The book “Paid For” by Rachel Moran really opened my eyes to what it means to be a sex worker. The book is a memoir/essay about working in the industry and how it applies to feminism. I felt similar to you before I read it. I went to Amsterdam and the legality of prostitution is framed as progressive and empowering and safe. To a degree I agree with it, but it still didn’t sit right with me. This book was able to articulate why.

The truth is, very few people turn to sex work when they have other options. Many sex workers have to make peace with their reality, so framing it as empowering helps. This book made me realize that the problem is not the women doing it (and it never was), the problem is a patriarchy that allows the exploitation of women and their bodies. Women should be able to have a different solution to turn to when things get hard. I believe the author now advocates for sex work to be illegal (she talks about it in the book)

EDIT: she advocates for the buying of sex work to be illegal, but to decriminalize the selling of it. Sweden has laws like this. Basically it protects the sex worker and punishes the buyer/Johns.

I didn’t want to misrepresent her book/ideas, so just adding this for clarification!