The Problem with Tyra Banks: Sex Work and Slut Shaming
Between 2005 and 2011, Tyra Banks, former model and judge of America’s Next Top Model (ANTM), hosted her talk show, The Tyra Banks Show.
Throughout the series, episodes focused on bullying, drug abuse, sex work, and racial inequalities. Amongst these were less groundbreaking installments of extreme makeovers, dating disasters, Tyra Banks wearing a fat suit for a week, and ‘ANTM Graduation Parties’.
In 2007, The Tyra Banks Show aired ‘Teens in the Sex Trade’. Banks spoke with a fourteen-year-old sex worker, an older woman who had once worked in the pornographic film industry but ultimately regretted her decision, and Sasha Grey, an adult film actress at the time. On the surface, one can only assume this episode aimed to shed light on the dark side of ‘easy money’, but this intention is quickly juxtaposed when we are introduced to Sasha Grey.
A pre-taped segment describes Grey as a ‘fresh-faced’ teenager who was ‘bombarded by pornographic materials’ growing up and now ‘struggles with the trappings of her pornographic life’. With Banks continuously drawing attention to her youthful looks and placing emphasis on the scenes she has worked on, Grey discusses the reasoning behind her decision-making and how it has helped to empower her.
