Give them what they want

So I was scrolling through TikTok, as most of us do and I saw this podcast/radio show where the guy was talking to a sex worker (OnlyFans performer) and basically he was talking down to her. He was stating that she was "taking advantage" of men for her own gain, then he tried making a point that she "looks like a 14 year old" with the implication being that she's feeding creepy behaviour from men by basically becoming "jailbait" for them. To the actresses credit, she did say that she doesn't like that reason as to why men like her, but she also knows that's not the only reason why. But the crux of what she said was extremely interesting to me, and what she said was something to the effect of "I already get creepy, objectifying comments on the internet, so I may as well take ownership of it and profit from it".

Its an evocative thing to say, because I could already sense the two sides that would throw their weight behind her and also those who would heavily criticise her for saying it. But I'm not here to necessarily give credence to the idea that those opposing her have a point, I'd much rather lean into what she actually said. Which is, if people want something, no matter their intentions and you give it to them for a price tag... are you necessarily doing anything wrong? I'd argue no, because if you argue she's taking advantage of men, then they should stop saying those things in the first place, in purely economic terms, if you don't want the supply then stop giving the demand.

Also, you wouldn't say to a carpenter making walking sticks that he's taking advantage of disabled people and elderly people. He's providing a service to people who want it, for every time you make that argument about sex workers, I could also say that walmart, asda, etc are taking advantage of people who don't have food, fundamentally its a stupid and tone deaf argument that's not worth making. There's also the other argument, that its somehow immoral to be a sex worker, and this largely stems from Abrahamic religion wherein sex itself is purely for reproduction. In this view, every orgasm had that doesn't result in a child is a "life lost" which as a Christian I find to be a really absurd argument, an argument that could be used to say that every woman is a murderer because of her period.

There's also the argument that it demeans women to sell their body because it puts a price tag on their body, it objectifies them, etc. Which is an argument that I understand, but also don't agree with. Largely because, I believe women have autonomy, and should be able to do what they see as fit for themselves. Most sex workers, regardless of type would necessarily promote sex work as a "dream job", it has its issues and they would argue that many of the downsides are because of the stigma itself. But aside from that, they'd implore that a girl "really think about it" before getting into it, because its "not for everyone".

Religion and Sex Work

Christianity is the main root of a lot of sex work stigma, but the stigma stems from theological argumentation and not necessarily moral argumentation. The bible also states that sex work is the immoral thing, but sex workers themselves are not immoral, hate the industry, not the player. Luke 7:36-50, John 8:1-11 and Matthew 21:31-32 all pertain to the bible saying that you should still protect sex workers themselves, regardless of what you think of the morality of their jobs. The Bible also says that followers of god should show kindness and respect towards others, and avoid judgment like in Matthew 7:1, as well as showing empathy towards those who you don't necessarily agree with in Colossians 3:12. Not to mention, Christians are also encouraged to consider individual circumstances, that individual does not necessarily follow your belief system and their existence as an irreligious person doing things you find immoral doesn't breach your right to exist as you see fit.

The holistic argument in favour of sex work

There are unfortunate facts about our society that make the crux of what the actress said valid. For example, women by enlarge find it difficult, more difficult to "climb the ladder" and often are told that in order for them to do so, they have to marry or become property of a man. Many women don't see that as fitting what they want for their life, this might be because they're LGBTQ+ and that they don't want to marry a man, or simply, they don't want to be subservient to an individual who may not necessarily value their autonomy, just as a means of getting ahead in life.

Starting an OnlyFans or getting into other kinds of sex work, might be a woman's only way of getting ahead in life, pursuing the causes that matter to them the most, affording the family they want, while still being in charge of their life. For many women and men in the industry, Autonomy is the crux of why they got into the industry. Furthermore, quite a lot of sex workers have disabilities of various kinds, and sex work is quite literally the only job they can do, because often the Government doesn't provide them with the support that allows them to grow into what they want to be.

You cannot argue in a different conversation that its a "Dog Eat Dog" world and then immediately demean someone for getting into sex work as immoral. When there are bankers, business people, accountants, lawyers, politicians out there doing way more immoral things than sex workers are, and the act of a sole sex worker isn't resulting in a disabled veteran having to consider sex work or homelessness because the money they are getting is getting cut.