sign in sign up
<<
Home , Radical feminism

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I AT HILO ◆ HOHONU 2020 ◆ VOL. 18

The Implications of our Lives: restoring dignity to prostituted persons in valu- ing the “work” which sex workers do. Kamala Choice, Agency, and Kempadoo, pro-sex work scholar, has termed this in “,” or “the way in which basic Emily Burkhart needs are met and human life is produced and re- produced” (Miriam 141). She goes on to articulate Philosophy 375 that “‘sex work involves…purely sexual elements Prostitution became a hot topic within femi- of the body…sexual energy should be considered nism during the “sex wars” of the 1980s (Miriam both procreation and bodily pleasure’” (141). The a line in the sand; a polarizing debate about agency, expressivist model sees prostitution as a site of choice, sexuality, and structural . How “self – actualization” for sex workers, “a space can we best interrogate prostitution? Liberal femi- for ingenuity and creativity…which empowers nists argue for decriminalization on the grounds them…as sexual agents” (141). In addition to the that prostitution is a site of economic liberation, sexual empowerment they assert prostitution gives agency, and sexual expression for prostituted per- women, pro-sex worker advocates cite economic sons, or “sex workers.” Radical feminists argue for abolition and the criminalization of the purchase of sexual services. For them, prostitution is a form I started doing sex work when I was 12 years of structural gendered oppression of women kept old. One of my sisters was burnt to death. I alive by male demand. Critical race might also have been killed, so I ran away.” In (CRF) argues that women and children of color are the next shot, dressed in a bright yellow sari, overrepresented in the population of prostituted she sits with her two children, and one of them persons and are often, but not always, coerced into kisses her on the head. “It is only recently that prostitution by racial and economic marginaliza- I’ve started thinking it’s good that I’m in sex tion; a fact generally overlooked by predominately work,” Shabana says. “I don’t have to depend white, middle – class, female, cisgendered aca- on anyone for anything. (Bazelon) demics nestled in distant ivory towers. How can we best understand prostitution, a complex and This statement was reported by Bazelon in a far-reaching issue? New York Times- Liberal feminist approaches to prostitution take up what is commonly called the “pro-sex work” of pro-sex worker collective V.A.M.P. in Sangli, stance. To contextualize : liberal Maharashtra, India. Prostitution enabled Shabana philosophy’s main values are the “‘autonomy’ of to become a liberated economic agent; therefore, ‘individuals’ and their rationality” (Miraim 137). Liberalism is mainly concerned with individual economic model of the “agency” in prostitution freedoms surrounding “choice” as “the exercise asserts that “prostitution is a quid pro quo com- of the individual’s autonomous will” (137). Kathy mercial sexual transaction and as such should be subject to standard labor laws and protections” which fall under this category: expressivist and (Carter and Giobbe 50). Pro-sex workers see pros- economic. The expressivist model sees the “basic tituted women as “savvy entrepreneurs,” “making injustice” of prostitution as the stigmatization and use of the existing sexual order” who choose pros- social devaluation of people who choose prostitu- titution as a means of securing sexual liberation tion as a profession (Miriam 141). Emily Bazelon, and/or economic mobility (Miriam 141). senior research fellow at Yale Law School, char- Radical feminist approaches are deeply criti- acterizes the “sex-workers’ rights movement” cal of these claims to freedom and choice. It sees as “a rebellion against punishment and shame” - (Bazelon). One of the “main political strategies” ated,” in that it assumes individuals to be “free of of the expressivist model is to address shame by historical and social conditions” (137). Therefore,

