feel less insecure about their bodies and sexual urges as well. (Frank 74). It is interesting that men did not talk about women and their sexuality when interviewed, but rather about their personal feelings. This suggests that men are not trying to exploit women, and by going to strip clubs they are dealing more with their own gender issues than trying to exert their dominance.
On a very different note, listening to what sex workers themselves and also some feminists have to say can show another side of the argument: the fact that sex work is all too often overanalyzed. Many women feel that when they act sexually and earn money, it is similar to any other job where one uses their skills and is in turn given compensation. In an interview, Jill Nagel discusses that “sex is what academics would call over signified.” In other words, there are so many activities that people do not question at all, or wonder “what it means,” but for some reason we have a problem paying people for sex or sex related things (Hogan). This opinion brings up very controversial ideas about sex in general and how it should be viewed and therefore cannot be understood by many people.
Another argument that is in support of the sex industry is the argument that being a sex worker can be a positive experience and can also be liberating for women. “All dancers talk about their work as being something they enjoy. The financial independence gives them control over their lives…” (Lenney). This quote expresses the feelings that many strippers have; they view their jobs as fun and enjoy the financial freedom that they get from their careers. Dancing can also give women confidence and make them feel good about their bodies, because they have the ability to capture the attention of a room full of men. In the film Live Nude Girls Unite, many of the women working in the peep show say that they enjoy dancing. However, they make it clear that their jobs are also very difficult. Women in all areas of sex work, when asked to speak for themselves, stress that though their jobs may be enjoyable, they have to work very hard. Sex work should not be seen as easy or taken lightly, because being a dancer, for example, is a real job. This is something many women stressed. They were passionate about the desire to be taken seriously as women with real careers. (Query). The sex workers intervewed did feel a sense of empowerment, still, and the hard work perhaps contributed to their sense of accomplishment, making their jobs more real and serious than what someone looking from the outside in may see as just playing around on a pole. One girl talks about how her job working at a peep show allows her to value her mind-body relationship; it is the male customers who reduce her to just body parts but she personally feels very connected in terms of mind and body. The same sex worker also talks about how she sees men who enter the peep shows as pathetic and sees herself as above them. (Guidroz). Many sex workers feel this way, though just as many if not more stress that they need to be treated with more respect and given more benefits by their employers. Clearly, talking to the women in the industry can show a very different perspective on the sex industry and also can show how the industry can be seen as empowering to women.
Whether or not sex work is exploitive, and regardless of how individuals feel it effects society, one thing is for sure: women working in the sex industry need to be treated with respect by their employers, their consumers, and all other people. Even if people are of the opinion that this industry is helping to oppress women, it will only help things to demand that the women be treated with respect. The film Live Nude Girls Unite focuses on the need for sex workers to be treated well as employees. In fact, the peep show in the movie, the Lusty Lady, was the first ever to unionize and created a trend which lead to a Sex Worker’s Union. There are more and more steps being taken towards sex worker’s working conditions and treatment improving. (Weldon). This is very important because this industry is most harmful to women if the workers are taken advantage of and exploited by their own bosses, which happens all too often.
There are many different opinions of the sex industry and all of these opinions make sense for different reasons. Feminists are even divided on this issue. It seems that ignorance on the topic is the reason for most of the criticism surrounding sex work. When looking closely at the industry, it seems that the major problems are due to stereotypes and views of sex workers that are not even true. Also, it becomes apparent that the industry deals not only with female related gender issues in societies but also male related gender issues. The demand for respect by sex workers is the first step to solving many of the issues surrounding this industry. It is almost impossible for people to agree on issues surrounding sex because of the diverse belief systems found in all societies.
