I wish reddit had a thing that saved posts in case you accidentally close a tab, oh well. This will probably be more coherent than what I had originally written.
I came across that tumblr post months ago, when I first started camming. I actually even shared it on my cam tumblr page -- thanks for sharing it, I would have had to comb back through my posts to find it again. Portions of it are obviously dramatized, but I’m sure there is some truth in it. Any industry can be horrible to work in, especially something so physically demanding. The post helped shape some of the decisions I have made regarding what I am and am not comfortable with doing, and whether or not I want to risk losing customers for being outspoken and encouraging critical thinking about porn and how you get sexual satisfaction. I actually think I make more money for it / it makes cam work significantly less exhausting. But camming is different than porn, it is based significantly more on your individual personality.
The post cites Gail Dines. The other day I watched a couple of her lectures, after seeing her name in an academic paper on what it's like to be a female porn scholar -- [How Did You Get Into This?: Notes from a Female Porn Scholar by Laura Helen Marks](http://media.wix.com/ugd/d96dce_d7126844eedb449aadb4c47126a8adf2.pdf). Her anti-porn stance seems to be more of a venue to discuss anti-capitalist sentiments. I like how Melrose Gia Grant says she is anti-sex work, but pro-sex worker rights. At the heart of it, I feel much of the work we have to do to live and eat and have shelter over our heads is explotation, and that all explotation should be fought against. So, in some ways I agree with Gail Dines, and I think the arguments she makes are valuable, but she does not seem to have concern for the actual experience of sex workers and exploring what sex workers want / need. Bringing down porn will not bring down capitalism and the patriarchy.
It also cites Shelley Lubben. I imagine this is where the most extraordinary material in the post comes from. I read two posts on the site -- one that disregarded the ability of those who work in the porn industry to make their own decisions as they are too “damaged” to take responsibility for themselves, and another that was written by a girl who was “saved” by Shelley Lubben after a history of abuse lead her to consider working in the porn industry. But nope -- Shelley swooped in just in time! At the end of the post is a link encouraging you to donate to the Pink Cross Foundation, a “charity” that saves people from the porn industry. Googling [“Pink Cross Foundation criticism”](https://www.google.ca/search?q=pink+cross+foundation+criticism&oq=pink+cross+foundation+criticism&aqs=chrome..69i57.4639j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=119&ie=UTF-8) reveals that it is likely that it is more of a cultish cash grab thriving on dramatization than a charity (surprise). Definitely a part of the rescue industry, and reminded me of Magdalen Laundries -- workhouses / cites of slavery for “fallen women”, because slavery is better than prostitution (right?).
[Sex at the Margins: Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry](http://www.amazon.ca/Sex-Margins-Migration-Markets-Industry/dp/1842778609) by Laura Maria Agustin will probably be another good resource for me, I think I’ll pick it up when I get a bit of extra cash. Reviews say it has good data.
Although I am expressing criticisms of the tumblr post, all of this is very interesting and helpful and the more I read and link things together, the more possible areas of exploration I find. It’s definitely helping me hone in on what areas of sex work I find interesting + feel I can create critical work on.
It is so interesting that such a huge, profitable industry is has such convoluted data.
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