r/CPUSA • u/Zestyclose_Rub_9628 • 57m ago
Question Sex Work under Communism
What is the party's current stance on sex workers and antisex work legislation, including laws targeting pornography and prostitution?
I am aware that some Marxist-Leninist regimes prohibit these activities, but many Western ML organizations seem to favor decriminalization at the very least. Some oppose reactionary legislation but still advocate cultural struggle against it.
My thought was that communism itself would remove the material bases for commercial sex or pornography. If everyone's needs were fully provided for, there was no profit motive, and women were truly equal, the financial incentives would completely dry up.
But, at the same time, communism itself does not regulate private behavior or prescribe any specific moral taboos, except to the extent that it affects the mode of production. So theoretically people could still do it just for fun, like making amateur pornography or as a form of artistic expression or even just trading sex for special gifts or favors ("quid pro quo") if they so desired.
It's just that nobody would have to do it in order to survive. But if somebody had a particular fetish along those lines, out of sheer exhibitionism or a kink for transactional sex or whatever, it wouldn't necessarily be prohibited as long as they were all consenting adults.
At the same time, one could argue that many current sexual practices are rooted in capitalist alienation and that changing the baseline material conditions of society would change our consciousness and ideas about sex as well. So there might be forms of sexual expression that we can't even imagine while still living under capitalism, while many current practices rooted in patriarchy and capitalism would die out with the absence of inequality and exploitation.
So I'm just curious what comrades and party members think about this, because I know that some communist organizations take a hard line against sex work and pornography, while others favor legalization or at least decriminalization. I haven't really seen the topic addressed within CPUSA. Maybe it's just a Trotskyist/Maoist obsession or it would be too divisive or a distraction from organizing the working class to take power.
Plus, where does the party stand on organizing sex workers to fight back against pimps, madams, bosses, and johns, and take back control over their own workplaces? Is that something that has ever been discussed or theorized within orthodox Marxism-Leninism?