conversation began as a discussion about byron hurt's movie "hip-hop: beyond beats and rhymes" and meandered toward dr. lee's research on sex work.
examine the intersectionality between issues of race, class and gender in regards to sex work and prostitution
examples: differences between human trafficking / gender violence and women's rights? how do you define feminism and women's rights? do women have the right to choose sex work?
-- possible to distinguish between "legitimate occupation" and "exploitation of women's bodies?"
-- black women used prostitution as a tool of anti-colonialism (used to leverage rights)
note the hierarchy of how we discuss sex work from escorts to call girls to brothels to streetwalkers (in terms of danger and exploitation)
critiques on radical feminism:
1/ only focuses on gender oppression to the exclusion of other issues (race and class) note that in the sex work industry, there are those who enter in from the middle class. reasoning is generally "sexual exploration" from the lower class, reasoning is generally more economic (includes undocumented immigrant women.)
-- important to note that in most cases not "completely" forced (knife / gun / etc.)
-- results from informed decision against other choices
2/ radical feminism neglects these choices and categorizes any decision toward prostitution or sex work as "forced" or made under "false consciousness" (you can't see or understand that you are forced to do something because you are under the veil of oppression and simply believe what hegemonic forces "want" you to believe)
-- "false consciousness" is a highly elitist concept (just as oppressive) and unprovable. implicit in "you don't know what you're doing" is "I know better than you."
the term "false consciousness" arose from marxism regarding some of the actions of the lower classes. the prison notebooks provide a basis for incorporating other aspects (such as oppression) into notions of classism
considerations of policy? how do we react to sweatshops vs. how do we react to prostitution? what sort of negotiations occur in a neo-liberal economy?
sweatshops arise in third world countries, why? IMF lends money to the country in exchange for deregulation.
rise of "sex tourism"-- purchasing of sex in less privileged countries
-- third world countries use tourism to attract foreign currencies (bolster economies)
-- sex tourism is part of this both explicitly and implicitly
enjoying music but still being critical
-- this doesn't mean male domination doesn't exist, but we need to better and more clearly understand the *variety* of narratives
destigmatising and giving rights:
-- streetworkers and illegal immigrants are more likely to acquiesce to risky demands (economic necessity)
-- lack of benefits, sick days, vacations
