Why is sex empowering now and what part does raunch culture play in it?

I'm doing a project for my psychology of women class, and my topic is feminism. I read the book Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture by Ariel Levy and the book just makes me ask more questions than there are answers. It seems even feminists are split on how raunch culture affects women. So I want to know what you all think. How do women that strip, flash the camera guys of GGW, or make sex tapes feel empowered doing it? It seems to me that it's just continuing the trend that feminists have fought for for a hundred years.