"How Netflixs Hot Girls Wanted series exploits sex workers in the name of exposing
how sex workers are exploited?"
I tried.
https://thetab.com/us/usc/2017/04/26/hot-girls-wanted-series-exploits-sex-workers-5195
Edit: Response
http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/hot-girls-wanted-criticism-netflix-1202404087/
I tried.
https://thetab.com/us/usc/2017/04/26/hot-girls-wanted-series-exploits-sex-workers-5195
Hot Girls Wanted, a new Netflix series released on April 21 addresses how technology has normalized the exploitation of sex workers by exploiting sex workers. The series is a sequel to the 2015 documentary of the same name which followed five female amateur porn stars in Florida.
Despite seemingly feminist intentions, and with Parks and Recreation star Rashida Jones joining the production team on the docu-series, the women-dominated team of producers used numerous online clips of sex performers throughout the series without informing the porn stars.
Kayy contacted Hot Girls Wanted via Twitter direct message in search of an explanation. In response, the show claimed fair use. Fair use allows documentaries to use copyrighted content without permission from the copyright holder for purposes including education, historical background, criticism, research, etc.
Despite the possible fair use of the cam performers videos, many are criticizing Netflixs decision as unethical.
They essentially outed [Effy] as a sex worker which is extremely dangerous for us, Kayy said. Its completely wrong to take a sex workers streams and use them without asking their permission first.
Kayy replied with her email address to the Hot Girls Wanted account like they requested, but she has not heard from them since. While waiting for further explanation of the supposed fair use, the cam performers are dealing with repercussions of being exposed on a global level. Prior to the series, their audiences were niche and contained to tens of thousands of followers on social media.
Now, the real names of the sex workers, who go by aliases on the internet, were released and footage of their performances have been streamed to a global audience of millions.
Effy had to call and alert her family so they could alert more distant relatives just in case anyone stumbled across it, Kayy said.
I just do not want my sex work being thrown into my familys face. They didnt sign up for that, Kayy said. They know to avoid certain social platforms due to my work but Netflix? Everyone watches Netflix.
Not only were families tested and morals questioned, but the exploitation of the sex workers in the docu-series is exactly what the producers are educating viewers about.
Edit: Response
http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/hot-girls-wanted-criticism-netflix-1202404087/
In an interview with Variety, filmmakers Jill Bauer and Ronna Gradus defended their series, saying they adhered to standards of documentary filmmaking and fair use.
The narrative has kind of become hijacked, that we exposed sex workers and that we put them in danger by telling the world that they were sex workers, when in fact we never ever did that, Gradus said.
Shortly after its premiere, several women and men featured in Turned On took to Twitter to denounce the series. One porn actress claimed that filmmakers had promised her that she would not be featured in the series. Two other women claimed that footage from their Periscope feed was used without their permission.
Bauer and Gradus dismiss the former claim as false and the latter as misleading.
Bauer and Gradus argue that because Elizabeth and Kay broadcast the footage on Periscope, fair-use doctrine and the apps terms of service protect its inclusion in a documentary. Nowhere in the episode are Elizabeth and Kay identified.
They saw themselves, and then on Twitter, as themselves, using their own handles, tweeted out, Oh my God, were on Netflix. Oh my God nobody told us. Oh my God, were sex workers and theyve just shown us on Netflix,' Gradus said. So the great irony here is that they identified themselves as sex workers. And really that is a key piece of information that has been lost in this story. She added, We didnt know who they were. We never would have known, the viewers never would have known, unless they themselves identified themselves.
Asked whether she felt that Elizabeth and Kay may be using their inclusion in the series to grow their profiles as performers, Gradus said, I dont think we can make a comment on their intentions. But thats a fair question that I think the public should think about.
After Elizabeth and Kay took to Twitter, other porn performers began to speak out against the series. One woman featured prominently in the series, performer Gia Paige, wrote on Twitter, HEY @hotgirlswanted REMEMBER WHEN YOU PROMISED TO CUT MY PART BC YOU WERE TRYING TO MAKE ME TALK ABOUT MY FAMILY AND I WAS UNCOMFORTABLE. She added in a follow-up tweet, BECAUSE I DO. THANKS FOR KEEPING YOUR WORD. SNAKES.
Other performers have complained that they would not have agreed to be filmed for the series had they known it was connected to the original Hot Girls Wanted.
Bauer rebutted those claims, saying that Paige, like all performers filmed for the series, signed a release form and that she never expressed to filmmakers a desire to be cut out of the final product. Nobody was coerced, Bauer said.
The bottom line is that everyone in the series was completely aware that this was a Hot Girls Wanted offshoot and that we were involved, she added. All of those allegations are false.