Pitted against “Oscar bait” movies like “The Brutalist,” “Conclave” and “A Complete Unknown,” many were surprised to see “Anora” — a film about a stripper who’s hired to be the “horny girlfriend” of a wealthy Russian — win the award for Best Picture in 2025, along with five other accolades.

 The movie’s mainstream success has triggered debate about the accuracy of its portrayal of sex work, the depth of its main character and the messaging of its plot. Some say it promotes our culture’s tendency to celebrate fictional sex workers while failing to make any systematic changes for real-life ones.

“Violence against sex workers has always been around,” Xena, a Chicago-based stripper, said. She asked that only her stage name be used for that very reason. “There may be more visibility on it (and) maybe a little bit more media attention. But, unfortunately, laws and actions don’t necessarily follow up that attention.”

Illinois could be taking a major step to change that.

Lawmakers introduced a bill in January that, if passed, would make Illinois the first state to decriminalize sex work statewide. The Keeping Sex Workers Safe Act would prohibit criminal prosecution of sex workers, create a Sex Worker’s Bill of Rights and remove criminal records of those previously convicted. 

The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago) and state Sen. Celina Villanueva (D-Chicago), claims that the criminalization of sex work is what “makes it so dangerous.” It also states this reform would ensure workers can vet their clients, meet them in safe spaces and receive protection from law enforcement.

 Reyna Ortiz, a former sex worker, is the current chair of the Sex Worker Advisory Group and program director at TaskForce Chicago. She has been closely involved in the creation of the bill and efforts to pass it. She said the possibility of a state considering decriminalizing sex work would have been “unfathomable” a decade ago.  

 “I think regardless of however it turns out … (this bill) is groundbreaking,” Ortiz said. “Just the process alone is highlighting and talking about stigma and bigotry and marginalization and the patriarchy. … It’s a beautiful thing.”

 The bill has emerged against a backdrop of shifting societal attitudes around the criminalization of the sex work industry. A 2019 survey of 1,000 U.S. voters conducted by Data For Progress and YouGov Blue found that 52% of voters across party lines “somewhat or strongly support decriminalizing sex work.”

While some might attribute this growing support to the uptick in media about sex workers in recent years, Xena, the Chicago stripper, said she doesn’t believe this is the full story. 

The director of “Anora,” Sean Baker, hired a former sex worker as the head consultant on the film. However, Xena said it still perpetuates stereotypes and tropes about sex workers that “flatten (them) as people.”  

So while “Anora” and other media like it have undeniably popularized the industry, she doubts whether they have truly helped destigmatize it, since they only bring “visibility without actual representation.”

 “I hope that in the future more sex workers who are artists make art about what we do, and that that art becomes more mainstream and more visible,” Xena said. “I want sex worker art and media to be what tells our story.”

 Jacqui Shine, an assistant professor in American studies at DePaul, questions whether media alone — regardless of who creates it — can bring legitimate acceptance of the industry, since the issue is “connected to all of these other questions about social relations and economics and politics.” 

While acknowledging media might have partly influenced the bill’s introduction, Shine said the effort is actually “part of a trajectory of many, many years of sexual activism.”

 Echoing this idea, Xena credits the recent “societal change” to a different kind of media: social media. She said online platforms have given sex workers the chance to create communities in unprecedented ways, allowing them to advocate for change through a more united front.

 “It’s more to do with the people on the ground who are mobilizing their communities and finally saying, ‘You know what? We were sick of not being treated like everyone else. Let us do our job safely,’” she said.

 Xena cited strippers’ recent unionization in Portland and California as examples of the success brought by increased community solidarity. But despite their progress, she fears that the more conservative presidential administration could pose barriers to attempts to make sex work a “legitimately recognized career here in the U.S.”

 “That makes me nervous,” Xena said. “But I also know that our community is louder and stronger than it ever has been. So we’re not going to just shut up.”

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