A review by amierkez
Playing the Whore: The Work of Sex Work by Melissa Gira Grant

4.0

Overall compelling and insightful, this book offers a convincing argument for decriminalization and impressive insight into the ways in which anti-sex work theories and tactics subject sex workers to further danger and stigma. Also appreciated was the effort to move beyond a binaristic empowerment v exploitation debate towards a more nuanced framing reflective of the concerns and needs of actual sex workers, and to hone in particularly on the political economy of the choice to do sex work in late capitalism (that is, why sex work might be a relatively compelling option for many people based on the broader employment landscape). On the other hand, the quality of research and evidence varies widely between chapters, and there was minimal discussion of how sex workers have fared better or worse under different legal schemes after the adoption, which was something I was hoping to learn more about. This book could have also done a better job engaging with ideological opponents: anti-sex work campaigners are often attributed nefarious self-serving motives or otherwise paraphrased and dismissed; while not an expert on this topic, I picked up on lots of mischaracterizations of opponents that could have been engaged with more convincingly. Certainly aspects of the book that pointed out the harmful real-world ramifications of opposing ideas (e.g. expansion of the carceral state) were more compelling than MGG's discussion of the opposing ideas in-themselves. I didn't get everything I wanted from this book but It's given me a lot to think about and I'd certainly recommend it to others.