Monday 11 October 2010
Degrees of Vice
So what if a quarter of lap-dancers have degrees? Lap-dancing, pornography, prostitution: they are all of a piece, they are all examples of the supposedly conservative "free" market in action, and the argument of some of us has always been, not that they exploit the well-paid participants, who mostly happen to be women, but rather than those participants (regardless of sex) and their punters (regardless of sex) are exactly equal in being morally contemptible, just like the capitalist system itself.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I also think the underbelly of the vice industry is increasingly swept under the rug. It seems like we only hear about how well-paid porn stars and strippers are, but there is little discussion about what happens to these women when they get older, or what impact their career decisions have on their personal life, especially their family life. What about all the women that don't "make it" and have to work in the seedier parts of an already seedy industry? What about the abusiveness and misogyny rife in these businesses?
ReplyDeleteWhat is even more distressing is the number of “progressive” feminists who praise some female sex workers for their ability to earn a lot of money and gain powerful positions in the vice industry by selling their sexuality as a commodity no different than cotton or coal. How, again, is this kind of feminism left-wing or anti-capitalist?