If selling feet pics as a legit side hustle hasn’t crossed your mind, are you even on the internet?
With gig economies booming and social media offering a plethora of money-making opportunities – more folks are contemplating unique ways to earn that extra cash. It may be something you joke about with your friends, but it touches on the change in conversation surrounding sex work.
This is what Dr. Ráchael A. Powers, along with, Graduate Students Jacquelyn Burckley and Vanessa Centelles explore in “Sanctioning Sex Work: Examining Generational Differences and Attitudinal Correlates in Policy Preferences for Legalization.” According to the study, published in the Journal of Sex Research, younger generations – like Millennials and Gen Z – are more likely to be okay with sex work being a totally legal source of income. These generations have grown up in a digital world, where camming models and spicy content are merely a thumb-scroll away.
So, as technology evolves, does our view on acceptable sex work change? And are the laws ready to keep up?
Wait, That’s Sex Work?
Is selling feet pics online actually considered sex work? Technically, yes! Sex work isn’t just limited to what some people envision – street prostitution or high-end escorts. According to the authors, sex work involves exchanging money for sexual services – everything from actual physical contact to virtual camming or content creation.
In this research, Dr. Powers and the team divide sex work into three main areas:
- Where the work happens (the space)
- How much physical contact is involved (the contact)
- If someone is working for themselves or a company (employment independence)
Whether someone is a stripper, a cam model, or even selling spicy pics online, it’s all part of the sex work spectrum.
Public Perception
Despite this spectrum of work, public opinion on its legality often lags behind. Dr. Powers and the graduate students point out that criminalizing sex work sends the message that it’s deviant and shouldn’t be tolerated. This stigma is especially harsh for street-based sex workers, who tend to be more stigmatized. Studies show that criminalization – rather than reducing harm – often forces sex workers into more dangerous situations. Making them vulnerable to victimization.
In countries like New Zealand, where sex work is decriminalized, public perception and tolerance have increased. Meanwhile, in the United States, federal laws like FOSTA-SESTA – aimed at tackling human trafficking – have ironically harmed sex workers’ ability to screen clients and work safely online.
Is This Perception Changing?
Yes! Millennials and Gen Z seem to have more liberal views on sex work, seeing it as an occupational choice rather than something morally wrong. These younger folks grew up with the internet, where digital forms of sex work – like selling feet pics – are more mainstream and normalized.
And younger generations are generally more accepting of non-traditional relationships, including consensual non-monogamy. This may explain why they’re more open to decriminalizing the ‘world’s oldest profession’ AKA sex work.
Methodology Breakdown
The researchers surveyed 549 US-based adults using an online platform to understand their opinions surrounding sex work. The participants were fairly balanced by gender, with 48% cisgender men, 48% cisgender women, and 3.6% non-binary or transgender. And they covered different generations – 28% Gen Z; 50% Millennial; 21% Gen X/Baby Boomers.
The Focus
Sex Work Criminalization: Thirteen types of sex work were considered, including street sex work, erotic dancing, camming models, phone sex operators, and pornography. Participants were asked if each should be legal with no regulations, legal with special regulations, or completely illegal. Those who wanted criminalization had to specify whether it should be illegal for the buyer, seller, or both.
Reasons for Criminalization: Participants who supported making one or more types of sex work illegal had to explain why. They rated factors like whether paid sex was immoral, whether it leads to crime, and concerns about sex worker victimization.
Demographic and Attitudinal Correlates: Beyond demographics, the study looked at other factors such as attitudes toward the legalization of vices (gambling and marijuana), politics, religion, and personal connections to sex work.
To analyze all of this, the research team used different methods to compare how each generation feels about sex work. They included factors like age, politics, and personal connections to sex work.
The Generational Divide
For Gen X and Boomers, sex work is mostly a no-go. The forms they most likely support for legalization without restrictions are phone sex operators (26.8%), partially nude exotic dancers (25%), and sex shops (24.1%). Interestingly, these are all types of sex work that don’t require much physical contact between the worker and the client. On the other side, they did not favor street sex work (4.5% support) or indoor sex work (11.6% support). Overall, this group tends to view this occupation as something that should remain illegal. And they most likely want it banned for both the buyers and sellers.
Now, for Millennials – the middle ground. Around half of them support the legalization of five types of sex work (sexual content creation, cam models, sex shops, phone sex operators, and partially nude dancers) without restrictions. But, street work is still a sticky spot, with most of them saying it should remain illegal. Unlike Boomers, Millennials are a smidge more flexible on the topic of penalizing buyers vs sellers but still cautious in their opinions.
Finally, Generation Z is the most chill about sex work. Except for street prostitution, this group overwhelmingly favors legalization for almost all forms. About 40% of Gen Z thought street work should be illegal for buyers and sellers. But overall, they’re far more open to legalizing virtual and less contact-heavy types of sex work compared to the older generations.
Did the Generations Agree on Anything?
Yep! The biggest concerns across all generations were the potential physical and psychological risks for sex workers. And the fear of human trafficking. However, Boomers and Gen X were more likely to consider sex work to be immoral and many believe it threatens the institution of marriage and family. Gen Z, on the other hand, cares a lot less about those reasons.
More Voices, More Impact
While the study reveals quite a bit, the authors admit a few limitations. The opt-in online survey may not fully represent the entire US population. Another big gap is the lack of focus on groups like LGBTQ+, people of color (78.5% of the participants were white), and folks with disabilities – all of whom tend to be disproportionately impacted by sex work criminalization. Future research should fully capture the experiences and voices of these folks.
They call for a deeper examination into how generational shifts may affect future policies, especially as younger people with more liberal views on sex work move into positions of power.
Side-Hustle Reality Check
So, next time you double-dare each other into selling feet pics online for extra moolah, remember – what might seem like an easy gig is part of a much bigger conversation about sex work and its legality. Not to mention, it’s not as easy as it appears. The amount of content needed, the hours spent online chatting with your fans, and the mental load of working in a still fairly stigmatized career path must be considered to make an informed decision.
