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Based on the belief that prostitution is a practice where gender inequality becomes both sexually and socially real; this review provides an in-depth analysis of symbolic violence women in the sex industry encounter due to representations of prostitution in popular culture. Moreover, symbolic violence needs to be understood within the specificity of the culture i which it takes place. Despite the conflicting perspectives on prostitution in feminist literature, I will argue that the popularization of the sex industry into mainstream culture has been significantly harmful to female prostitutes, both in terms of gendered exploitation as well as in terms of socio-economic inequality. Using symbolic violence as my main argument and drawing on empirical studies, I will outline how representations of the sex industry in mass media obscure the realties prostituted women experience. Whilst the sex industry is presented as empowering and captivating, the glamorisation of prostitution has lead to reconstructed perceptions of the sex industry. A sex-positive approach has been consequential in rendering gender inequality acceptable. Thus, I conclude that normalization of psychological violence through the use of social action, language and imagery deserves further study.

Violence has been defined as an attack on the very essence of a persons’ value. It deprives individuals of their dignity and self-worth, thereby weakening their perception of personhood and connection to others. The power and meaning of violence can only be understood in terms of its social and cultural context. The spectrum of violence does not only include physical aspects but must consider the notion of symbolic violence (Scheper-Hughes & Bourgois, 2004).Symbolic violence...

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... £20 and over £31 ‘Cuban show girls’. Brooks (2010)for example, identified a significant correlation between women of colour and revenue within the stripping industry of New York City and San Francisco. From her research she concluded that women of colour earn significantly less than their white counterparts. Similarly, Kelly (2003) has pointed out that the unequal distribution of socio-economic means in a highly sexualized and racialized society causes women to be marginalized. Where such inequalities exist, woman are pressurized and coerced into prostitution limiting their ’space of action’. The misrepresentation of gendered, racialised power as some form of acceptable entertainment, is cause concern. This casual acceptance of trading a women’s body in exchange for a monetary value has potential to become the template for ‘normal’ heterosexual relationships.

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