Sex Work Jargon Buster!
SWERFs, Whorearchy, SEV…what does it mean?! If you often come across language in the sex industry realm that whooshes over your head quicker than a thong flick, then fear not! Gemma to the rescue! Here’s some of the most common jumbled jargon you may come across. Find the term, the definition, examples and extended commentary:
Sex Work (SW): An umbrella term describing labour in the sex industry.
Camming, domming, foot ticklee, stripper and many many more!
There’s so many different types of work that can be considered as sex work. Some people do not consider themselves as sex workers due to the fluidity of the definition, or sometimes due to whorephobia.
Sex Worker (SWer): Someone who sells sexual services.
Full Service Sex Work (FSSW): Prostitution. A form of SW.
FSSW is largely considered the most respectful way to name this type of SW. Some FSSWers find the term ‘prostitution’ derogatory. It surely goes without saying that slurs like ‘whore’ and ‘hooker’ should be avoided, although it’s not uncommon for FSSWers to reclaim these words as a form of empowerment.
Survival Sex Work: Selling sexual services to meet immediate needs, e.g. housing, food, drugs etc.
The opposite of 'opportunist' and 'chosen' SW which is sometimes perceived as 'empowering'. Survival SW is still valid, although these SWers may need different levels of support and may want help with exiting the industry.
Sex Trafficking: NOT SW. The illegal process of sexually exploiting someone under threat, force, coersion, deception & fraud.
Sex trafficking is often conflated with SW. Anti-SW groups often maliciously exploit this confusion in order to categorise all SWers as victims in need of rescuing to further their personal agendas. Sex trafficking is truly abhorrent and the victims should be treated with the upmost care and respect.
Civ/civvies: Short for 'civilian'. A term to describe non-SWers.
It is a term that is sometimes derogatory, but this is largely dictated by the context.
Glamourisation: To make something more attractive. SW is often glamourised, making SW seem more glamorous than the reality/ the negative reality is hidden.
Media portrayals of stripping. Like strippers in films.
SWers showing off their ‘bag’ (bag of money, cash money spread or screenshots of their income total).
Civs being overly positive about the job, especially the perceived ‘glamorous’ parts.
Glamourisation actively works against making SW more societally acceptable, as it does not destigmatise the true nature of the work, meaning worker's rights issues go ignored and unresolved. I personally feel conflicted on SWer’s contribution to glamorisation. I feel a responsibility to show the other side of my job so people can better understand our struggles and therefore work towards making things better for us. I also feel a pressure to inform those enticed by SW and give them realistic job expectations; something I wish I’d have had before choosing to start SW. But then I don’t think I would have listened and would have just ‘followed the money’ anyway! However, I don’t judge SWers who publicly celebrate their work successes and choose to keep the cons of their job private. Especially when the downsides of SW often entail triggering subjects and incidences of trauma. I think keeping that boundary on social media is really important for self-protection. I find it really challenging to publicly advocate for a heavily stigmatised job that I do myself. I’m always tired. But it’s also a compulsive need for me to do as I don’t see how else we can make social progress if we don’t honestly talk about our experiences and drive our narrative into the limelight. I want things to get better, so I feel it’s necessary to be a part of the change; no-one else is going to do it for us at this stage! I guess I envy those who comfortably stay hidden. Good for them because I’m jealous as fuck.
Appropriation (cultural): A dominant culture taking something from a minority culture.
Civs have taken the stripper’s craft of pole dancing along with other stripper aesthetics, like the heels.
Appropriation is not always a bad thing. As long as the appropriate respect is given and civ polers actively elevate skrippers, it's not a problem!
Othering: The act of civ polers distancing or separating themselves from strippers in an attempt to elevate the status of pole dancing in society.
The hashtag #NotAStripper.
The false narrative that pole comes from Mallakamb instead of Sex Workers.
Purifying pole of its SWer roots therefore further stigmatises SW. SW is at the heart of pole and will always be inherently linked, so the only way to fully ‘legitimise’ pole in society is to destigmatise its roots. Othering is evidently a negative form of appropriation and incredibly harmful and disrespectful to SWers.
Leet speech: A system of modified spellings on the internet. SWers often have to use leet speech (or other similar & less systematic forms) in an attempt to bypass social media algorithms. Social media rarely allow the full forms of Sexual words, so SWers censor themselves to avoid shadowbanning or even account deletion.
$krippa, slipper, str!pher (for ‘Stripper’)
SW, seggs werk, s3x w0rk (for ‘Sex Work)
Sexual Entertainment Venue (SEV): A premises selling live sexual entertainment, for example peep shows, lap dancing and pole dancing. All strip clubs must have a Sex Establishment License to operate in the UK. Other businesses in the sex industry must also have these licenses, e.g. sex shops, sex cinemas, swinger's clubs, some LGBT+ clubs.
Source: Home Office, S3xual Entertainment Venues, Guidance for England & Wales, 2010
Nil cap: A total of zero, essentially a ban. Areas with a nil cap on SEVs have limited sexual establishment premises to 0.
There has been a steady increase in the number of imposed nil caps nationwide, which has therefore put many strippers out of work and in some cases forced them into unregulated, underground working conditions. These environments are more dangerous than licensed venues and such policies are direct violence towards sex workers. Oh and you may have noticed above it’s not just strip clubs that are affected…If public consultations are ongoing, you can oppose nil caps by supporting petitions and writing to the council.
Sex Work Exclusionary Radical Feminists (SWERFs): A type of 'feminism' that does not support SW or SWers.
Groups trying to shut down strip clubs such as NotBuyingIt and the White Ribbon Campaign.
SWERF’s feminism is not inclusive and must be challenged. SWERFs often act against SWers, which is a direct act of violence. It is common for SWERFs to use false claims around domestic violence and sex trafficking to impede SWer’s right to work, disguising their own moral agendas.
Whorephobia: The fear, dislike or hatred of sex workers. It can be the demonisation of sex work in general or of different types of sex work.
SWERFs are of course whorephobic!
‘Ew, I could never take my clothes off for money, how gross’.
Strippers looking down on FSSWers. (SWers can be whorephobic to other SWers in the same or different type of work)
A stripper who says: ‘I’m an entertainer, I’m NOT a sex worker’. (yep, you can be whorephobic to yourself!)
Whorearchy: The hierarchy of different types of sex work and sex workers organised according to stigmatisation. The existence of a whorearchy is due to whorephobia and social constructs.
Stripping is less stigmatised than FSSW and is therefore often perceived as a 'more valid' type of sex work.
Online SW is considered as one of the least stigmatised forms of sex work. This is more true than ever with the rise in popularity of sites like OnlyFans. It is relatively normalised for someone to have an OnlyFans where even celebrities partake (although most of us feel some type of way about that…another subject for another day)!
Phew! Hopefully you’ve left more informed rather than more confused. I think a lot of these terms take a while to digest due to the complicated social narratives around sex work. A lot of these terms link together in a beautifully complex web, but I hope I’ve helped unravel it for you at least a little bit. Don’t hesitate to message me for more pesky words that are tripping you up. I’m also super open to having feedback on these definitions and would love to improve them!