This article does not deal with forced sex workers, only those that identity as consensually working in the sex industry. This is not meant to condemn nor promote sex work, only to help clarify a complicated answer to a common question.
Many people have trouble grasping just how sex work can empower women: In an industry with great potential for abuse, how can a woman feel empowered? It is a valid question, and the answer is not obvious. A male student recently asked this in class. He prefaced this by saying that as a man, he probably lacked experience and wanted our insight. Our female sociology professor explained it well, and the student understood. Though for those not studying sociology, the question could still be ambiguous. I began thinking about the best way to explain female empowerment within the sex industry and came up with an unconventional allegory: Mrs. Robinson.
For background, Mrs. Robinson is a character from "The Graduate," a 1967 movie directed by Mike Nichols. Mrs. Robinson is the mother of the protagonist's love interest. Mrs. Robinson sleeps with the protagonist to protest her unhappy marriage. Her adultery would obviously have been looked down upon by some, but many consider her affair to be a form of empowerment. Mrs. Robinson was confined to an unhappy marriage by the social taboo on divorce. Mrs. Robinson's affair was her method of taking back control over her sexuality. Sleeping with the protagonist was a display of Mrs. Robinson's agency, or power of choice, within a context where women had limited agency.
Here is where I draw the parallel: Many women freely choose sex work from a spectrum of options limited by varying factors. These factors range from location, women's rights, education, economic opportunity and more. Mrs. Robinson had very few options as to how she could take control over her sexuality. Sleeping with the protagonist was her choice made to regain control. The choice to enter into sex work may have been one of limited options, but unless forced to work, an individual exercises agency when choosing to work in the sex industry.
Even though they may be limited by their context, the choice to work in the sex industry is an exercise in agency and power. Sex work allows women to make money while taking control over their sexuality. The empowerment women may feel does not determine the outcome of their choices, and not every sex worker feels empowered in their sexuality. The allusion to "The Graduate" is merely a (hopefully) more accessible explanation to a potentially confusing question.
