26/02/2026
WHY A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE S*X INDUSTRY IS NECESSARY NOW MORE THAN EVER
“… At the same time, this system, by designating men as the ones whose needs are paramount, and women as the ones who must always serve men’s needs and who can be bought and sold like commodities, implicitly defines women as second class. This sets up an endless feedback loop in which women are valued less and so their work is paid less, which sustains the imbalance of power through which men have virtual impunity. All made more vicious and efficient through the latest technological developments.
The imbalance of power in prostitution is such that nothing can make it safe for the women and others who are bought within it.
Prostitution won’t end until women stand together en masse and kick up a tsunami-sized fuss and say NO MORE. And insist that prostitution is incompatible with women’s human rights to dignity, equality and freedom from torture, and it has no place in a modern democratic society.
I noticed that as I was saying something like this to Elise, her mouth dropped open. When I finished, she said that never in her entire life and 18 years of formal education had she encountered a serious critique of the s*x industry. Not once. Not ever. She had no knowledge that such a critique even existed. She was absolutely gobsmacked. Obviously, I gave her some suggestions for further reading and she thanked me and attended some of our subsequent events.
But it left me deeply disturbed. How could this happen? How could all that feminist analysis and testimony and courage be eliminated so quickly from the academic canon as if it had never existed? Surely this is evidence that prostitution is imperative to the success of the patriarchal system – and the capitalist and neo-liberal capitalist systems that are built on top of patriarchy? But regardless, it shows the lengths that the powers that be will go to ensure that girls and young women are not exposed to the feminist critique of it.
In prostitution – and po*******hy its propaganda arm – women’s s*xuality and s*xed bodies – the very core of our personhood – are used to dominate, humiliate and dehumanise. And because p**n in particular has infiltrated every corner of our culture, this visceral oppression affects us all.
So without a feminist critique, what are women left with?
So often, it’s shame, whether we’re consciously aware of this or not. So many women are ashamed of our bodies. Ashamed of our high voices. Ashamed of our subordinate position. Ashamed that we earn less money. Ashamed that we are inseparable from the body of despised females.
This is not some personal failure. This is an inevitable response to the current reality. And the more we are exposed to that as children, the deeper the wounds go. And now we have a massive global po*******hy industry that is indoctrinating our children into these brutal misogynistic mores more thoroughly and efficiently than ever before.
This makes it hard for women to fight back and to campaign for change. Because to speak of the reality of the prostitution system draws attention to everything we would rather pretend wasn’t true – particularly our second-class sub-human status.
Maybe that’s why so many comfortably off young women are so keen to pretend that prostitution is a normal job – perhaps the psychological factor driving their activism is a pathological refusal to see the truth of their own situation.
But is it a personal pathology or a cultural one?
We know from anecdotal evidence that many, and perhaps most, of the young women who are leading the campaign to redefine prostitution as a normal job and to introduce the decriminalisation of brothels and pimping and buying s*x, have not themselves been in the position that Harriet and so many other marginalised young women find themselves in, where they really don’t have a choice but to endure being r***d by multiple men a day in order to keep a roof over their heads.
So this is the topsy turvy world we are in. Where large numbers of young women, including medical students who can expect a financially privileged future, are vehemently campaigning for something that is anathema to their own status and wellbeing: The full decriminalisation of the s*xploitation industry.
And no, I didn’t use the word “rape” lightly. R**e is unwanted s*x that is forced on someone against their will.
This is almost universally considered – in theory at least – a serious crime. This is an intrinsic recognition that our s*xual integrity is fundamental to our sense of self, and that any assault on it is uniquely damaging both to the individual and to society as a whole.
But in prostitution, a woman might be experiencing this 10 or more times a day. Day after day after day. Tell me, how could a woman survive that without massive dissociation? Without massive psychological damage? …”
Read more: https://nordicmodelnow.org/2023/12/18/why-a-critical-analysis-of-the-s*x-industry-is-necessary-now-more-than-ever/
