As someone that has been in a relationship with a sex worker and done work for sex workers, or should I say “sex worker” considering that you loathe that term, allow me to say that this is one of the most irresponsible opinion pieces I’ve read on Medium. And yes, there’s quite a bit of garbage on this platform.

Now, I clearly sit to the right of you (despite my name, I technically center-left, but I eschew “left” and “right” designations for that spectrum-biased labeling is absolutely counterproductive…but I digress.)

I challenge you to actually speak to a “sex worker” that made the decision to be a “sex worker” on her own volition and acting in her own agency. I imagine that you have not; because if you did, you probably would have not written most of this stuff.

Sex workers are not just women that have “sex with strangers money”. There are male and trans individuals that have “sex with strangers for money”. The fact that you barely mentioned this is an exhibition of your own ignorance of sex work.

Moreover, you limited your definition to sex work to “prostitution”, even though there are plenty of cam models, strippers, pornographic content creators, and phone sex operators that also label themselves as sex workers. There are even pornographic directors that also call themselves sex workers.

Let’s call this for what this is — you have a contempt for commercialized sexuality. I get it.

However, to call “sex work” a “libertarian” or “neoliberal” term is galling. To reconcile a label that many individuals in that line of work opt to refer to themselves as — and do so with pride — with political tribes that you harbor an animosity towards demonstrates that you really don’t know much about that line of work, aside from what other academics and activists that share your anti-commercial sex worldview.

And worst of all, you make this about the consumer behavior of men rather than recognize the fact that yes — there are individuals out there whom are not influenced by a pimp or a madam or whatever CHOOSE to exchange sex for money. It is a private decision. A personal decision. And it’s not on you or myself to judge their decision. While you may be on the right track in terms of advocating policies for improved government programs that will improve society as a whole (and provide a vital safety net that insures against the very real failures of capitalism), you are definitely on the wrong track if you continue to post content like this that demonstrates a despicable ignorance of commercialized sex, and realize that there are far deeper issues than what you postulated in this piece.

Before you spew anything else about sex workers, actually TALK to sex workers. There are PLENTY of sex workers — cisgender and trans — that you could talk to gain valuable perspective; and understand why they call themselves sex workers and why they don’t necessarily see themselves as victims needing to be saved — which is what you clearly see sex workers as.