Film director Sean Baker, who won a record four Oscars on Sunday night for his movie “Anora,” told reporters afterward that he wants sex work decriminalized.
“Anora” is about a prostitute who marries the young son of a Russian oligarch. The boy’s parents object to the marriage, and ultimately they split up.
“So I’ve been pretty outspoken about my stance on sex work,” Baker told reporters. “It’s our oldest profession. Yet it has an incredible unfair stigma applied to it and what I’ve been trying to do with my films is sort of chip away at that very unfair stigma. Personally, I think it should be decriminalized and I guess through my work, through hopefully humanizing my characters that are usually seen as perhaps caricatures in most film and television, it will help do that.”
Last May, Baker spoke at the Cannes film festival, where he was asked about the fact that his last five films had featured sex workers. He replied that after he made the film Starlet in 2012, he was “introduced to the adult film world. … I became friends with [sex workers] and realized there were a million stories from that world. If there is one intention with all of these films, I would say it’s by telling human stories, by telling stories that are hopefully universal. It’s helping remove the stigma that’s been applied to this livelihood, that’s always been applied to this livelihood.”
Best Actress winner Mikey Madison, who starred in “Anora,” echoed in her acceptance speech, “I also just want to again recognize and honor the sex worker community. I will continue to support and be an ally.”
Prostitution is illegal in all U.S. states except Nevada.
Arguments against criminalizing sex work have been made by the political Left, from the ACLU to the Yale Global Health Justice Partnership.
Arguments for leaving the laws criminalizing sex work in place assert that it contributes to the decay of moral standards in society, promotes sex trafficking, expands the sex industry, increases child prostitution, increases the demand from men for more prostitution, dehumanizes women, and normalizes the sexualization of women,
“Many claim if the sex trade were legal, regulated, and treated like any other profession, it would be safer. But research suggests otherwise. Countries that have legalized or decriminalized commercial sex often experience a surge in human trafficking, pimping, and other related crimes,” Demand Abolition notes.
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Film director Sean Baker, who won a record four Oscars on Sunday night for his movie “Anora,” told reporters afterward that he wants sex work decriminalized.
“Anora” is about a prostitute who marries the young son of a Russian oligarch. The boy’s parents object to the marriage, and ultimately they split up.
“So I’ve been pretty outspoken about my stance on sex work,” Baker told reporters. “It’s our oldest profession. Yet it has an incredible unfair stigma applied to it and what I’ve been trying to do with my films is sort of chip away at that very unfair stigma. Personally, I think it should be decriminalized and I guess through my work, through hopefully humanizing my characters that are usually seen as perhaps caricatures in most film and television, it will help do that.”
Last May, Baker spoke at the Cannes film festival, where he was asked about the fact that his last five films had featured sex workers. He replied that after he made the film Starlet in 2012, he was “introduced to the adult film world. … I became friends with [sex workers] and realized there were a million stories from that world. If there is one intention with all of these films, I would say it’s by telling human stories, by telling stories that are hopefully universal. It’s helping remove the stigma that’s been applied to this livelihood, that’s always been applied to this livelihood.”
Best Actress winner Mikey Madison, who starred in “Anora,” echoed in her acceptance speech, “I also just want to again recognize and honor the sex worker community. I will continue to support and be an ally.”
Prostitution is illegal in all U.S. states except Nevada.
Arguments against criminalizing sex work have been made by the political Left, from the ACLU to the Yale Global Health Justice Partnership.
Arguments for leaving the laws criminalizing sex work in place assert that it contributes to the decay of moral standards in society, promotes sex trafficking, expands the sex industry, increases child prostitution, increases the demand from men for more prostitution, dehumanizes women, and normalizes the sexualization of women,
“Many claim if the sex trade were legal, regulated, and treated like any other profession, it would be safer. But research suggests otherwise. Countries that have legalized or decriminalized commercial sex often experience a surge in human trafficking, pimping, and other related crimes,” Demand Abolition notes.
“}]]
