Hi all, new to this subreddit. I’m a woman in my early/mid twenties and I’ve always thought that the feminist movement was becoming more and more toxic as time progressed. It’s reached a point now where feminism can’t be taken seriously but also, there is such a wide range of opinions within the movement (a sliding scale all the way up to a very radical feminist perspective) that I wouldn’t want to make a sweeping generalisation about feminists as a whole since there seems to be a lot of variation in opinion amongst them.

However... one thing I have encountered time and time again are feminists proclaiming that sex work is a positive thing for women. Or, better said, that sex work and feminism are compatible somehow?

It’s so far gone that I’ve also seen self proclaimed feminists who disagree with this notion being cast out and labelled as swerfs?

I never understood this because I have always thought that selling your body for money seemed very anti-feminist to me? Almost like saying that your worth as a woman is defined solely by how you look which would be a direct contradiction to how feminists want women to perceive themselves right? Or am I missing something?

Someone please shed some light on this because I am confusssed to say the least.

By the way, I personally have no problem with anyone who wants to do anything to support themselves. If someone wants to participate in sex-work then that’s on them. It’s their choice and if they are operating within the law where it can be somewhat regulated then even better. There are lots of pros/cons and arguments to be made on both sides with relation to the impact it has on wider-society but I don’t want this to turn into a debate on whether sex-work is positive or negative but rather a discussion on why feminists in particular seem to support it so much? To me it seems like a contradiction...