#Irvine may have been here

We’re not different from you. We’re just doing a job, the same way you are. Any kind of person could be a sex worker. You probably know more sex workers than you think you do.

Personally, I don’t get offended by genuine curiosity, even if the question is annoying or cliché. However, when someone asks me, “What’s the craziest thing you’ve done?” my response is usually a pretty dramatic and dismissive eye roll.

Sex work as a sociopolitical issue is used as a scapegoat to avoid addressing larger issues like poverty and violence against femmes. Sex work is not the problem and trying to make it disappear makes the problems worse.

Clinical psychologist and sex therapist Dr. David Ley has long been critical of the sex addiction framework, and wrote the book The Myth of Sex Addiction to explain why. I sat down with him to explore why sex addiction is a problematic concept, and how it contributes to whorephobia.

Want to find out more about sex workers? Unfortunately, mainstream media will only get you so far.