The common myth surrounding sex work is that it is an inherently capitalist and exploitative industry that in a socialist society would be destroyed, its workers liberated from the humiliation of selling their body. But this very idea is flawed in more ways than one, and in fact the sex work industry can in many ways be a force of revolutionary change. This essay will outline how the work of independent sexworkers in in many ways laying the foundations of a socialist society through their creator organized practices.

What is Sex Work

The sex industry is a very wide industry that covers many forms of adult entertainment, with the common feature of all of its sub types being the focus of the body in a sexual context. This industry includes strippers, hookers, escorts, prostitutes, nude/lingerie models, camgirls, NSFW voice actors, etc.

Within this industry there are two camps that sex workers will fall into: organized and independent. Organized sex workers are your studio/club workers who are hired under contract by a strip club, brothel, porn studio, etc. following the more classic capitalist organization of the workplace where these performers are paid a set wage determined by their employers, the companies they work for profiting off of the work of hundreds of employees which put the work into creating. Independent sex workers are the vast majority of sex workers, they are self-employed, taking on the role of what we would call petty capitalists and typically working online on platforms such as Onlyfans.

Problems in the Sex Industry

When talking about the exploitation, harm, and safety of the sex industry the conversation mostly focuses on the issues created by organized sex work inside of studios, brothels, and clubs where the performers are subordinates and are exploited of their labor by the owner of these companies and establishments. This is done through the creation of exploitative contracts which aim to reduce performer autonomy through low wages and clauses which restrict the performers ability to decide their own appearance and who they work with. Another method of exploitation which is illegal but still occurs on a regular basis is that of couch casting where a performer will perform sexual favors for a potential employer in order to get a job. This method is typically used to rape survival sexworkers who do not have the power to say no to this highly unethical practice.

Another big issue within the industry is “survival sex work” which is found in both organized and independent sex workers. Survival sex work is the practice of being a sex worker in order to survive, these are typically POC, the disabled, and queer folks due to capitalist societies tendency to label these groups as inhirable. For many of these individuals they live barely making ends meat

A third major issue within the industry is that of discrimination and lack or respect for boundaries by clients. This one is a very prevalent issue due to many clients being men who expect the performer to be 100% submissive and free of charge. In fact this is one of the most harmful things which occur within the sex industry, as it forces independent models who are struggling to either join big studios and give up their autonomy or forcing them out of the industry, which for survival sex workers is a near death sentence.

The Revolutionary Practices of Sexworkers

There are many practices which independent sex workers engage in which help minimize the harm caused within the industry from corporate studios and survival situations. Many of these practices are also used by various grassroots anarchist and socialist movements as a form of community organizing and aid.

Mutual-Aid

Mutual-Aid is one of the most common revolutionary actions that sex workers partake in, It is the exchange of aid between individuals or groups of individuals with the expectation that in future they will receive aid when they need it. Mutual-Aid has become a staple of the sex industry as a way for models and performers to support each other, stemming from a culture of survival sex work. This culture has made it to where the vast majority of performers see each other as a community to support rather than as competition to destroy. Most performers have a common understanding of each others struggles, and are thus inclined to help another. I myself have been a recipient of and giver of aid, and have done so with no expectation of anything in return because I wholeheartedly support my fellow performers.

Mutual-Aid is a form of wealth redistribution, because those in a position to give will do so, helping performers who are struggling meet their needs. Typically in the rest of capitalistic society there is an incentive to hoard wealth to put yourself on top whilst letting others suffer. But within the sex industry there is an understanding that if we all have what we need, we all succeed together.

Queerness

Many independent and survival sex workers are queer. A part of this is because of discrimination experienced in other industries, making finding work in other industries hard. This, alongside disability are the main causes of survival sex work. However, another reason for the vast queerness in the industry is because of the openness it allows in performance. The ability to openly be who you are, whether that is as a transperson, gay, lesbian, bi, intersex, etc. is extremely alluring to queer folks who generally have to closet in wider society. As a result, sex work draws in many queer performers. Thanks to this, broadly among performers there is an extreme sense of acceptance, positivity, and empowerment for queer folks. Most performers generally do not need to worry about experiencing discrimination by a fellow performer.

This does however change within the studio scene, as many studios find it more profitable to cater to cis/straight pornography, as well as marketing trans porn as both alluring and taboo, perpetuating this sense of forbiddeness of transfolk, mostly transwomen, among wider society. This has the harming effect of simultaneously fetishizing transfolk whilst also permitting discrimination, effectively reducing transfolk to the position of a discardable object. It must fulfill sexual desire then get discarded once used, no room for humanity.

