The Business of Sex

Edited by Laxmi Murthy & Meena Saraswathi Seshu

Zubaan Books, 256 pages, Rs 495

Based on the premise that mainstream feminist discourse has failed to fully engage with commercial sex work, and moving beyond the traditional feminist focus on slavery, trafficking and health issues such as HIV/AIDS, the contributors to this volume of essays tackle the political and theoretical implications of sex work. They argue that feminism—thanks to its role in revolutionising perspectives on sexuality and labour—is a natural ally for the sex workers’ rights movement. The writers critique the dominant moral paradigm of heterosexual monogamy, which has created a pervasive “victim” discourse and limited our understanding of sex work’s complex realities.