Feminist views on sex work vary widely, depending on the type of feminism being applied. The sex industry is defined as the system of supply and demand which is generated by the existence of sex work as a commodity. The sex industry can further be segregated into the direct sex industry, which mainly applies to prostitution, and the indirect sex industry, which applies to sexual businesses which provide services such as lap dancing. The final component of the sex industry lies in the production and selling of pornography. With the distinctions between feminist perspectives, there are many documented instances from feminist authors of both explicit and implied feminist standpoints that provide coverage on the sex industry in regards to both "autonomous" and "non-autonomous" sex trades. The quotations are added since some feminist ideologies believe the commodification of women's bodies is never autonomous and therefore subversive or misleading by terminology.
There exists a diversity of feminist views on prostitution. Many of these positions can be loosely arranged into an overarching standpoint that is generally either critical or supportive of prostitution and sex work. The discourse surrounding prostitution is often discussed assuming sex workers are women, but those in the field of sex work and prostitution are not always women.
Anti-prostitution feminists hold that prostitution is a form of exploitation of women and of male dominance over women, and the result of the existing patriarchal societal order. These feminists argue that prostitution has a very negative effect, both on the prostitutes themselves and on society as a whole, as it reinforces stereotypical views about women, who are seen as sex objects to be used and abused by men.
Pro-prostitution feminists hold that prostitution and other forms of sex work can be valid choices for women and men who choose to engage in it. In this view, prostitution must be differentiated from forced prostitution, and feminists should support sex worker activism against abuses by both the sex industry and the legal system.
The disagreement between these two feminist stances has proven particularly contentious, and may be comparable to the feminist sex wars (acrimonious debates on sex issues) of the late twentieth century.
Framing the debate
Newman and White in Women Power and Public Policy (2012) argue that feminist perspectives on prostitution agree on three main points: "First, they condemn the current legal policy enforcing criminal sanctions against women who offer sex in exchange for money. Second, they agree that authentic consent is the sine qua non of legitimate sex, whether in commercial or non-commercial form. Third, all feminists recognize that commercial sex workers are subject to economic coercion and are often victims of violence, and that little is done to address these problems."
They go on to identify three main feminist views on the issue of prostitution:
The sex work perspective maintains that prostitution is a legitimate form of work for women faced with the option of other bad jobs, therefore women ought to have the right to work in the sex trade free of prosecution or the fear of it. It also argues that governments should eliminate laws that criminalize voluntary prostitution, which would allow prostitution to be regulated by governments and business codes, protect sex trade workers, and improve their ability to prosecute people who hurt them. The abolitionist perspective holds that governments should work towards the elimination of prostitution. The outlaw perspective views work in the sex trade as a "stepping stone to a better career or an expression of sexual freedom".
Arguments against prostitution Many feminists are strongly opposed to prostitution, as they see the practice as a form of violence against women, which should not be tolerated by society. Feminists who hold such views on prostitution include Kathleen Barry, Melissa Farley,Prostitution: Factsheet on Human Rights Violations . Prostitution Research & Education. Retrieved 3 September 2009. Julie Bindel,Ending a trade in misery (10 September 2007). The Guardian. Retrieved 3 September 2009. Sheila Jeffreys, Catharine MacKinnon,Catharine A. MacKinnon (1993) "Prostitution And Civil Rights " Michigan Journal of Gender & Law, 1993, Volume 1: 13–31. Retrieved 3 September 2009. Andrea Dworkin, and Laura Lederer.Lederer, Laura J. Addressing Demand: Examining New Practices . Global Centurion. Retrieved 3 September 2009. Their arguments against prostitution are explained and detailed below.
Coercion and poverty
These feminists argue that, in most cases, prostitution is not a conscious and calculated choice. They say that most women who become prostitutes do so because they were forced or coerced by a pimp or by human trafficking, or, when it is an independent decision, generally is the result of extreme poverty and lack of opportunity, or of serious underlying problems, such as drug addiction, past trauma (such as child sexual abuse), and other unfortunate circumstances.
These feminists point out that women from the lowest socio-economic classes—impoverished women, women with a low level of education, and women from the most disadvantaged racial and ethnic minorities—are over-represented in prostitution all over the world; as stated by Catharine MacKinnon: "If prostitution is a free choice, why are the women with the fewest choices the ones most often found doing it?". A large percentage of prostitutes polled in one study of 475 people involved in prostitution reported that they were in a difficult period of their lives and most wanted to leave the occupation.Farley, Melissa. (April/2/2000) Prostitution: Factsheet on Human Rights Violations . Prostitution Research & Education. Retrieved 3 September 2009. MacKinnon argues that "in prostitution, women have sex with men they would never otherwise have sex with. The money thus acts as a form of force, not as a measure of consent. It acts like physical force does in rape."
