I'd say they are, by any definition of "sex worker" that includes strippers. Their job is to attract (male, heterosexual) attention using visual sex appeal. They usually wear revealing clothes and frequently behave provocatively. It's not especially different from what a stripper does. Of course, there's a whole continuum here - you could argue that a flouncy woman whose job is to turn over tiles on a game show (wordlessly, naturally) is also a sex worker. Rule of thumb - could an ugly woman get the job? If not, it's sex work.

Of course, people should have every right to work in this way. But just because I don't judge a woman for being a stripper doesn't mean I wouldn't judge my employer for hiring one. It's unprofessional.

Booth babes are not strippers. Yes, they usually wear revealing clothing and may behave provocatively but that's not part of the job description and their goal is to bring attention to their employer's product, not titillate passers-by.

Of course, there's a whole continuum here - you could argue that a flouncy woman whose job is to turn over tiles on a game show (wordlessly, naturally) is also a sex worker. Rule of thumb - could an ugly woman get the job? If not, it's sex work.

Sex work is not a continuum. Sex work involves (a) sex or (b) deliberate titillation, which is what strippers do by removing their clothes and miming sexual acts. Booth babes and Vanna White do neither. To claim that they are even remotely similar to sex workers is, quite frankly, insulting to women because you're suggesting quite loudly that the mere act of performing activities in tight clothing constitutes sex work.

Comments like yours likening booth babes to strippers and sex workers is precisely why they are now banned from CES. Because too many people assume they are sex workers and not actresses/models who are just doing a marketing gig.

"Yes, they usually wear revealing clothing and may behave provocatively but that's not part of the job description" I really can't help but think this is not true. Maybe it's not part of the literal job posting but its definetely implied when you hire a hot girl to attract guys to your booth that you want them to do this.

> their goal is to bring attention to their employer's product, not titillate passers-by.

Their goal is to bring attention to their employer’s product by titillating passers-by.

That's the whole reason they are called “booth babes” and they are selected for their ability to succeed in that modality of attention-getting.

They don't generally wear revealing clothing and act provocatively just out of personal preference unconnected to their specific job duties.

I propose a terminology compromise: booth babes are sex-appeal workers.

> Booth babes are not sex workers.

They usually are (which is fairly specifically indicated by the label “babe” for the job) by common definitions of sex work (which include labor whose role is indirect, including visual, sexual stimulation as well as that involving direct sexual contact.)

> They are generally actresses or models.

Both acting and modeling overlap with sex work rather than excluding it.

many women actors ("actresses"?! 1995 called) and models are indeed sex workers. The term "sex worker" is in fact a term of art engineered in part specifically to capture this reality. I encourage you to read up about sex worker activism and third wave feminism more generally.

I encourage you not to conflate the 1% adult models and adult video actresses with the 99% population of models and actresses that are not sex workers.

No such conflation occurred ~ for a conflation, I would need to have said, "being an actor just is being a sex worker."

Words mean things.

What you are uncomfortable with is adjacency, and it points to internal work you need to do.