35 UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I AT HILO ◆ HOHONU 2020 ◆ VOL. 18 any freedom attained under these circumstances is of the work: “If prostitution were a choice, you’d purely “in the head,” or “the physical/legal condi- think there would be more men exercising it” tion of ‘being let alone’” (137). Further, the radical (MacKinnon). Abolitionism acknowledges as well feminist abolitionist stance disputes the claims that that reproductive activity and sexual pleasure can prostitution is often a consensual choice: “Women be (except for those identifying as asexual) an im- who sell their bodies out of economic necessity portant part of life. Abolitionism is not anti-sex, have not fully consented to prostitution,” states nor anti-pleasure, nor anti-men. Abolitionism is Catharine MacKinnon, renowned feminist legal anti-male entitlement. scholar (MacKinnon). - It is imperative to remind ourselves what nomic and human need as descriptive: “sex work “radical” means in this sense. It does not refer to pays well,” and “sexual pleasure is an integral part a far-left political agenda nor notions of anarchis- of life for many.” These are then twisted to become tic rule-breaking. Radical, in the sense that femi- normative claims: “sex work pays well, therefore nists mean it, implies “root.” Radical feminism at- women should engage in sex work,” or “humans tempts to point out and address the root causes of need sex, therefore women should engage in sex women’s oppression by identifying the structures work.” In reality, “humans” means “men” in pros- which sustain it, namely patriarchal social orga- titution; most buyers, are men and purchased peo- nization. By this line of reasoning, radical femi- ple are women (MacKinnon). Vednita Carter and nists ascertain that in addressing only the very real Evelina Giobbe, ex-prostituted women-turned ac- violence many prostituted persons face in terms of tivist academics, assert that “heterosexism advanc- , assault, carceral punishment, homelessness, es the belief that men have uncontrollable sexual and “injuries to status,” as liberal feminists tend to do, will only address a symptom of a much deeper ‘innocent’ females. Herein lies the ultimate justi- problem: male entitlement to demand access to fe- male bodies for sexual pleasure in a commercial “At the very worst,” they write, “prostitution is lit- market (Miriam 142). eral sexual slavery. At the very least, prostitution Abolitionism agrees with pro-sex work advo- is an accommodation and an adaptation to white cates that prostituted people are harmed by pros- male supremacy in its most brutal incarnation” titution in its current state. However, abolition- (47). Their analysis points to the white suprema- cist, patriarchal power structure which underlies from their inability to attain an adequate degree prostitution. This is entirely obscured by liberal of “freedom” within the practice. As argued by of “choice” and “freedom.” Other than addressing male demand, radical as oppressive by addressing the demand (men) feminists challenge pro-sex work advocates on the rather than the issues around the supply (women). Prostitution, according to abolitionists, promotes as well as the occlusion of the “actual, material, egregious male entitlement by granting on-demand, commercialized access to female bodies for sexual pleasure to satisfy male “need.” Abolitionism does Pateman, “masks the fact that a person’s capacities not demonize nor stigmatize prostituted women; are not separable from her self [sic] like pieces of it readily acknowledges that women make real property” (138). Therefore, radical feminists seek decisions every day to safeguard economic stabil- to discuss prostitution not as the circulation of sex- ity for themselves and/or their families. This does ual services, but as the sale of a “relation of com- not mean that they consent to or choose prostitu- mand” over the prostituted person’s body: tion. As MacKinnon points out: “Prostitution here is observed to be a product of lack of choice, the what is really sold in the prostitution or the em- resort of those with the fewest choices, or none at - all” (Butler, quoting MacKinnon, 119). She goes erty,” but a relation of command: the prosti- on to point out the uncontested gendered nature tute/employee sells command over her body to

36 UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I AT HILO ◆ HOHONU 2020 ◆ VOL. 18

the john/pimp/employer in exchange for some Liberal feminism centers individuality and recompense. It is this fundamental relation of autonomy, failing to address structural realities of white supremacy and which ob- if not denied, by the pro-sex-work position on scure choice in prostitution. However, I follow Dr. “free prostitution.” (138) Bardwell – Jones’ assertions that any attempt to create a homogenous categorization of “women” If command over one’s body is what is sold in in either a liberal or radical critique is a disservice in that we center white women’s experiences while “agency” of prostituted women in this exchange. devaluing “the unique experiences and identities Through the pro-sex work model, one would have of women of color” (Bardwell – Jones 273). Legal to subscribe to the “contractual paradigm of disem- feminist scholar, Cheryl Nelson Butler’s, research bodied agency,” or freedom that is “in the head,” shows that women and children of color are the because the prostituted is operated on by most vulnerable to prostitution due to racialized not just an individual , but male dominance economic marginalization and sexual . as a structure. According to , men’s “right to be sexually serviced,” or the “male sex abolitionist stance and Critical Race Feminism. right,” is the “invisible precondition of a liberalism According to Butler’s analysis of Catharine that (still) works in men’s interests, a claim which MacKinnon’s work, “her [MacKinnon] focus has does not preclude an analysis of how class and race been on challenging structural oppression and rec- interests and ‘rights’ are also presupposed by the ognizing that, in the context of prostitution, this same political order” (144). Liberal feminism vali- structural oppression of women manifests itself as, dates the sexual order and upholds structural male and intersects with, racial subordination” (Butler dominance by failing to address the demand side 124). She contends that both approaches identify of prostitution. Miriam calls the freedom women the structural power dynamics which keep wom- experience under this model a “contractual model en subordinate under prostitution rather than ap- of freedom: the consent to be subordinated” (147). proaching prostitution as a site of individual lib- Prostitution is not, for most women, sexual ex- eration. Her work refers to a large body of research pression but subordination (MacKinnon). It is an suggesting that minors and women of color are the majority of prostituted persons in the United invested in upholding white male dominance by en- States: “Intersecting discrimination based on race, suring male right to access sexual pleasure through , class, age, and sexual orientation make female bodies on demand. It is an institution that people of color particularly vulnerable to pros- keeps women in poverty, as Catharine MacKinnon’s titution in the ” (132). Prostitution research shows, not helping them out of it. The pro- must be viewed with intersectionality at the fore- front of the debate around decriminalization and power dynamics which oppress (most) women abolition. It must center those most affected by its within the institution of prostitution. Khara Jabola, continuation. - “Even though some people of color ‘choose’ tional feminist group, cautions against liberal femi- prostitution,” she writes, “for too many that choice nist arguments: is coerced…a disproportionate number of racial - By normalizing sexual exploitation and recasting tion in the United States” (132). She argues that it as a career choice that has no harms attached, genocide, poverty, unequal educational and em- we’re creating a setting and a system where we ployment opportunities, and inadequate health are OK with objectifying women, where we’re care are just some of the reasons for the vast over- OK with buying other human beings’ bodies, and representation of Black, Native American, Latino, that has effects that are far-reaching in terms of and “Asian” persons in prostitution (132-8). how women are treated. (“Hawaii”) In addition to structural poverty, American white male insatiability for the consumption of the

