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w0m_n's picture

Sex (Work)

These films on sex work are the first of their kind that I've seen. In all of the documentaries on this industry it seems to me that the story is the same: destitute individuals with little of no means of getting income using on the few things of value they have left- their bodies. In none of these movies (this might be the way the director structures the film) are the happy to be in their position. In reading Kempadoo's essay I feel like she has a valid point in that if these individuals, victims of the social institutions that create there circumstances that they should be granted the conditions to perform this kind of work safely. At the same time I think she disregards the that fact that for some consumers part of the appeal is taking part of something illegal. I took a sociology of deviance class and we discussed prostitution as deviance, and the reason why it is a lucrative profession is because consumers are paying workers for their lost of status. Also I think it's important to note this is these individuals only option- how free is your choice if it's your only option? Also something I've been wondering if treated sex work as just work, how would it change the meaning of sex? I feel like sex culturally is alot more complicated then having it or not; it is part of many facets of our lives in implicate ways. With your partners, how would you differentiate between work and play?

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