Exactly, Faster.
I used to believe in the happy hooker thing, as the image of victimisation of women sat awkwardly with me, as I thought it played into the weak woman image.
But I have learned a lot about this subject over the past 2 years, and now feel very differently. Even if women "choose" to do it, it is often because many feel they might as well be paid to have sex with people they don't want to, rather than people taking it for free. And a staggering number are still children when they first enter into it. And once you are in, it can be very hard to get out, even if you aren't trafficked.
The happy hookers are in the minority, and the media's obsession with it makes it very difficult to have a sensible discussion about sex work in our society. It is as if all the thousands of women who come from backgrounds of abuse, who develop addictions or speak out about the sexual violence they have experienced are ruining it for the happy hookers, who we are told are strong, independent women making their fortunes from male "weakness".
If we continue to peddle the prostitution as liberation myth, especially as the law currently stands, we are fooling ourselves. For the few who may be "empowered" by it, they are a majority for whom it has been damaging and negative. We need to be more alive to their voices. Until we are, we are accepting the fact that there is a section of our society who are disposable.