The history between the LGBTQ+ community and the sex work/kinkster communities has been a history of comradery and support. At the Stonewall Riots of 1969 sex workers, kinksters, and many other marginalized communities marches alongside the queer protesters. During the AIDS epidemic of the 1990s many sex workers were quick to rush to the forefront of raising awareness due to the risk that STDs/STIs pose to sex workers, helping de-stigmatize the treatment of folks who had STDs/STIs. Kink spaces have always been safe spaces for queer folks, giving many queer adults a free space to express themselves and love whomever they love.

Feminism

The vast majority of models are women, both cis and trans. A large reason for this is due to the social belief that only women are sex workers. This belief is harmful and perpetuates patriarchal standards of femininity. However, Independent sex work gives both freedom of expression and financial independence to women. This work allows women to become their own bosses, and allows them to openly explore and express their own style, kink, and sexuality. Independent sex work challenges standard social beliefs by creating pornography that breaks away from the standards studios have created for decades. This includes works created to appeal to women, queer couples, and men in a more healthy way that erodes preconceived societal notions.

Sex work also normalizes feminine bodies, reducing the stigma of feminine body types. This shall be touched upon in more detail in the next chapter on body positivity, however, independent sex work allows for the true expression of the beauty that is feminine bodies of all types. Cis, trans, skinny, thicc, short, tall, busty, and flat. We women are beautiful and love to show that in ways which don’t just cater to the sexual fantasies of men.

Body Positivity

The human body is a beautiful thing, which we in society tend to overlook or take for granted. We as a society, through our institutions and traditions, have set standards on beauty which have in recent times become quite unattainable. A thin waisted skinny 5’2” body with “perfect” C cup breasts in the case of femme bodies, or in the case of men a 6’ muscular body with a large dick. Studios exploit this fact in their for-profit endeavors, many times mistreating and forcing performers of “alternative” body types to comply with these standards through the usage of drugs, diets, and surgeries. This is why most performers who work for studios look the same, a copy and paste with few variations from the original template. Consumers eat up this generic and bland standardization that is devoid of artistry and uniqueness since they have been conditioned and enabled by societal institutions and customs to accept it as normality. Thus falling into a trap of patriarchal consumerism.

However, the situation is, among performers themselves, different within independent sex work. Because most independent sex workers are queer, disabled, people of color there is a lack of standardization. Performers of all body types exist, many do find, albeit limited, success within their work. Performers can openly cherish their stretch marks, scars, and blemishes. Being the boss of their own work, there is no boss to enforce standards, with the only standardization pressure being that of the demand of consumers.

Because of the acceptance of identity and body between sex workers within independent sex work, there is much less of a reason to create content which caters to the male gaze. Many creators will still produce such content, but will do so alongside content which does not. There is much more openness of expression, allowing for many more content forms to exist. This leads to content which feels much more alive and “realistic”.

Anti-Racism

Racism is the great systemic evil which we have yet to fully abolish. Despite our great leaps forward during the civil rights movement we still see racial prejudice and exclusion in everyday society. In our current day we have even seen a regression backwards from where we were thanks to the MAGA movement repealing many of the protections which were created to protect POC. Within the sex industry this issue is only heightened as many POC bodies are fetishized purely on the basis of their skin color or ethnic identity. This creates a problem where consumers and clients will only pay a performer time of day if they exaggerate their race and culture, leading a commodification of something which is deeply personal and as such leads to many POC creators becoming alienated from their identity. Sexworkers push back against this through organizing and creating education spaces which aim to deprogram the fetishization of POC bodies. Sexworkers also provide mutual aid to POC creators of color who despite being massively fetishized also tend to make less than white models, ensuring that performers can keep performing and make the ends meat they need to survive.

Anti-Fascism

Sexworkers are among some of the first people targeted by fascist regimes due to typically being queer and or ethnic minorities. They are targeted by the reactionary fervor of “traditional” or “family” values which fascists argue sexworkers are inherently destructive to for being “degenerates”. This form of systemic whorephobia stemming from other issues such as queerphobia and racism means that when a country begins to fall to fascism the leaders of that country will begin to spin a narrative of how they will protect the moral character of the nation and protect the children of the nation by instituting progressively harsher limitations on the rights of sexworkers to perform and publish their content, eventually culminating in a full ban of sex work punishable by strict legal persecution. We have seen this occur around the world through the year 2025 and thus far in 2026 via age verification laws in the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, and more. Sexworkers during these times of crisis will be among the first to the front lines of citizen led action in the form of educational posts, organizing, and protesting. Throughout history sexworkers have consistently been a force which have been at front of societal change for the better. From resisting the Nazis in Germany to Stonewall in the United States, sexworkers of all kinds stepped up to support one another and educate their fellow citizens to resist the reactionary forces of fascism.