37 UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I AT HILO ◆ HOHONU 2020 ◆ VOL. 18 stereotyped, exoticized, and hypersexualized racial – decriminalization, legalization, and regulation – Other, fundamental to the processes of slavery and only heightens male demand, leading to an increase colonization, further exacerbate the harms of pros- titution for women of color. White men want more like (681). These are failed policies. of this “experience” sex, as evidenced by Butler’s Criminalization of the purchase of sex, however, research (125-7). The narrative of “choice,” which the desired legislative route for abolitionists, has Butler asserts as accurate for some, is “problem- its own problems. Butler points out that any part- atic to the extent that it functions as an essentialist nering of feminists with the carceral state must be narrative for women of color,” which erases wom- looked on with suspicion (123). Punitive measures en of color who identify as victims of the commer- taken by the state have historically been racist in cial sex industry (113). Perpetuation of the myth their implementation; there is no reason to expect that women of color always like and enjoy pros- law enforcement not to target racial minorities for titution happens through , media, and “mass incarceration” in this endeavor (123). law enforcement (113). “Contrary to the pervasive Liberal feminism fails to offer real solutions narrative about prostitution as a form of sexual lib- to all women, and many pro-sex work feminists eration and economic freedom, an alternative nar- do not feel represented by the radical approach. rative exposes prostitution in America as a form Barbara Smith, renowned Black feminist scholar, of structural oppression in which race, gender, and shines a light on this polarization: “[f]eminism class intersect” (139). is a political theory and practice that struggles to In the Black feminist tradition of Patricia Hill free all women…Anything less than this vision Collins, Butler grants epistemic authority to the of total freedom is not feminism, but merely fe- - male self – aggrandizement” (Hall, quoting Smith, tution an empowering enterprise, as opposed to 26). Radical feminist approaches, when combined radical feminist approaches which fail to concede with CRF’s insistence on centering, rather than any ground that prostitution can ever be anything marginalizing, intersectionality within feminist but exploitative (Collins 274). This gap can be debates on prostitution, address those made most explored through an ameliorative approach: how vulnerable to prostitution by structural . ought we understand prostitution? How can we Laura Ramírez, another chapter coordinator for best improve the violence representative of most prostituted person’s experiences, the majority of that mainstream feminism gets wrong is that it’s whom are women of color and minors? focused on individualism. That takes away the “If we are to design public policy that ade- collective responsibility we have to our sisters all quately addresses the issue of commercial sexual over the world. I’m not going to stand for that. exploitation, we must retreat from the intellectual Anything that happens to my sisters happens to wet dream in which we have immersed ourselves,” - write Carter and Giobbe of the ongoing academic cial sex empowering, we do not live in a society in ruminations on prostitution (39). We must ask our- which all women are afforded that luxury. - This debate asks us to reassess how we judge fected by its continuation? Gerald Torres offers freedom and choice to acknowledge social facts to MacKinnon’s approach: “any legal reform…had determine the way forward. In the words of Audre to start with the critique of subordination rather Lorde: than assuming that the ordinary conditions of gen- der subordination were a necessary outgrowth of I’m not questioning anyone’s right to live. I’m saying we must observe the implications of our social relations” (Butler 121). It does feminists lives. If what we are talking about is feminism, no good to continue shouting each other down. then the personal is political and we can sub- Liberal feminists must address the structural vio- ject everything in our lives to scrutiny. We have lence of most women’s experiences in prostitution. been nurtured in a sick, abnormal society, and As Iris Yen shows, liberal feminist legislation we should be about the process of

