Let me preface this rant by saying: 1. I don't hate women and children that have been forced or trafficked into sex work, 2. Even if I hate sex workers, I still hate their customers even more.

I feel this is an unpopular opinion, even here on FDS, but I genuinely despise people, specifically women who 'consentually' do sex work. Especially porn. I absolutely can not understand why women who come from priveledged (first world countries, often white skin color) backrounds would degrade, sexualize, objectify, humiliate, and commodify themselves in this way. The worst part is that they claim it's empowering, even though most other sex workers absolutely don't feel this way because they have been forced. Not to mention that unfortunately when one woman does something, it will often reflect on all of us. So when one or two or even thousands of women treat themselves this way, ie. sexualize themselves, it will start affecting wider society and it's views on women. I myself have been sexualized from a young age and have never been able to escape the way men act towards me just because I'm curvy. I have never had a choice in how me and people like me were depicted and treated, and seemingly my role in life was and always will be nothing more than a sex object.

It also becomes a great excuse to further hyper sexualize women, "well all these porn stars say that it's all good, so why would porn be unhealthy/unethical?" So in this way women enable men's shitty behaviors by giving them material. Again, the main problem are these porn sick and sex addicted men, but the sex workers are not helping. Not only is there an over abundance of porn, but sexualization has seeped into everything. Even female cartoon characters for kids are often coded in this way (look at Lola Bunny for example).

It's crazy to me that something as intimate as sex could even be sold in the first plsce.. if you were to buy cuddles, the act would be there but it's a hollow mimic of something else and doesn't really deserve to be treated like the original. You can't buy love, you can't buy intimacy.

I think there is a case to be made that the way women define themselves as empowered or sexy is greatly influenced by the male gaze we all have grown up seeing. If you see a confident woman depicted as wearing revealing clothing over and over again in media, you will internalise it and then replicate it yourself. Then it will feel so ingrained that you confuse it for self expression or something intrinsic when it isn't. All this is to say, we might not really have seen confidense or empowerment depicted with the female gaze. It might include half nakedness, it might not.

There is also something to be said about the fact that so many sex workers have gone through sexual harrasment or violence of some kind before, after or during their work. This is a personal take so I'm not claiming it to be fact, but it genuinely feels like many people go to this work to find male validation, to help with insecurity and trauma. When they should be going to therapy. It is my personal belief that a woman who goes into sex work willingly is not giving informed consent. They might think it's no big deal and it's just a way to get some cash, but in reality they unknowingly put their own as well as others' well being at risk by supporting this toxic industry. Doing something so serious with so little concern is sickening to me.

I think it's just a bit too convenient that the new flavor of empowerment still panders to men's desires..

I expect this to be unpopular, and I can admit it might not all be rational, but I had to vent somewhere. I hope that it's thought provoking if nothing else.