Receipts Please! Myths Don't Stand a Chance!

Myth #9: Sex Work and Pornography Are Harmless Entertainment

This myth is the flip side of the “glamorous and easy” narrative—the belief that all sex work and pornography are simply harmless fun, no different than any other form of adult entertainment.

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On the surface, it’s a comforting idea, especially for consumers who want to enjoy without questioning the conditions under which porn or sex work is produced. But the truth, as always, is more complicated. Sex work and porn are forms of labor, and like any industry, they contain both ethical practices and exploitative ones.

Reducing them to either “pure entertainment” or “pure harm” flattens the reality and erases the voices of workers themselves.

Why This Myth Persists

This myth survives because it serves multiple audiences. Consumers of porn and adult entertainment prefer to believe no one is harmed in its production—maintaining the illusion that everything is consensual, pleasurable, and free of exploitation.

On the other side, critics point to the worst examples of abuse or coercion in adult entertainment to argue for blanket censorship, presenting porn as inherently exploitative. Both extremes persist because they are simple narratives, easier to digest than the messy, nuanced truth: sex work and porn are industries, and like all industries, the conditions for workers depend on labor protections, equity, and accountability.

What the Facts Actually Say

Research and worker testimony alike make it clear: adult entertainment, like any labor sector, contains a spectrum of experiences.

Exploitation occurs not because the work is inherently harmful, but because workers often lack labor protections, union representation, and recourse against unsafe or coercive conditions.

At the same time, many performers report positive, empowering, and financially sustainable experiences when they have autonomy, community, and protections. Across the industry, sex workers and adult performers consistently advocate not for moral panic or censorship, but for expanding labor rights and worker-led safety standards.

How the Confusion Causes Harm

Both minimizing and overstating harm create problems. Minimizing exploitation erases the real struggles of workers trying to improve conditions, making it harder for them to demand rights. Overstating harm, on the other hand, fuels censorship campaigns that silence workers, strip them of income, and push them into more precarious underground markets.

Neither extreme addresses the real labor issues at stake, and both ultimately disempower the very people they claim to protect.

What Needs to Change

The way forward is to treat sex work and adult entertainment as labor, plain and simple. That means supporting performers in creating safer, worker-led industry standards; advocating for workplace rights, health protections, and unionization; and rejecting sweeping narratives—whether of harmless fun or inherent harm—that erase worker voices in favor of consumer comfort or political agendas.

Only by centering workers’ own experiences and demands can we build an adult industry that is safe, equitable, and empowering.

👉 Learn more about rights in adult entertainment at SWOPBehindBars.org.