A FRIEND showed me the trailer of upcoming Filipino film “Paglaki Ko, Gusto Kong Maging #PORNSTAR”.
The title took me by surprise, and I was, indeed, pleasantly surprised when I watched it because it actually seemed…interesting.
It is certainly a bold move on the part of Director Darryl Yap. Just disregard the one teleserye-like drama scene where all the women were screaming. I got some “Etiquette for Mistresses” vibe – raw and comedic representation of a taboo subject matter.
Just like “Etiquette for Mistresses”, I expect a lot of negative feedback from people who don’t even have the decency to check the movie out. This is because it romanticizes an “ugly” aspect of society. It´s true, sex work is not the most glamorous of professions. It is still, however, a profession that is very common in the Philippines.
I remember in a debate class in college. We were asked to discuss the legalization of prostitution in the Philippines. I was assigned to the negative side and my judgmental mind at the time cited its being “immoral” and “undignified”.
Yes, you won’t make your mama proud by selling your body, but there are some situations where a person is left with no choice. I saw a post on Reddit PH about a former male prostitute who had no choice but to engage in sex work to survive. When he finally left the industry, he had problems sustaining a healthy relationship because his partners would judge him based on his previous profession. His videos still circulated on the internet and even on several pirated sites. His privacy was violated and the law could not help him due to his work being illegal.
Sex work is one of the oldest professions. It has been around in the Philippines since the 1500s. Don’t expect it to go away either. As long as people have libido, there will be a need for it.
A few countries have legalized sex work and treat it as an official business. In these places, there isn’t much stigma toward those in this profession.
The concern that people have with legalizing sex work is that it gives a niche for human trafficking and pedophilia. If you think about it though, these happen BECAUSE it is illegal. Look at the Philippines, we have one of the largest cases of pedophilia in the world. Why is this possible? Because our sex workers are not protected by law and are at the mercy of their clients.
If it is not treated as a crime, those who engage in this work have the same rights as a regular office worker. They can be saved from clients who are abusive and who attempt to sell them. Their privacy will be better protected. They can have access to quality healthcare, therefore lessening the chances of the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. They can even be required to pay taxes; a win-win situation for the government.
There is no guarantee that legalizing sex work will eradicate the ugly underbelly of the industry, but at least the workers will feel a sense of security when they are forced by circumstances to partake in this kind of work. No sane person dreams of selling his/her body but this profession has helped many financially. A person may feel dirty when they leave, but that may also be in part due to the stigma they get from the outside world. Legalizing, or for a better word, “decriminalizing”, sex work can alleviate the situation of these people and give the job a bit more dignity./PN
