SW Marginalization & Variance
While SW is an industry that is marginalized/stigmatized, the degree to which SW is stigmatized upon individuals is dependent on foundational concepts of intersectionality.
Let's fist start with a basic definition of intersectionality. Kimberle Crenshaw, legal scholar and badass extraordinaire, created the term and framework in the late 1980s while exploring Black feminist literature and theories. In a short, informative YouTube video, Crenshaw states that intersectionality is a way of "understanding the ways that multiple forms of inequalities or disadvantage sometimes compound themselves." Forms of inequalities can be racism, sexism, classism, ableism, heteronormativity, etc.
To illustrate this concept, let's look at a fictional case study.
Subject 1: Anna
Anna is a white, able-bodied, cisgender, thin, upper-middle class SWer. She meets conventional beauty standards and has had access to higher education to obtain advanced degrees. Anna is able to live a comfortable lifestyle. She takes clients when she wants and is able to screen clients thoroughly. She has access to wealthy clients who cover her living expenses and take her on lavish vacations. She blends in with their lifestyle due to her appearance, and she understands the cultural norms of upper class spaces and places.
Now, let's think about some ways that Anna has privileges that lessen her stigmatized role as a SWer in society.
whiteness: Workers who are white, white-passing, and who are in close proximity to whiteness have stronger chances of attracting a wide range of clientele. Our western society has conventional beauty norms that are in favor of attributes of whiteness. Black and brown workers oftentimes are unable to set their rates at the same prices as their white industry peers. Check out my Wage Equity in SW post for more on this.
able-bodiedness: Disabled folks have increased barriers to work and are highly stigmatized by our society. They are frequently infantilized and devalued. Disabled workers may also be subject to non-consensual fetishization.
cisgender: Workers who identify as trans face increased levels of harm, violence, and non-consensual fetishization. Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, states that the violence that takes place against trans and gender-nonconforming folks is "the result of a society that demeans and devalues anyone who dares challenge the gender binary."
thin: Our western society is rooted in ideals that are based on Eurocentric concepts of beauty. Thin-ness is one of those concepts, and fatphobia is rampant here in the states and abroad, due to the global colonization of many parts of the world by European and Euro-adjacent agents of chaos. Fat SWers also face increased levels of non-consensual fetishization and devaluing of their services. There are many larger-bodied workers on Twitter who have shared their experiences about having to cap their rates at a certain limit or clients would not pay their rates. I know multiple gorgeous, larger-bodied workers who charges significantly less than their industry peers and I know it's because of their body type and size. It's infuriating.
class: Ah, the age-old divider and gatekeeper to a wide range of experiences. Class discrimination and struggle goes back to Marxism concepts and discussions of the ruling class and the proletariat. We won't get into that here, but it's interesting stuff to delve into if you have some time on your hands. Let's focus this brief discussion of class on access. Anna has access to spaces and places that workers who are not part of upper-middle class social groups do not. She is able to afford a lifestyle that allows her to purchase the clothes and jewelry of her choice, live where she wants, potentially afford a separate incall space from her primary residence, afford cosmetic procedures, and take trips to spas and other places of self-care and maintenance.
All of Anna's privileged identity markers combine to give her access to less stigmatization and less mental and physical stress than her industry peers who do not have access to power and privilege in the same way, and with the same frequency, as Anna does. Let's think about our own privileges and the ways in which we can reduce struggle and stigmatization for all marginalized workers.
