Podcasting is an excellent medium for talking about sex work. It can give us an intimate entry into the life of the presenter, with all those tiny details, such as mannerisms and sense of humour, that may not carry over into text.
Sex-negativity and whorephobia are the societal norm, and it’s very unusual to be in a relationship with someone who can handle my job without doing some serious work on themselves first.
Whenever my job is mentioned in newspapers, blogs, or magazines, the same tropes tend to pop up: moral panic, drug abuse, violence. Journalists quote us selectively, so that it sounds as if we’re living out the sex-negative, whorephobic stereotypes the public are used to consuming.
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.