I want to say it’s hard to believe, in this day and age, that sex work is more heavily shamed than it is supported, but unfortunately, it’s true. The true demographics are impossible to collect, but the stigma is very slow to work its way out of cultural consciousness. While folks who engage in the criminalized sex work categories might garner more empathy in contemporary conversation, those who choose to make their money in other forms of sex work—including adult entertainment, cam work, paid BDSM work, and other types of tittilating work that include the use of their bodies for visual and physical stimulation—are looked down upon as a less acceptable way to make money.
Sex work has always appeared in romance novels, but historically never in a positive way. In Old School historical romances in particular, both Regency and Western romance authors have come up with endless ways to introduce us to the destitute woman who could end up becoming a prostitute if she wasn’t rescued by the leading man. As the genre evolved and the sex-positive movement started to incorporate sex work, a more nuanced introduction to sex workers started to appear, including people working in categories where money was exchanged for physical i...
English (US)