CW/TW:
I am not here to kink shame. As an unashamed and vocal monster fucker, it would be the height of hypocrisy to judge anyone for what tickles their tender parts. I am, however, a huge fan of asking people to think about why certain things get their engines going. There’s been a lot of discourse about raceplay and racial fetish porn in sex worker circles, but all too often it comes back to white sex workers defaulting to some variation of “Well, it pays my bills!” as an argument.
There’s been a lot of discourse about raceplay and racial fetish porn in sex worker circles.
At the risk of contradicting myself, and my previous insistence on leaving people alone to pay their bills, that feels like a particularly spineless argument to me, personally. All money is not good money. At the same time, sex workers, especially content creators, have to do what works. Bills keep coming and we are, unfortunately, obligated to feed our mobile meatsuits multiple times per day, every day. And pocket watching is a bitch move.
So here I am, attempting to come to terms with the girls (gays, guys, theys, etc.) who make racial fetish porn and/or engage in raceplay. It is aggressively not my kink and it is not something that I would ever feel comfortable offering to a client, no matter how much they offered to pay. I’m actually pretty sure my cooter cat would hermetically seal itself shut if someone called me a slur in a sexual setting, but that’s me. This mental exercise is not a condemnation of those who provide these services but an attempt to work through the many contradictions rattling around in my own brain.
This mental exercise is not a condemnation of those who provide these services but an attempt to work through the many contradictions rattling around in my own brain.
For a lot of people, offering content and/or services that benefit people with a race-based fetish is just a fact of business. A sex worker's comfort level in engaging in acts that focus on racial differences and stereotypes can be influenced by a multitude of diverse perspectives, preferences, and boundaries. While some may feel comfortable exploring various fetishes and themes, others may have reservations or concerns about engaging in content that perpetuates racial stereotypes. We are not, after all, a monolith.
First and foremost, it's crucial to recognize the dignity and respect that sex workers strive to provide to their clients. Offering services that explicitly emphasise racial differences or stereotypes can perpetuate harmful biases and contribute to the objectification of individuals based on their race. But, as a violently minoritised group that is constantly forced to defend their autonomy as consenting adults, one could also argue that denying clients the ability to explore their sexual preferences in a controlled environment is akin to denying them their autonomy.
Despite what some others would have you believe, we are not therapists. Some of us may have advanced degrees and requisite licences, but in our capacity as sex workers, we are not medical practitioners. It is not our place or our job to unpack a client’s psychological baggage or how it led them to a point where they enjoy sexual content that relies on racist stereotypes. It’s none of our business actually, and it would be incredibly inappropriate to offer a service appealing to that, only to turn around and interrogate or shame them for having the desire in the first place.
It is not our place or our job to unpack a client’s psychological baggage or how it led them to a point where they enjoy sexual content that relies on racist stereotypes.
At the same time, by avoiding explicit racial themes, a sex worker might attract a broader audience and ensure that their content is accessible and appealing to individuals from diverse backgrounds. For non-white clients, seeing a provider or content creator offer these options is basically a giant red flag with flashing lights and sirens. RACISTS INQUIRE WITHIN!!! RACISTS WELCOME HERE!!! This is, obviously, an incredibly superficial judgement of an entire person based on the choices they make to pay rent, but it’s one that I understand as a Black woman. Racial fetish content and services are very niche, but they’re also lucrative. Clients pay more to have these fetishes indulged because they’re taboo and the promise of a safe place to indulge, without shame or fear of reprisals is worth the investment. What a provider loses in broad appeal they might make up, or exceed, in the cultivation of a small pool of dedicated, loyal whales.
The real sticking point for me in these conversations is the ethical implications of making racial fetish content. Morality is an incredibly fraught area of discussion when we’re talking about people that have sex for money, whether it’s on camera or in an outcall. When your entire existence is forced into or over the margins of legality because of your detachment of sex from puritanical values and the sacredness of procreation, or whatever straight people say, it’s really difficult to simultaneously argue the ethical value of kinks.
Morality is an incredibly fraught area of discussion when we’re talking about people that have sex for money, whether it’s on camera or in an outcall.
Logically, I can arrive at this conclusion based on years of “doing the reading” but it still gives me the ick to think about encouraging the stereotypical representation of Black people as inherently oversexualised or possessed of grotesquely exaggerated genitalia. Following this line of thought, though, doesn’t account for Black and other non-white providers and content creators that turn traditional racial fetishes on their head to play at subjugating white clients. Loathe as I am to ever bring “empowerment” into a discussion on sex work, for some people, there is power in the subversion of forcing minorities into submissive roles during sexual interactions.
At the risk of breaking the unspoken rules of “good” writing, I think I’ve left myself with more questions than I’ve answered. Which is, I think, the point. Sexual boundaries, especially in the space of fetish play and kinks, are fluid by necessity. People change as a result of education, experience, and the occasional ick. The key takeaway is that it is crucial to respect the autonomy and decisions of sex workers when it comes to the content they produce. In other words, leave whores alone. Just as with any profession, individuals have the right to establish personal boundaries and choose the types of work they feel comfortable engaging in. As long as they aren’t actively contributing to harm or violence, sex workers deserve support and understanding in their efforts to create a positive and healthy work environment that suits their needs at the moment.
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