Some anti-prostitution scholars hold that true consent in prostitution is not possible. Barbara Sullivan says: "In the academic literature on prostitution, there are very few authors who argue that valid consent to prostitution is possible. Most suggest that consent to prostitution is impossible, or at least unlikely." "[...] most authors suggest that consent to prostitution is deeply problematic, if not impossible [...] most authors have argued that consent to prostitution is impossible. For radical feminists, this is because prostitution is always a coercive sexual practice. Others simply suggest that economic coercion makes the sexual consent of sex workers highly problematic, if not impossible...".
Finally, abolitionists believe no person can be said to truly consent to their own oppression, and no people should have the right to consent to the oppression of others. In the words of Kathleen Barry, consent is not a "good divining rod as to the existence of oppression, and consent to violation is a fact of oppression. Oppression cannot effectively be gauged according to the degree of 'consent', since even in slavery, there was some consent, if consent is defined as inability to see any alternative."Barry, K "The Prostitution of Sexuality: The Global Exploitation of Women" New York: NYU Press 1995
Long-term effects on the prostitutes Anti-prostitution feminists argue that prostitution is a practice which leads to serious negative long-term effects for the prostitutes, such as trauma; stress; depression; anxiety; self-medication through alcohol and drug use; eating disorders; and a greater risk for self-harm and suicide, because prostitution is an exploitative practice, which involves a woman who has sex with customers to whom she is not attracted, and routinely exposes the women to psychological, physical and sexual violence.Parker, Joe. (August/04/1998) How Prostitution Works . Prostitution Research & Education. Retrieved 3 September 2009.Arch Gen Psychiatry – Prevalence and Health Correlates of Prostitution Among Patients Entering Treatment for Substance Use Disorders, March 2008, Burnette et al. 65 (3): 337. Archpsyc.ama-assn.org. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
Andrea Dworkin stated her opinions as: "Prostitution in and of itself is an abuse of a woman's body. Those of us who say this are accused of being simple-minded. But prostitution is very simple. [...] In prostitution, no woman stays whole. It is impossible to use a human body in the way women's bodies are used in prostitution and to have a whole human being at the end of it, or in the middle of it, or close to the beginning of it. It's impossible. And no woman gets whole again later, after."
Male dominance over women Anti-prostitution feminists are extremely critical of sex-positive perspectives, wherein prostitution by choice is said to be part of the sexual liberation of women, that it can be empowering for women, etc. Some feminists who oppose prostitution agree that sexual liberation for women outside of prostitution is important in the fight for gender equality, but they say it is crucial that society does not replace one patriarchal view on female sexuality – e.g., that women should not have sex outside marriage/a relationship and that casual sex is shameful for a woman, etc. – with another similarly oppressive and patriarchal view – acceptance of prostitution, a sexual practice which is based on a highly patriarchal construct of sexuality: that the sexual pleasure of a woman is irrelevant, that her only role during sex is to submit to the man's sexual demands and to do what he tells her, that sex should be controlled by the man and that the woman's response and satisfaction are irrelevant. These feminists argue that sexual liberation for women cannot be achieved as long as unequal sexual practices where a man dominates a woman are normalized.
Such feminists see prostitution as a form of male dominance over women, as the client has sex with a woman who does not enjoy it and who may be making a tremendous psychological effort to mentally dissociate herself from the client. They say that the act of prostitution is not a mutual and equal sex act as it puts the woman in a subordinate position, reducing her to a mere instrument of sexual pleasure for the client. These feminists believe that many clients use the services of prostitutes because they enjoy the "power trip" they derive from the act and the control they have over the woman during the sexual activity. Catharine MacKinnon argues that prostitution "isn't sex only, it's you do what I say, sex."
Prostitution is seen by these feminists as the result of a patriarchal societal order which subordinates women to men and where the inequality between genders is present in all aspects of life. These feminists believe that prostitution is very harmful to society as it reinforces the idea that women are sex objects which exist for men's enjoyment, which can be "bought" and which can be "used" solely for men's sexual gratification. Anti-prostitution feminists argue that when a society accepts prostitution it sends the message that it is irrelevant how the woman feels during sex or what the consequences of sex will be for her, and that it is acceptable for a man to engage in sexual activity with a woman who does not enjoy it and who could be mentally and emotionally forcing herself to be able to cope; the normalization of such one sided sexual encounters might negatively affect the way men relate to women in general and might increase sexual violence against women.