Film Review: Live Nude Girls

The main thesis of this film is that sex work is a form of work just like any other. It raises families, puts food on the table and gets individuals through school. Also, because it is a form of work, the workers should be treated fairly just like in every other field.

The support for this thesis was given thorough the lens of performers at the Lusty Lady Gentleman’s Club in San Francisco. The establishment had racial issues, labor disputes, and personal privacy issues. They were continuously discriminated against due to race, breast size, hair color etc. They had to deal with violent costumers and subpar work conditions. The message the film was trying to convey is that these conditions would not be tolerated in any other field but since this was “sex work” it was expected to be accepted.

It is interesting to me that every time I reflect on something I’ve learned and related it to how it fits in with the class I realize something new about the course. With this film I realized that not only are sex workers humans but so are every other group of deviant people that we have talked about in this class. Society often puts a label on a group of people because they are different and it de-humanizes them to an extent so it makes it ok to talk down about them. Sex workers are human beings above all else and by labeling them and treating them as sub-humans we, as a society, continue the cycle of discrimination, racism and sexism.

The most convincing argument for me was the interview with one of the performers when she said that they are not doing this for fun, this is a means of making money and they should be treated fairly.

The least convincing argument is that these ladies start off on the wrong foot to begin with. They go into a field that is based on discriminating to ensure business profit. I think that when you go into a field that only accepts one sex and one gender; you open the door for many other discriminatory issues. I’m not saying its right but I think it is a valid point.

It would be interesting to do a longitudinal study on different dance clubs that unionize and research trends such as turnover rate, job satisfaction, absence days, equality of stage time etc. I think that doing a long term study can have some favorable results which will help other clubs start the fight for fair treatment. I think that unfair treatment of sex workers is going to be a constant fight so having research to back up the claims of dancers will be very beneficial.