I recently made a post about this topic but it caused a lot of controversy. I did not specify and used the broad term of sex work which probably made the interpretations so varied. For the purposes of this conversation, I want to focus on work that is consensual because obviously human trafficking or coercive sex is inherently wrong and exploitative. Some people even said that sex work is not valid labor which I personally found strange. I'm personally not a fanboy of the sex industry at all, but most people involved would say that the illegality of it exacerbates the bad situation that they find themselves in, and I cannot personally find a reason to be going against what the people involved are saying. And yeah it probably wouldn't exist under socialism but at the same time, I think it is a huge mistake to go in with an iron fist and just say "I'm going to make everyone stop sex work right this instant because it's not socialist" because this does not treat the underlying causes of it, which will only make it spring back up anyway.
And I'm not just expecting one type of answer but if I am making an error in applying dialectical materialism or Marxism-Leninism please let me know.
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I'm curious how many people that respond to these types of posts actually consider themselves sex workers. I feel like having this debate without the voices of the people who participate in it front and center is pointless.
I have been and mostly enjoyed it, but what I don't enjoy is debate and paternalistic questioning of my personal agency, so I avoid engaging on this topic.
Yeah, paternalism and stigmatization is usually what I see come out of these discussions within Marxist circles online. It's always that drugs and sex work are inherently problematic in any form and that they wouldn't be useful after the revolution, but there will always be a want and need if there are people willing or wanting to engage in the work to provide those things then why should it matter to anyone? Anyway that's where I stand on it, it's just when people start to infringe on others' bodily autonomy and leaning into puritanism I get the ick
there will always be a want and need if there are people willing or wanting to engage in the work to provide those things then why should it matter to anyone
Well shit, if there is a market for it, how can it be bad?