What is the position on PSO work (phone sex operator)?
Submitted May 31, 2020, 7:14 p.m. by Bad_Girl_LalaIt's not as invasive as other sex work, so I'm just curious of the radical feminist position of phone sex operator work. Is it the same as other sex work? What are your thoughts on it?
20 comments recovered from the Pushshift database.
It still is a job where women are being exploited and objectified for men's pleasure, so no.
Radical feminists don't use the phrase "sex work."
Whats a better term to use for the the spectrum of service women do for men related to sex or sexual activities for pay that include pso, camming, stripping, selling "goodie" bags and photos, sugaring and prostitution? They all overlap and many women participate across multiple areas. I use the term for brevity.
I don't know, other than naming each job specifically, but it's not just "work." That makes it seem like it's like any other job, when it isn't. It's exploitation.
Its not just another job, but it is useful to have a term for that umbrella when we discuss it. Many women in sex work work in multiple areas and a lot of things that are problematic span all areas. Im going to continue using sex work, not bc I think its just another job, but bc there isn't a better term for it. If you have one, I'll use that instead.
The problem is that it downplays what it is, and it's also used by people who think that women only get into it by choice and it's to be celebrated.
I wish I had an alternative other than just exploitation, but I don't.
Yeah, you came here to learn so you should try to learn. It's not sex work. First off, it's rape. Secondly, it's better to just be specific about what's going on.
A little OT, but yesterday I discovered that the term "erotic labour" is becoming a thing. A euphemism for a euphemism, what a world.
Oh boy. Some days I think my eyes can't roll back into my head any more than they already have. And then something like this comes along! :P
Weren't 'sex provider' and 'sex practitioner' also used before? What next, 'intimacy engineer'?
I can’t speak for all radfems but I believe phone sex exists on a continuum of work in service of male shittiness, along with OnlyFans, camming, domming, stripping, $20 blowjobs, etc. It’s not penetration for pay, which I think is the focus of feminist opposition to prostitution.
That said, I have a friend who was (re)traumatized by her work in phone sex. She had been abused as a child by an older friend of her family, and her “specialty” in her phone sex job ended up being guys with abuse fantasies, wanting to get a little girl in their van, etc. She was about 30 at the time, had a science degree, had been a pastor in a rural church, but they gave her a different voice so she sounded underage. It took a lot out of her. Abuse wasn’t the entirety of her work, and she did have some funny stories she shared with us. But between that and a seriously messed up relationship she was in at the same time (not actual abuse, but a really fucked up affair with a married man), she doesn’t have the stomach to date men* anymore. So she lost her sexuality to that, a decently steep price to pay.
EDIT TL;DR The emotional labor involved in phone sex can be brutal, almost as brutal as physical prostitution.
* or anybody, I don’t think she solved it by going lesbian
Thank for explaining your viewpoint. Im very sorry about your friend.
I mean, she’s ok. She got a master’s degree and has a new career where she is very successful and happy. But her sexuality is wrecked, that’s all.
We're always "ok" bc as women we have to be strong. But we're never left unscathed and I'm sorry for the garbage she (and really all of us) had to go thru. I'm happy your friend is doing well.
Yeah, I think if she could have paid for grad school by working in a grocery store she would have taken that instead.
That doesn't sound happy at all. Degrees really don't matter.
The job she was able to get with her degree matters a lot to her. I don’t know if she would have paid the same price if she had to do it over, but she does love her work now.
Oh wow, i was thinking about doing phone sex, but i feel so uncomfortable participating in some of those really nasty fantasies. I think it would be brutal for someone as sensitive as me.
She “specialized” in CSA but she wasn’t the only one taking those calls by a long stretch. Lots of men wanting to act out abusing little girls.
My cousin used to work at company providing both sex and fortune telling lines, both just texting. She said that scamming people felt very unethical and scummy, but what made her despise that job was the sex line. Apparently quite a lot of men mentioned illegal things to her, mostly peadophilia.
It's not fun listening to men jerk off. It's not some super profitable career, either, and carries similar discomforts such as mental trauma, stalking, emotional exhaustion, misogynistic employers who push boundaries and overwork and underpay vulnerable or desperate women.
People just need to stop putting a price tag on everything. It's inheritedly objectifying and well..women aren't objects and sex is simply too personal.
I believe we can craft a world where work is not awful. Working for a greater purpose, for harvesting tools or food for life doesn't not demand misery. Not everyone has to hate or dislike their job. But a huge key to this is whether you're harvesting actual things or people. Selling humans ultimately creates misery.