Contrary to the ugly stereotypes of prostitutes as fallen women, dope addicts, or disease carriers,* sex workers are women at work supporting children as single parents, trying to save money to go to school, surviving economically in a job market that underpays women at every economic level.
Because of the nature of the sex industry, in which many enterprises are illegal or only semi- legitimate and in which much earnings and activity goes unreported, estimates of the scope of the industry are necessarily flawed. Nonetheless, all available data suggest that the sex industry plays a very significant role in the U.S. economy, as in other countries. Since the rise of video recording technology and home videocassette players in the early 1980s, the consumption of hard-core pornographic videos in the United States has increased dramatically. A federal study in the 1970s estimated that the total value of hard-core porn in the United States was under $10 million; by 1996 estimates indicated Americans were spending more than $8 billion per year on pornographic videos and magazines, sex shows, peep