Why Can’t America Have the Sex Conversation?

via Teen Vogue

A Teen Vogue op-ed piece discussing sex work as legitamite went viral this morning, two months after its original publication. In the opinion piece, Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng discusses how the working conditions and basic rights of sex workers are being dismissed simply because of the taboo around the industry. She correlates the sex advice she gives to her patients similar to the aid sex workers give their customers. The only difference, is her environment and medical degree. Stating: “evidence, not morality, should guide law reforms and sex work policy for full sex work decriminalization.”

But of course, this would not be the Internet without social media users commenting on the article without... actually... reading it beyond its title: “Why Sex Work Is Real Work.” Twitter users accused Teen Vogue of irrespsonibily promoting prostitution to its adolescent audience. Others did their patriotic diligence by tweeting their #boycott of the publication and the CondeNast company overall. Yet no where in the piece does Dr. Mofokeng urge readers to enter the business. Neither does she provide hidden messages or clues on how to engage in sex working activities. She simple asks that sex workers be supported by its government the way medical workers, education workers, finance workers and other professions are garunteed safety in their industries.

So why was this article shot down before there was even a conversation? Well you can thank American history for that. We do best by completely ignoring uncomfortable issues, especially concerning sex and pleasure. Because that always works right? I mean look at STD’s. Remember when our very own Vice President (then governor) Mike Pence ignored the HIV outbreak in his own state of Indiana, because he illogically feared that educating his citizens would backfire? Well because of his refusal to admit that STDs are very much real in sexual and drug-related activities, up to 215 of Indiana citizens tested positive for the disease during his term.

Bad example you’re saying? Okay let’s talk teenage pregnancies:

What happened when we ignored the fact that teenagers were having *gasp* sex? Our failure to provide updated sex education programs, birth control and contraceptions because of our shame to discuss the natural need for sexual pleasures, only increased unwanted pregnancies and STDs. What happened when we confronted this very real reality with very real conversations? Pregnancies went down. That is why so many professional medical organizations like the American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Public Health Association, the American School Health Association and the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine and countless others support comprehensive sex education. IT WORKS!

So what have we learned about ignoring issues such as teenage pregnancies and STDs ladies and gents? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. And by learning nothing, we continue to do nothing. Dismissing the need for safe and healthy sex work conditions, does not change the fact that sex work exists. In fact, it puts the industry and its workers in further danger by denying basic supervision and protections. Fear of sex trafficking, sex slavery, sexual abuse, and more are valid concerns on why healthy discussions of the need for safe sex work is mandatory to avoid predatory and even fatal situations for our citizens. Can we not at least have the discussion?