Anti-Sexwork Arguments

I have spent this whole article pointing out the industry issues as well as how sexworkers deal with these problems, however, folks of many political positions will argue against the very existence of the sex industry. Some of these folks do so from genuinely wanting to protect and help sexworkers, however, I will present the common arguments I hear and dispute them.

Arguments By The Conservative Right

“Family” Values

The reactionaries of the far right would argue that sexwork and pornography degrade the family unit causing families and community harm through the breaking of “traditional ethics”. That Adults having access to pornographic material or, heaven forbid, decide to become a sex worker will somehow make them not want to start a family. The reality is that sexwork is the oldest industry with constant demand and that adults should be free to choose what they do in their personal time, life, and body. This argument tries to justify restricting a persons autonomy of what they consume and choose to do for work because it “preserves family values” (Straight Monogamous Neo-Nuclear Family)

“Degeneracy”

Building off of the “Family Values” argument is the “Degeneracy” argument which is also used commonly by the right is that sexwork and pornography degenerate society, turning people from good to criminals. That somehow pornography will destroy society through the erosion of societies moral character. While it is true that porn addiction is a bad thing which afflicts many people, there is no evidence that sexworkers existing leads to crime. If anything the restriction of sexworkers leads to more crime as bans force sexworkers to work underground in unregulated conditions perfectly ripe for exploitation, abuse, and murder. Societies which have instituted bans and restrictions on sexwork have created conditions that have led to the existence of pimps, brothels staffed by trafficked women, and prostitutes being found stabbed to death in hotels. So the reality is that sexwork does not degrade society, but rather preventing its existence is what does more harm to society.

Arguments by Liberals

Exploitation Argument

The rights resistance against sexworkers makes sense as the far right ideology is built on the inherent exclusion of out groups, however among the progressives of the world there is a consensus that sexwork is actually evil as it is “inherently exploitative” they say as they gesture at the corporate porn studios. As covered earlier in the essay, corporate sexwork is inherently exploitative, much like all corporations under capitalism. Sexwork is not the exploitative element but rather the very institution of capitalism is the exploitative element which allows for the abuse they hear about to occur.

Arguments By Radical Feminists

Sex Work Is “Anti-Feminist”

Now this one is a really weird one I’ve heard espoused by TERFs. The argument is that sexwork is inherently immoral an patriarchal because its subjugates women to be paid sex slaves. Male gaze is a real issue in the industry and has been forever, however, amongst independent sexworkers sexwork is an extremely liberating force amongst women who give themselves full control over their bodies and run their own businesses. In that regard wouldn’t sexwork be one of the most feminist industries one could partake in? at least among individuals (Fuck the corporate studios enforcing patriarchal gender standards!)

Anti-Kink Argument

This argument is related to the former, that kink somehow enforces patriarchal hierarchies in which women are subservient to men and forced to take abuse. The reality is that kink spaces are extremely queer friendly spaces in which many events are actually organized by women. Kinksters are also famous for their communication skills inventing multiple acronyms to gauge consent such as SSC (outdated, Safe Sane and Consensual) and RACK (Risk Aware Consensual Kink) to name some of the common ones. Abuse does occur on some occasions but is generally frowned upon in the community. Returning back to female subservience I think many TERFs forget that Femdom exists in which a fem (cis or trans) dominates over someone else including men. Overall this argument stems from reading 50 Shades of Grey and assuming that that’s what all kink is like (50 Shades and its consequences have been a disaster for humanity)

Arguments by Socialists

Abolition Argument

A common debate I’ve gotten into in leftist spaces is whether or not sexwork will continue to exist within a socialist society. My argument is that it would as its the oldest human profession in existence that has survived through multiple economic systems from early agrarianism to feudalism to capitalism, and as such only makes sense that it would continue to exist in a socialist society albeit in a different form as it exists now. However, many socialists, especially of the Marxist-Leninist (Tankie) variety argue that no, sexwork cannot possibly exist within a socialist society as the for profit exchange of goods and services would cease to exist thus liberating sexworkers from their plight of exploitation and allowing them to become scientists, artists, and factory workers. The problem with this argument is that it assumes that everyone would want to be a traditional artist, a scientist, and factory worker. It also assumes that sexworkers purely sell their services for profit when in reality most times its to make ends meat or out of a place of genuine passion for their craft that they wish to be compensated for. In a socialistic society sexwork would look radically different to the form it takes today but will no doubt still exist.

Conclusion

The sex industry has many genuine problems which do need to be dealt with. Sex workers have for decades been working on the issues of the industry through practices such as mutual-aid, advocacy, and openness. It is my genuine belief that we can make the sex industry less abusive for its performers, not through bans and crackdowns, but rather through the decriminalization of sexwork and the creation of more legal protections for performers. The work done but generations of sexworkers has brought us so far, but there is still lots of work to be done