Sex and Power

As a woman, I find it very difficult to have an opinion on the porn industry and sex work. I am very much for selling of sex if it is done in a way that is in good and fair treatment of all the participants. However, I feel like there is a lot of room to improve. I am very against the unequal representation in the upper ranks of the industry and the pay. I feel like there are ways to change and address the issues within the porn and sex work industry, but it would have to involve those within.

I saw a documentary, Live Nude Girls Unite!, filmed back in the late 90s about a peep show theater in San Francisco, CA. I found the peep show theater to be much less degrading because of their being no physical contact with the customers and that the theater was run mainly by other women. The workers all liked what they did but the pay system was unfair and discriminatory, especially to minorities. The women were not able to call out sick without risk of unemployment; the women could have other employees cover for them but they would have to have similar skin, hair, and breasts. The African American and women with darker features were scheduled less hence getting paid less and were never scheduled for the higher paying “private pleasures” section of the theater. The women had enough and started to strike and work towards creating a union. This is found to be something that is truly empowering in the sex industry. In the end, the women did form the union and gained some of their demands but were unable to achieve them all.

Here is the beginning of the film. The film is only a little over an hour and I believe you can watch the entire film on YouTube in parts, if anyone is interested.