related: porn and the taboo

As a profession, sex work has always been pushed to the fringes of society— sometimes literally. Throughout history, various forms of control have been exerted to morally police women. Depending on the location, prostitutes weren't allowed to wear jewelry, forced to live in less desirable parts of town or outside it entirely. The interesting part to me is how it wasn't ever really outlawed until the early-mid 1900's¹ (which really only happened because of veneral disease). Other than that, sex, intimacy, and prostitution have been kept out of the narrative which makes learning about it rather challenging. There always seems to be some (almost always male) argument that "men, argued that brothels and prostitution was actually a GOOD in society because it allowed men to use up their sexual energy with willing women. OTHERWISE, they argued, rape would be rampant." Not only is that rather revolting (though the argument still prevails in various forms today), it highlights the systemic control that has been exerted on sex workers (yet perpetrated by those oft seeking their services). hypocrisy, as per usual.

I don't really think things have changed much. In the US, selling sex is illegal in every state (except Nevada, shockingly (said nobody)). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_by_region

The thing is, most people don't pay for sex physically anymore.

• debanking, deplatforming of onlyfans

• twitch "no boobs rule"

• "i know it when i see it"

• imbalance of attention to platforms (Pornhub restrictions)

  • Pornhub is now a safer platform than Facebook

• Restriction of expression, how this disproportionally affects marginalized communities even within these dichotomies.

  • Authentication is required on pornhub and now many platforms (anything that might have adult content). While authentication isn't bad, it requires providing a lot of trust in an institution.
    1. leaks happen.
    2. when they do happen, bad things disproportionally happen to those who are not "normal". Look at what happened to the Tea app, for example.

• Because of how vague regulations and restrictions are, they can be (and are, all the time) applied discriminately. (find examples). When these figures are popular, conventionally attractive, and fit within societal expectations, the outcry is unanimous. However, once the person doesn't fit within what is "okay", people become a lot less forgiving and more judgmental. George Floyd, not a perfect person, does not change the malpractice performed by the cops.

• Morality has always been used to exert control on others.

  • But it's internalized these days.
  • Why are we not okay talking about some things?

• Debanking, how much control credit card companies have over what is and can be consumed

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FOSTA-SESTA

  • Protested for its ineffectiveness by sex workers, pushed by those who support moral policing

• Closure of Switter

  • Often confusing, contradictory, vaguely worded, and sold as a mechanism to prevent violence against women and children, legislation such as the Australian Online Safety Act, the EARNIT ACT, and the UK Online Safety Bill fail to acknowledge the realities of what they seek to change or harm reduction and preventive measures, instead relying on surveillance and control.

• Names of Republican-named bills

  • Protect Children’s Innocence Act
  • “Parental Rights in Education”

• Project 2025:

  • https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/project-2025-porn-ban-lgbtq-transgender-rcna161562
  • Banning pornography, then calling everything pornography to ban that too. Childrens books being "pornographic". Talking about sex is "pornographic". There is such a hard line being drawn in our culture, using common sense things to push an agenda. It is malicious.
    • what is this called? loaded question/equivocation fallacy?

• People should be more okay talking about intimacy, sex, etc. It is the reason we should be encouraging sex education. Abstinence is a fallacy designed to maintain control over the working class. The American education system fails its constituents by design.