Thinking about this because of a greentext I saw earlier complaining about OF models.
It feels like a lot of the stigma surrounding sex work in the modern day (that doesn’t just boil down to misogyny/gender norms/religion) is based on the fact that selling intimate aspects of one’s self places a set value on something that many see as sacred; something that shouldn’t have monetary value.
Not to say anything about the economic validity of a society without currency, but I think that, hypothetically, if that were to exist, sex work would be less stigmatized since this would no longer be a factor. Those engaged in sex work would be more likely to be seen as doing it because it’s something they are good at/enjoy, and less because it’s an “easy” way to make money, as some think. It would also eliminate the fear of placing set value on social, non sex-work related intimacy (not that those fears were well-founded to begin with).
It wouldn’t really be “sex work” if they weren’t doing it in exchange for something would it?
Yes, we have currency as a placeholder for trading goods directly but people who perform sex acts for other goods like drugs are just as stigmatized and no currency was involved.
And if people are just having sex with a fun of it then it’s not sex work either, it’s just sex, which is less stigmatized now then it was 30 years ago but it still has a stigma attached to it, otherwise slurs like “skank” and “slut” wouldn’t exist.
And if people are just having sex with a fun of it then it’s not sex work either,
No, labor stays labor no matter the reason it is performed - people perform labor when they doodle or blow their noses… it doesn’t stop being labor just because they’re not doing it in exchange for something tangible.
With sex it is the same - nobody engages in it for absolutely no reason whatsoever.
True, but there are more aspects to sex work than just exchanging sex for something else. Creating pornography, for instance, is something some people already choose do just for fun, even without economic incentive.
And making porn is stigmatized. That’s why 99% of the porn made “just for fun” is intended to never see the light of day by anyone but the people making it.
Really, I’m not directly sure what your argument/belief/whatever is here in this post.
If there’s no exchange or barter, then there’s no sex work. The stigma behind sex work is that you’re selling your body to someone for a price tag, and if you weren’t getting paid you otherwise wouldn’t be doing it with that particular person. In other words, if you aren’t getting compensation out of it, you’re just like anyone else with a tinder account.
I wanted to disagree with this, but I actually think you make a rather compelling argument.
The stigma with sex work is that you’re having sex with someone because you want paid, and otherwise wouldn’t be having sex with that person.
If there was no need for money or an exchange for goods and you wanted to have sex with a bunch of different people, we already have that in today’s society. It’s a tinder user.
It’s also related to sex being a “special” or “sacred” act. If it was just something that could be potentially dangerous by resulting in STDs or unwanted pregnancy, like say, driving your car can be potentially dangerous by resulting in accidents and death, then no stigma would exist. But people give it this special character beyond any other human activities, and put it on a pedestal essentially.
Without that pedestal, a delivery driver delivering to someone they don’t like, for the money, is just … their job. Sex being a job is just … a job a person can have. Why make it special?
People basically want to put the pussy on a pedestal, and you don’t really need to be doing that. It doesn’t actually make any sense, it’s just tradition for some folks. Who then want other people to follow their tradition too.
If you get paid for it you are a whore, if you do it as a hobby you are a slut.
The stigma is there, regardless of the money aspect. They will just use a different word.
There will always be exhibitionists and people who just like to fuck, but sex work is, by definition, transactional. You’re not going to see a society with free communal whores who aren’t being compensated in any way.
I was more thinking any and all forms if sex work, however you want to transpose their equivalents in a post-scarcity society.
I don’t think you’d have prostitution in a currencyless society. They wouldn’t be prostitutes at that point.
