• @nothxplz
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    22 years ago

    OK so everyone is coerced to perform labor under capitalism, which means anyone performing sex work is in some sense being coerced into having sex. The question is why is that worse than being coerced into any other labor?

    It seems to me that this position is disingenuously conflating the, shall we say, passive coercion everyone faces under capitalism with the kind of active coercion that takes place in e.g. sex trafficking. In the latter, people are literally kidnapped and forced to have sex against their will. In the former, people have to choose some way of making money, and for some people they find their best option to be sex work.

    Sex trafficking and any other directly forced sex is quite obviously abhorrent. But when we say that any sex work, even when it is chosen by the worker, is similarly unconscionable, we have to either agree that under capitalism, construction work, data entry work, and food service industry work are also just as immoral and must be abolished, or else explain why being coerced by the system into selling one’s body to perform labor, say, building a community center or coding a video game is different than labor that involves sex.

    If you believe that sex is inherently different than any other physical or mental activity, why?

    Now, I could see an argument that it is difficult to be sure that people starring in pornography aren’t being forced to do so as sex slaves, so for practical purposes it’s best to just ban it outright. If that’s the position, I’d say it’s somewhat reasonable, as long as it wouldn’t be illegal for my wife and I to continue making and watching our own videos of ourselves. This position doesn’t really work for illustrated or animated pornography, though.

    • Muad'DibberA
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      102 years ago

      If you believe that sex is inherently different than any other physical or mental activity, why?

      The sex trade / rape industry cannot be equated to other industries, and especially to production. It is based on the historical patriarchal exploitation of women’s bodies and reproductive capacity, and today’s sex trade is the culmination of thousands of years of women’s oppression. No one, especially men, are entitled to sex. Production is necessary, rape isn’t.

      The battleground here is women’s bodies and sexual autonomy, fighting to preserve their bodily autonomy from rapists holding the money that allow them to survive.

      passive coercion everyone faces under capitalism with the kind of active coercion

      Once you start learning about the horrorshow of the sex trade, you’ll see how blurred those lines are, so as to make the distinction between trafficked women and poverty-forced prostitution meaningless.

      • @electrodynamica@mander.xyz
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        fedilink
        02 years ago

        It is based on the historical patriarchal exploitation of women’s bodies and reproductive capacity, and today’s sex trade is the culmination of thousands of years of women’s oppression.

        You must be very strongly against the institution of marriage then.

        And where do trafficked boys fit into your theory?

        • @panic
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          82 years ago

          You must be very strongly against the institution of marriage then.

          Have you ever even talked to a Marxist feminist? The answer is yes. Communists have even written about how difficult it is to fight prostitution when the institution of marriage exists.

        • Muad'DibberA
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          6
          edit-2
          2 years ago

          Sorry, I should’ve included the trafficking of children, also an important aspect of the sex trade.

          And yes communists unsurprisingly have a lot to say about the institution of bourgeios marriage.

    • @panic
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      7
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      The question is why is that worse than being coerced into any other labor

      What do you call coerced sex? What makes you when you enjoy having sex with someone who is coerced?

      Edit: Discussing sexual violence is triggering to me. I can’t offer a fair discussion right now. Sorry.

    • @jamabalayaman
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      42 years ago

      No, having sex is NOT the same as performing general labour. Do you really need someone to sit down with you and explain why, like are you really that dense?