you go too far, marlowe.

on decriminalising sex work and drug use.

it may surprise you to know that most sex workers in the west nowadays are middle class rather than lower class and that has given rise to a kind of hierarchy, a distancing of the empowered, independent escort from the drug driven, need based prostitution so often depicted on tv. it has, up to now, been my understanding that the the decriminalisation of sex work and the decriminalisation of drugs are two separate, unrelated issues, and that although many sex workers are drug free, educated women, many have been driven into the business by forced addictions. caty simon’s interview at feministe may have changed my mind. i say ‘may have’ because, like many arguments that involve public policy, a certain amount of generalisation is required, and like all feminist arguments, the identity politics involved often overlook the individuals on the margins of a the particular group spoken for, in this case, sex workers.

there is no question that sex worker activism is largely driven by the aforementioned population of white, middle class women and that those lower class street walker prostitutes at the bottom of the hierarchy are often seen as being more connected to movements against human trafficking or against poverty, pimping and drug use.

the fact is this - arguments that criminalise drug use are based in the disease model of addiction, much like the arguments against s & m, homosexuality and other sexual deviances. however, unlike the case against sexual deviance, drugs are considered truly mind-altering in a biological fashion, both temporarily and permanently. of course, there are those who will argue that sexual deviance is the same way - biological, but i am firmly of the opinion that it’s not a choice, but a preferance. you like eating pickles? i don’t like eating pickles. you like fucking boys? i don’t like fucking boys (an example).

So what gives?

simon’s argument is compelling - there shouldn’t be policies based on (supposedly) biological, disease models of addiction, and the stereotype of the cracked-out whore is detrimental to sex worker activism. however, i can’t seem to get my mind to associate the two movements in a practical fashion, while surely, decriminalising drug use will aid the human trafficking business. ‘no really, officer, she took all those drugs, legally, by herself!’. i can’t see that helping sex worker activism either.

note: i’m all for intersectionality though, so perhaps more things good than bad could come of this. it certainly makes sense in terms of sex work rather than human trafficking.