Sex Jobs That Aren’t Sex Work
SEX! SEXY SEX! SIMULATED SEX!
Now that I have your attention, let’s talk about something important. Instagram and Tik Tok recently changed their community standards and guidelines in an effort to “combat sex trafficking.” These new guidelines are as a result of some atrocious new laws in the US, and while they’re intended to address sex trafficking, they have consequences for both consensual sex-works and even just adjacent work.
If you’re not familiar, here is a quick summary of why they’re doing this and why it’s ineffective (and if you are, feel free to skip this section).
Instagram and Tik Tok’s New Regulations (and Why They Suck)
In 2018, the United States passed a series of laws called SESTA/FOSTA (Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act and Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act). These acts made websites legally liable for any sex trafficking that occurres on their platform. This issue is that the U.S. defines sex trafficking very loosely, so their definition includes adult consensual sex workers. Many non-sex workers were outraged by these acts as it inhibits internet freedom and freedom of speech (and if you don’t understand why this is bad for everyone, click here!)
For example, Backpage, the website that sex workers used to find clients and screen them for safety purposes, deemed the legal risk too great and shut down. Craigslist decided it was safer to shut down their personal ads. These websites closing does not mean that they were hubs of sex trafficking. In fact, there is very little accurate data on the actual rates of consensual sex workers vs sex trafficking victims due to the loose legal definition, but even one occurrence is enough to leave these sites legally liable.
There has been no data to support the efficacy of these new laws in ending sex trafficking, but there have been many discussions and information gathered determining that these laws create higher risk for harm for consensual sex workers. In December of 2020, the United States passed the Earn It Act which requires websites to prove they are doing all they can to end sex trafficking in order to earn back their legal protections against liability from civil lawsuits related to user generated content. Once again, due to the nebulous nature of the definition of sex trafficking, anyone with an Onlyfans has been kicked off of platforms like Instagram and TikTok (unless they’re a celebrity, of course).
Who does this really impact?
Sex workers are people outside of their job, and their job is in the service industry. People are going to continue to engage in consensual sex work, so instead of conflating it with trafficking and creating unsafe work environments, we should make the world a better place by ending the stigma against these roles, which would ultimately result in safer working conditions AND create safer escape hatches for people who actually are being sex trafficked.
There are many other jobs being unfairly targeted by these acts, and the sex world is much larger than just service providers. When we make laws rooted in sex negative moralizing, they don’t solve problems. These laws don’t end sex trafficking or impact it in any noticeable way, they just make people feel good for supporting them.
In other words, while these laws have been disastrous for women doing consensual sex work, it’s also had a big impact on other roles. To keep things pithy and enjoyable, I provided a series of lists to illustrate my point of just how many different groups of people are affected.
5 ROLES AFFECTED BY SESTA/FOSTA AND THE EARN IT ACT THAT YOU WOULD TOTALLY BELIEVE!
Full service consensual sex workers
Women working in massage parlours
Professional Doms
Strippers
Adult content creators (people who create porn)
8 JOBS IN THE SEX INDUSTRY THAT ARE NOT SEX WORK BUT SUPPORT SEX WORK THAT RAE COULD THINK OF IN UNDER 1 MINUTE
Why do people think sex workers exist in a vacuum, unrelated to the rest of society? I took a few minutes to brainstorm all the roles in the sex industry that are not sex work, but support sex work in different ways.
People producing, filming, and supporting adult content creation
Website developers (who do you think builds and maintains Pornhub?)
Photographers (shooting the content for images)
Landlords and rental administrators
Costumers/fashion designers who create dancewear and pole outfits
Social media content creators
Therapists (we should all have a therapist, not just sex workers)
Lewd content creators (bikini shots, sexy cosplay photosets, etc)
6 JOBS THAT ARE SEX WORK ADJACENT THAT ARE NOT SEX WORK BUT TALK ABOUT SEX THAT RAE COULD THINK OF IN UNDER 1 MINUTE
What are the jobs that are sex work adjacent? These are occupations that may involve sex in some way, but aren’t sex work.
Sex Educators
Sex Toy sellers/manufacturers
Artists
Sex Club Related Work
Owners
Managers
Event Planners
Bartenders
Customer Service/Hosts
Cleaners
Marketing departments
HR and other administrative roles
Burlesque Dancers
Body Positive activists
Sexual Health Clinics
3 JOBS THAT SELL SEX THAT AREN’T SEX WORK
I’m sure there are more but these were fairly obvious.
Advertising (this one is self explanatory)
Modelling (you may be fully dressed, but the bedroom eyes sell the perfume)
Acting (actors simulate sex all the time, just look at HBO)
I’m not here to debate sex worker legalities and moralities, but if you’re interested in learning more you should listen to Season 2 of my podcast where I hang out with Lady Pim, professional Dominatrix. On the podcast, we’ll delve a little deeper into the question sex work vs trafficking.
Whereever your morals lie, it’s clear that we need to stop thinking about sex workers as people who exist outside of society, or as victims, and as regular people, doing a job, supporting the economy, having families, and existing as part of a larger industry structure that has nothing to do with trafficking. We need to solve problems with facts, not our feelings.