Thread by @ajplus

Critics are hailing #Hustlers as a feminist heist film for the post-recession era where strippers get revenge on the real wolves of Wall Street. But most sex workers didn't bounce back when the economy tanked.

@JenLouiseWilson with a #thread on the economics of sex work: (1/9)

Based on a true story first featured in the @nymag article "The Hustlers at Scores" (2015), #Hustlers follows a group of strippers who resort to extreme measures when business dries up after the 2008 financial crisis. (2/9)
vulture.com/2019/09/hustle…

#Hustlers, which stars @Jlo, @constancewu, @lizzo, @iamcardib and more, follows a group of strippers who, faced with the prospect of diminished wages after the recession, decide to incapacitate their male clientele so they can run up big charges on their credit cards. (3/9)

#Hustlers is actually the latest in a string of films that look at the recession's impact on sex workers. "Magic Mike" (2012) followed the lives of male strippers looking for work in a Florida besieged by foreclosures and other economic maladies. (4/9)
theatlantic.com/entertainment/…

"The Girlfriend Experience" (2009) offered a glimpse into the world of high-end escorts whose Wall Street clientele could no longer afford their services. One magazine called it "the best film made about the 2008 financial collapse." (5/9)
melmagazine.com/en-us/story/th…

According to a 2014 study from @TheEconomist, the global sex work industry took a major hit in 2008 and has been slow to recover. In 2006, the average price of an hour of sex with a female worker cost $340; by 2014, it was down to $260. (6/9)
economist.com/blogs/economis…

In Las Vegas, the recession drove some sex workers out of the legal brothels (which collect a fee) and back onto the streets. In Australia, economic downturns have been tied to increases in condomless sex as sex workers try to remain competitive. (7/9)
aol.com/2013/05/14/nev…

But some researchers say that because sex workers often function as de-facto psychotherapists, offering comfort during bad times, economic downturns can sometimes benefit them. After the dot-com bubble burst, some workers reported increased business. (8/9)
slate.com/business/2008/…

#Hustlers is a reminder that for the same reasons strippers had front-row seats to Wall Street's excesses, they were often the first victims of its collapse. Per one critic, it "show[s] how we all get f*cked over by the zero-sum game of capitalism." (9/9)
mashable.com/article/hustle…