From a very young age, women are
exposed to the art of seduction. Whether it is dolls that possess impossible
body part size ratios or media advertisements using sex as a marketing tool,
seduction is everywhere in the public atmosphere. With media as a major
influence, girls grow up to fit the standard of a sexy seductress, and boys
grow up expecting girls to act that way. With sex as such a prominent part of
the world, it is astounding how silenced it is in common conversation. These
contrasting ways in which sexuality is viewed produce a severe double standard
for the agency a woman has over her body.
Views on agency can come from many
parts of a person’s life, such as religion, culture, media, family values, or
what is learned in a college seminar. Traditional conservative values insist on
women suppressing their sexuality. The curves they possess must be hidden away
from the public eye and their sexual urges must be ignored, only exposed to the
man with whom they will one day be married and conceive children. In the
general public point of view, women are supposed to be seductive and sexy, appealing
to everyone they encounter. They are held to standards where they should dress
to show off their bodies, yet only have sexual encounters in their serious
romantic relationships. They should be using birth control mechanisms such as
condoms or the pill so they don’t reproduce before they are ready. Although
there are more freedoms in the agency a woman may have with her body according
to the general public, she is still not given complete agency because some of
her bodily rights are denied to her.
If women truly had complete agency over
their bodies, they would be able to breastfeed in public without stares or
discomfort surrounding them. They would be able to go out in public each day
not wearing a bra or styling their hair and makeup without the worry that they
will be negatively viewed. They would be able to openly talk about bodily
functions and their sexuality without being ostracized for lewd conversation.
They would be able to legally utilize their bodies to make money, working in
the sex industry, without the risk of being thrown in jail for taking part in
commercialized sex.
In feminist, anti-capitalist writer
Laura Agustín’s blog post for Jacobin Magazine, “Sex as Work and Sex Work,”
accessible at this web link, https://www.jacobinmag.com/2012/05/sex-as-work-and-sex-work/,
she explains how a fundamental difference between commercial and non-commercial
sex cannot be assumed. She states how in a sexual encounter, for both parties
to receive pleasure from the experience, both individuals must put in work. Sexual
experiences cannot be measured on a scale of equality because everyone’s body
is different and everyone experiences pleasure in a different way. In Agustín’s
book Sex at the Margins, she
illustrates how sex workers provide a care service to their clients, acting as
a lover, a listener, and an outlet for frustrations, sexual or otherwise.
Exchanging sex for money is work in the same way that any other personal
service provided is work. Refusing to legalize sex work is denying female, as
well as male and androgynous, sex workers the right to have complete agency
over their bodies and receive payment for their work in a safe, equal work
environment.
The illegalization of sex work not
only strips women of their rights to employ their bodies and make money off of
the care services they provide, but it goes one step further in refusing them full
agency by creating dangerous work conditions in the sex industry for the
already vulnerable workers. The sex industry is a part of an invisible economy,
as the majority of sex workers are paid underground. This economy encompasses
many businesses outside of just the workers and managers in the sex industry,
including, but not limited to, hotels, cab drivers, bartenders, phone
companies, the tourism industry, and the film industry. With such strong roots
in the economy, sex work is here to stay, legal or not. This being the case,
the wellbeing of sex workers should be prioritized. It is imperative that women
be legally granted full agency over their bodies and given safe working
conditions, as well as full health benefits due to the frequent exposure to
infectious diseases experienced by care workers. It is time for women to stop
hiding their bodies and sexuality behind the double standards surrounding
sexuality that are imposed upon them, and reclaim the full agency that they
deserve.
References:
Agustín, Laura. Sex at
the Margins. London: Zed Books, 2007. Print.
Agustín, Laura. “Sex as Work and Sex Work.” Jacobin Magazine. 16 May 2012. Web. 14
April
2016.
Elliott, Maya. “A Crime of Conscience: What We Can Learn
from Jennifer Lawrence.” Her
Campus.
09 Oct. 2014. Web. 14 April 2016.
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