Porn stars: NO more damaged than the rest of us

[leftlibdem420]

194. It's complicated

The repression and the exploitation of sexuality represent two sides of the same coin. In condemning pornography and fighting for its prohibition, anti-porn feminists see pornography as a business that exists to exploit women and gay men for the purpose of making certain business tycoons fabulously rich, a situation they see as no different from using the repression of sexual expression to control, manipulate, and punish women. I understand where they're coming from, and the reasons for their flavour of sexual repression is to block this sort of exploitation rather than to control women for their benefit. That said, I disagree wholeheartedly with their solution. The best way to protect people in the porn industry (and sex workers in general) from exploitation without restricting civil liberties or encouraging the repression of sexual expression is through organization via the labour movement and appropriate regulations from a progressive or a social democratic government.