There seems to be a current of “pro sex work” in the left yet prostitution (to me at least) is not work it is not labour. Nothing of value is produced and all that’s provided is access of womens bodies to be raped by bourgeois men
Also does anyone have writings on the new trend of polyamoury?
Surely this has underpinnings in economy rather than “free choice to coshare a house amongst 4 people” (as in split rent 4 ways due to rent hikes)?
Again the trend of polyamoury seems to have it’s underpinnings in economy and the stunted sexual development of adults that are no longer able to “grow up” because wages are flat, houses are out of reach and rent is sky high. So why not YOLO and engage in as much meaningless sex as possible and collect relationships like commodities
(I’ve provided my opinions here but am looking for a solid marxist analysis of prostitution and polyamoury)
I’m probably in the minority on this one. To me “sex work is work” just means that sex work is commodity production under capitalism, just like other wage work. I’m not pro-wage-work, because a planned society should produce for use and not exchange, but I don’t think that sex work is all that different from other service work such as bus driving. Marx says in Vol. 2 that a service is a commodity that is produced at the same time that it’s consumed.
Value is abstract labor time under socially necessary conditions. Sex work definitely takes labor. Exchange value is what can be exchanged for a commodity. Sex work is exchanged for money. So it does have value. It may not have use value to you, but it does have value and exchange value in this economy.
There are some good Marx and Engels quotes in the thread. People are interpreting them as being specifically opposed to sex work, but they read to me like they’re saying sex work is just another form of wage work, and all wage work will disappear with capitalism.