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Why are sex workers forced to wear a financial scarlet letter?

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Re: Why are sex workers forced to wear a financial scarlet letter?

#41

Post by Bakary »

dtx1 wrote: post #16
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Again with the denigrating of sex work. It's a pervasive and ancient part of human society, but it should not be studied, because? We study bookmaking and banking and families and art, but not this because, it's naughty? it's taboo? it makes some uncomfortable? All that is a clear sign to me, that we need more such scholars.

Quoted post unavailable.

If we frame the idea a bit more precisely:

1) Pornography studies can be an aspect of sociology, and it's not uncommon for sociologists to specialize in a narrow area.

2) The study of pornography isn't all that narrow to begin with. It's something that has driven technology to a great extent, in particular media and web functionalities. It's something with thousands of years of history and with literally billions of people involved as producers or consumers. There are probably very few people reading this thread who have never viewed a form of it.

3) A job can have a poor financial outlook even if its subject matter is worthwhile.

Re: Why are sex workers forced to wear a financial scarlet letter?

#42

Post by giantg2 »

"It also establishes a precedent, allowing private companies to set opaque, moralizing, and arbitrary censorship terms without oversight."

Yes, this is done with other things as well.

On one hand, I think that the free market would create payment processors willing to work with the groups rejected by others.

On the other hand, it seems that many financial things are set by international organizations, which the processors would still need to follow to be included in the central systems, such as the coding (does adult content have its own code, or is it under entertainment?).

Re: Why are sex workers forced to wear a financial scarlet letter?

#44

Post by j_m_b »

horsestaple wrote: post #39

Quoted post unavailable.

>We also know that the vast majority of people who work in the "industry" are either coerced by others or forced into it by life circumstances.

Citation needed. Porn stars are coerced into it? Are cam models forced into it? The fact that the oldest profession is illegal leads to exploitation.

"You think I sell my body, I merely sell my time" -NOFX

Re: Why are sex workers forced to wear a financial scarlet letter?

#46

Post by AmericanChopper »

The only thing special about sex workers in this situation is the politicized nature of their work. The industry they work in, and they way they conduct their business, simply doesn’t align very well with the risk management strategies of conventional financial institutions. Any form of non-conventional work is going to run into exactly the same problems.

I know this because the same thing happens to me. Nearly all my income comes from InfoSec-related contract work, and most of my customers are overseas. This is a very non-conventional working arrangement, so when conventional financial institutions apply their routine risk assessment processes to my situation, it produces a lot of “computer says no” outcomes. For instance I was recently told that I would need to provide 90% collateral in order to get a car loan, despite being able to prove having a very high income over the past 12 months.

Clearly a stupid situation, but with a perfectly rational explanation. The problem here is a tiny niche of customers not being catered to by large institutions. The reason for this is because tiny niches of customers are typically not worth the effort to large institutions. But that conclusion is unlikely to attract much outrage traffic…

Re: Why are sex workers forced to wear a financial scarlet letter?

#47

Post by NoraCodes »

horsestaple wrote: post #39

Quoted post unavailable.

> We also know that the vast majority of people who work in the "industry" are either coerced by others or forced into it by life circumstances.

Most people are forced into work by life circumstances. That's how society operates: work or starve.

Sex trafficking is a genuine issue, but it's not at all the majority of the industry. I don't see what makes consensual sex work uniquely coercive or evil when compared to other physically or emotionally intensive labor.

Re: Why are sex workers forced to wear a financial scarlet letter?

#49

Post by BurningFrog »

horsestaple wrote: post #39

Quoted post unavailable.

> We also know that the vast majority of people who work in the "industry" are either coerced by others or forced into it by life circumstances

We don't know that. We are told that, without evidence, a lot.

And of course, technically, most of us are forced to work by life circumstances.

Re: Why are sex workers forced to wear a financial scarlet letter?

#50

Post by alistairSH »

dtx1 wrote: post #16
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Again with the denigrating of sex work. It's a pervasive and ancient part of human society, but it should not be studied, because? We study bookmaking and banking and families and art, but not this because, it's naughty? it's taboo? it makes some uncomfortable? All that is a clear sign to me, that we need more such scholars.

Quoted post unavailable.

How do you know "pornography studies" isn't the name for "sociology with a concentration in pornography"?
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