38 UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I AT HILO ◆ HOHONU 2020 ◆ VOL. 18

ourselves as well as the terms of that society. Works Cited This is complex. I speak not about condemna- Bardwell - Jones, Celia. Philosophy: Feminism. tion but about recognizing what is happening Edited by Carol Hay, Macmillan Reference and questioning what it means. I’m not willing USA, a Part of Gale, Cengage Learning, 2017, to regiment anyone’s life, but if we are to scruti- https://laulima.hawaii.edu/access/content/ nize our human relationships, we must be will- group/HIL.11426.202010/Topic _5 Articles ing to scrutinize all aspects of those relation- to Read: Race and / ships. The subject of is ourselves, is FeminismRace.pdf. our lives. (Lorde 13) Bazelon, Emily. “Should Prostitution Be a Let us reclaim sexuality as a truly expressive Crime?” The New York Times, 5 May 2016, site of pleasure and freedom, which is its own re- https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/ ward (MacKinnon). Let us demand solutions to magazine/should-prostitution-be-a-crime. the oppression of a racist, sexist, capitalist society html. outside of selling the one thing left to most prosti- Bien-Aimé, Taina. “From ‘Sex Work’ Advocate tuted persons. Let us examine the implications of to Survivor Leader: A Journey Embraced.” prostitution in our lives – an institution, as seen in , 25 Shambala’s case, which often thrives off colonial, May 2017, http://www.catwinternational.org/ neoliberal assumptions in which interdependence Home/Article/707-from-sex-work-advocate-to- is deemed an evil best overcome through individ- survivor-leader-a-journey-embraced. ual capital. As feminists, we must strive for more Butler, Cheryl Nelson. “A Critical Race Feminist than “freedom,” “choice,” and “equality” that ex- ist only in the mind while we give up our bodies in America.” Yale Journal of Law & to subordination. These systems will not go down Feminism. Vol. 27 No. 1, Article 3, 2016. with female acquiescence nor ascendency but by Carter, Vednita and Evelina Giobbe. “Duet: (re)membering better ways of structuring our hu- Prostitution, Racism and Feminist Discourse.” man relationships around nurturance, interdepen- Hastings Women’s Law Journal, vol 10, no. 1, dence, and equity. 1999, pp. 37- 57. Collins, Patricia Hill. “Black .” Black Feminist Thought. Routledge Press, 2009. Hall, Lisa Kahaleole. “Navigating Our Own ‘Sea of Islands’: Remapping a Theoretical Space for Hawaiian Women and Indigenous Feminism.” Wicazo Sa Review, vol. 24, no. 2, 2009, pp. 15–38. , www.jstor.org/ stable/40587779. “Hawaii Bill Would Legalize Prostitution Industry.” Honolulu Star Advertiser, 5 Feb. 2017, https://www.staradvertiser. com/2017/02/03/breaking-news/hawaii-bill- would-legalize-prostitution-industry/. Lorde, Audre. A Burst of Light: Essays. “Sadomasochism: Not About Condemnation,” pp. 11 – 18. Firebrand Books, 1988. and Inequality: A Public Lecture by Catharine MacKinnon” Youtube, uploaded

39 UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I AT HILO ◆ HOHONU 2020 ◆ VOL. 18

by the University of , 14 Dec 2011. https://www.law.uchicago.edu/recordings/ and-inequality Women: Power, Agency, and Abolition in Reader: Local and Global Perspectives, 2005, pp. 137 – 149. Pulia, Shalayne. “Prostitution Is on the Verge of Being Legalized - These Women Want It to Stop.” InStyle.com, 12 Sept. 2019, https:// www.instyle.com/celebrity/alexi-ashe-meyers- sex-work-safety. Yen, Iris. “Of Vice and Men: A New Approach Male Demand through Educational Programs and Abolitionist Legislation.” Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, vol. 98, no. 2, Winter 2008, pp. 653 – 686. https://www. jstor.org/stable/40042872Accessed: 15-12- 2019 23:47 UTC

40