By Mariam Karagianni,
“Virtually every time someone watches that movie, they are watching me being raped.” The movie in question is Deep Throat (1972), and the victim is none other than Linda Lovelace, a famous American pornographic actress. Ironically, Linda was praised for advocating sexual freedom and the concept of female pleasure —though that was achieved through oral sex, the epitome of the male gaze. What critics failed to acknowledge, however, was that Linda was trafficked, forced, and brutalized into the porn industry by her pimp-husband Chuck Trainor. She received only a negligible fraction of the enormous profits the movie amassed, and even after escaping that hellish industry, she struggled with poverty and trauma for the rest of her life. This is the experience of the average sex worker, if not all of them. Now, wouldn’t some of you feel guilty calling an industry that exists solely for male pleasure a form of liberation?
Liberal feminists love to embrace sex work in its most glamorized form and repackage it as the ultimate tool of female empowerment. They argue that prostitution allows women to reclaim their bodily autonomy and use it however they choose, free from external objectification. They aim to destigmatize it, and pro-sex-work feminists are willing to work within the system, seeing no need to challenge capitalism or the heteropatriarchal values embedded in our society. Their premise suggests that women can be free within those manacles and that sexism, homophobia, and racism are minor details rather than fundamental pillars of patriarchy. However, what they conveniently ignore is that sex work comes with a heavy burden of misogyny, exploitation, and a terrifying lack of empathy from its consumers. In a world where virginity and purity make young girls so sought after —and where porn creators capitalize on that fetish by promoting the innocent, schoolgirl persona—legalizing and normalizing sex work will only fuel that sick demand.
When a job is empowering, the worker must be able to dictate its terms safely. A CEO has power; an escort, no matter her pay, does not. A waitress can refuse to serve a rude customer; a prostitute cannot reject an outrageous demand without risking violence. Destigmatization can indeed benefit sex workers by humanizing them in the eyes of society and increasing public awareness. However, normalization also applies to consumers, making the industry more accessible and increasing the percentage of men who consume porn and buy sex. The structure of all types of sex work remains the same: a seller, a consumer (almost always male), and a sacrificial lamb —the woman being sold. The patriarchy, capitalism, and ruling elites, along with the next Jeffrey Epstein-style trafficking lord, will always repackage prostitution as “work” because it legitimizes an industry built on coercion.
Framing prostitution as a service —akin to getting one’s nails done— erases consent from the equation. Once the price is paid, the worker is expected to comply. Any assault is dismissed as “part of the job.” In reality, this field is empowering only for those who profit —pimps, traffickers, and buyers. It remains another method of sexually colonizing the female body and asserting dominance. Consent is meaningless when a woman’s “choice” (if she ever had one) is between selling her body or starving. There is no true agency when socioeconomic inequalities drive people into this industry. Love, friendship, and romance could never be classified as jobs —neither can sex. And the clients who sustain this industry will never cease being abusers.
Making a few quick bucks off something does not make it empowering. A woman smiling on camera doesn’t guarantee she’s there willingly (see: Linda Lovelace). It’s terrifying how many young girls turn to platforms like OnlyFans for a meager income. The longer they stay in the adult industry, the harder it becomes to leave —especially when financial dependence sets in. Online sex work also carries additional risks: obsessive stalkers, a tarnished digital footprint (in a deeply judgmental society), and little to no protection against leaked content. Women are fed the illusion that they are their own independent bosses —entrepreneurs, even— but in reality, platforms take a significant portion of their income. While many sex influencers claim to be in full control (a dangerous narrative that lures others into the industry), the truth is that power remains firmly in the hands of the paying customer.
The constant pressure to create content, promote themselves across social media, and maintain engagement with clients leaves creators burned out, anxious, and traumatized. Playboy magazine was the blueprint for this “empowerment” myth —just like OnlyFans models, Playboy bunnies were marketed as wealthy, desirable, and in charge of their sexual agency. Yet former bunnies like Holly Madison and Kendra Wilkinson later revealed how controlling Hugh Hefner was. At the end of the day, they were commodified for their beauty and bodies, not their autonomy.
Studies show that in countries where prostitution is legal, such as Germany and the Netherlands, human trafficking rates are higher. Legal brothels provide a safe haven for traffickers, and legalization results in a larger, harder-to-regulate sex industry. A more effective approach is the Nordic model: decriminalizing the sex worker while criminalizing pimps, traffickers, and buyers. Under this model, workers gain access to legal protection and healthcare without facing prosecution. However, while selling sex is not a crime, purchasing it is. By penalizing those who seek to buy sex and imposing harsher consequences on traffickers, the demand for prostitution declines. Countries using this model also provide rehabilitation, housing, job training, and financial aid to help women exit the industry —resources that many other systems fail to offer. Simply criminalizing prostitution would only worsen conditions for sex workers without eliminating the practice.
Sweden, which introduced the Nordic model in 1999, declared that sex work is an act of male violence against women. Today, it has some of the best statistics in Europe: prostitution has decreased by 50%, and trafficking rates remain among the lowest on the continent (contrast this with Germany). By targeting demand rather than supply, men became more afraid to purchase sex, allowing many workers to leave the industry altogether.
The world is still far from abolishing prostitution entirely —it is not unfairly called the oldest profession in history. However, the myth that sex work is a woman’s empowering choice, a superior alternative to conventional jobs, must end. Whether a woman was trafficked, pimped out by a partner, or is simply a broke college student trying to survive, the reality remains the same: men consume, and women are consumed. There is nothing emancipating about that. It is the ultimate proof of societal failure.
And if sex work were truly empowering, little girls would dream of it. Instead, they dream of being doctors, lawyers, and astronauts —until the world robs them of that choice.
Reference
- Does Legalized Prostitution Increase Human Trafficking? Economics of Security Working Paper Series. Available here
