Sex Work, Queer Economic Justice, and Communicative Ethics

There are various academic and activist perspectives on sex work as an area of inquiry at the intersection of queer, feminist, and class politics. Exploring this topic with an eye toward a communicative ethic helps to foreground consent and mutuality when considering some of the major theoretical topics connected with sex work. A historiography of the sex wars of the 1970s and 1980s illuminates how public discussions about feminism and sexuality were influenced by the emergence of pornography as a major media force. Taking seriously the refrain “sex work is work,” how labor can be a useful analytic for connecting sex work to the broader economy is considered, while also pointing to the limits of categories such as “sex,” “work,” and “labor.” Situating sex work in the contemporary context of neoliberal and paternalistic rationalities of the state, how advocates for sex workers are caught in a communicative double bind is discussed. Taking into account shared commitments among scholars of sex work in the communication discipline, alternatives to criminalization provide scholars and activists a place to start in imagining a future that is safer for queer bodies and practices.

Defining Pornography

The concept of pornography is a relatively modern intervention. This chapter reviews the historical roots of the idea that certain sexually explicit materials should be put off limits. Anthony Comstock’s moral crusade against pornography and its implications for access to sexual and reproductive health information are highlighted. The chapter reviews landmark Supreme Court and other US legal cases that had ramifications for how we define obscenity and pornography and provides an overview of the feminist sex wars of the 1960s to 1990s. The chapter presents a social science definition of pornography and argues that the diversity of sexually explicit media complicates research on its impacts.

Problematic Pornography Use

The idea that pornography can be addictive or that people may compulsively use pornography was not a focal point of the so-called sex wars of the 1970s and 1980s. Now the contention that there is an epidemic of problematic pornography use is a pillar of the argument that pornography is a public health crisis. Scholars disagree about whether problematic use is an addiction or is better characterized as a compulsive use disorder. This chapter describes the research evidence about the prevalence, correlates, and consequences of problematic pornography use, discusses treatment options, and encourages collaboration with the networks of people who describe themselves as porn addicted or in recovery from porn addiction.