There is a ceratin feeling of deja vu when approaching the subject of sex
work on this list, but I think we need to clarify a few things:
1. From an analitical point of view sex, and _any_ other area human
activity involving interaction and exchange between different individuals,
can be carried either outside- or through the institution of the market; if
latter is the case, sex is work just as any other personal service: hair
styling, treatment of illness, child care, teaching, massage, counseling,
etc.
2. The only reason to exempt sex form that logic is to claim that sex is a
special and unique area, incomparable to any other areas of human activity;
examples of such a view can be found, inter alia, in Victorian morality,
Romantic (as pertaining to literary style) concept of love, religious
beliefs etc. -- in a word, hardly an empirical or analytical position, let
alone Marxist.
3. If sex, as any other activity, can be bought and sold in the market, it
is subject to variations in the actual arrangements under which that
happens -- as it is the case of selling and buying any other services.
Just like exchange of other services can range from slavery to workers'
cooperatives, the same holds for exchange of sex services.
4. Moreover, the existence of ethically questionable forms of exchange do
not mean that all forms of exchange are ethically suspect. The existence
of slave labour or sweat-shops does not mean that work is always a
degrading experience. It is a degrading experience under those conditions,
but it can be gratifying under other conditions of exchange e.g. in a
workers' co-op. The same holds for sex. The fact that working conditions
in some segments industry are degrading to the workers, does not mean that
they are degrading in all segments, or even more importantly, that they
_have to_ be degrading.
5. This discussion will certainly benefit from observing the above
outlined distinction, and keep the analytical aspect separate from personal
feeings. People may have different opinions or feelings about buying and
selling sexual services; but that should not preclude them from taking an
analytical approach. Personally, I prefer barter to market exchange in that
area, not because of any ethical considerations, but because the quality of
what I can afford in the market falls well below my expectations or what I
can possibly get through barter. For the same reason, I avoid shopping at
K-mart.
6. That, however, does not preclude taking an ethical position against
degrading working conditions regardless of in what particular service area
they occur. An important point is to take that position because of the
exploitative working conditions, and _not_ because they involve sex or any
other "dirty realm" manufactured by Judeo-Christian-bourgeois ideology. In
fact, the preferred Judeo-Christian-bourgeois form of sex exchange, aka
marriage, is tantamount to indentured servitude.
regards,
wojtek sokolowski
institute for policy studies
johns hopkins university
baltimore, md 21218
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
voice: (410) 516-4056
fax: (410) 516-8233
