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Female-exhibition-as-commerce is an expression of the commoditization of eroticism. If you view sex as transactional, the microtransactions of a wet T-shirt contest make perfect sense. If instead you understand sex as social, the microtransactions of a g-string full of dollar bills causes confusion.

There has long been a trend among porn stars and strippers to talk about the empowerment of their jobs. The argument usually goes something like "I'm the one in control, I'm the one controlling what they see, I'm the one controlling what they do" while failing to address the fact that the structure within which they operate is a male construct owned and operated and exploited and policed by males.

Yeah, objectification places the emphasis on the object... but feminists are rarely in control of the platform. "Titty bars" are fundamentally about sexist losers exploiting women to profit off of other sexist losers and if you can credibly appreciate your role as a sexist loser you lose all interest in the game. I've known two or three women who were fascinated by strippers and porn stars and in all cases, it was the power dynamics that interested them. It was also transitory once they'd really internalized the structure.