Sex for sale - a summary of chapter 16 of Understanding human sexuality by Hyde and DeLamater

Sexology
Chapter 16
Sex for sale

Prostitution

Prostitutes/commercial sex workers: people who engage in sexual acts in return for payment and do so in a promiscuous, fairly non-discriminating fashion.

Venues for sex work

There are a number of settings or venues in which commercial sexual activity occurs.
The nature of the venue or social/sexual context influences the type of sex worker and client found, the activity that occurs, and its associated risks.

Call girl: the most expensive and exclusive category of prostitutes.
Works out of her own residence, making appointments with clients by a landline, cell phone or online.
Has heavy business expenses.
May have a number of regular customers and may accept new clients only on referral.
She can exercise close control over whom she sees and her schedule.
She usually sees clients in her residence.
She often provides an illusion of intimacy and may provide other services (like accompanying to business and social gatherings).

Brothel: a house of prostitution where prostitutes and customers meet for sexual activity.

In-call services:a residence in which prostitutes work regular shifts, selling sexual services on an hourly basis.
The sexual worker has generally less autonomy than a call girl.
There is usually a manager or madam who determines the conditions of work and the fees to be charged and who collects a substantial percentage of each fee.
Less choice of clients.

Massage parlor: a place where massages, as well as sexual services, can generally be purchased.
Some provide legitimate massage therapy.
Vary greatly in décor and price.

Out-call service: a service that sends a prostitute or sex worker to a location specified by the client to provide sexual services.

Streetwalker: a lower-status prostitute or sex worker who walks the streets selling sexual services.
Generally less attractive and less fashionably dressed than the call girl, and also charges less.
More likely to impose strict time constraints on the customer.
Little control over the condition in which they work, so greater risk.

Strip club: a bar or business that provides (almost) nude dancers and sexualized interactions, not necessarily physical sexual contact.
Exist along a continuum.

The internet and cell phones have had a major impact on the delivery of commercial sexual services.

The same person may work in several different venues over time.

The role of third parties

Pimp: a prostitute’s companion, protector and master.
If she has a pimp, she supports him with her earnings, and in return he may provide her with companionship and sex, bail her out of jail, an provide her with feed, shelter, clothing, and drugs.
May provide protection.
But may also abuse her.

Madam: a woman who manages a brothel, in-call, out-call, or escort service.

In other venues there may be other third-parties.
They reduce the autonomy of the sex workers they supervise and may coerce them to perform activities or to work with clients that they object to.

Sex trafficking

Sex trafficking: the recruitment and control of persons for sexual exploitation.
By threat or use of force or deception.

The career of a sex worker

Two explanations of entry into sexual work

• The negative experiences in childhood and adolescence
  • Physical and sexual abuse
  • Family instability
  • Poverty
  • Homelessness
  • Contact with exploitative men (like pimps and drugs dealers)
• Factors in the environment at the point of entry
  • Economic need
  • Lack of job skills
  • Limited employment opportunity

Not every sex worker experienced all of these conditions.
For sex workers in the West, economic reasons are often more important.

Coercion is a major factor in sex trafficking.

On entering prostitution, most workers go through an apprenticeship in which they learn the skills of the profession.

There has been relatively little research on the ‘mid-career’ of a sex worker.

Giving up prostitution is financially a difficult thing to do, particularly for the person with no job skills.

Sex worker’s well-being

The risk to a woman and thus her well-being varies according to the venue in which she worked.

Privacy and the worker’s lack of control are major situational contributions to victimization.
Risks are especially high for women who are being trafficked, because they are at risk of suffering abuse and injury by both clients and masters, undergoing illness and infection, and facing medical neglect.
Also the risk of exposure to sexually transmitted diseases.

It has been suggested that the high levels of violence and psychological distress reflect the stigma associated with the work.

Sex workers use a variety of strategies to cope with the risks of their work.

• Drugs and alcohol
• Shutting down feelings and focusing on the task
  This can lead to depersonalisation.
• Perceiving the work as offering opportunities of personal growth
• Some emphasize the rewarding aspects of the work
• Careful management of time and space
• Use a network of contacts with other sex workers as a source of support

The role of early abuse

Having a history of victimization and trauma as children or adolescents, before entering prostitution, is associated with poorer well-being.

Coercive sexual activity in adolescence or young adulthood is associated with a variety of adverse health and social outcomes.

• Subsequent non-consensual sex
• Unintended pregnancy
• Abortion
• Low self-esteem
•  Substance abuse

Customers

Prostitutes refer to their customers as ‘johns’.
Four types of clients

• One-time clients
• Regular clients/ ‘friends’
  Repeat clients the worker has known for some time
  The workers developed friendships with these men.
• Clients who had fallen in love with them
• Long-term financial providers
  Provided consistent, substantial financial support in exchange for special services.

Men use the services of prostitutes for a variety of reasons

• Satisfy sexual needs
• It was easy
• It would be entertaining
• Wanting sex more frequently than their wives do or want to engage in practices they think their wives would not be willing to do
• Prove manhood
• Gain sexual experience

For many clients, a major appeal is the clear and bounded nature of the sexual interaction.

Male sex workers

Men who serve a heterosexual clientele work in three settings

• Escort services
  Out-call basis
  Much less risky for men than for women
• Massage parlors
  Same conditions as females
• Gigolo
  Gigolo: a male who provides companionship and sexual gratification on a continuing basis to a woman in exchange for money.
  Often has only one client at a time.
  Several types
  • Golden boy
    Pampered playboy kept by a very wealthy woman
  • Lap dog
    Who enters a series of marriages of convenience
  • Toy boy
    Works as a companion on a limited-term basis

Many male sex workers sell their services primarily or exclusively to men.

Four settings

• Outdoor workers
  Risk assault and stigma
  Hustlers: a male sex worker who sells his services to men.
• Bar workers
• Brothels
• Escorts or ‘call boys’

The main reason to start sex work was leaving home because of conflict.
The majority used drugs while engaging in the act of prostitution.
To reduce feelings of anxiety or fear stemming from the nature of the work.

Sex tourism

Sex tourism: leisure travel with the purpose of purchasing sexual services.
Made possible by three large-scale social forces

• The migration of men and women from less developed nations from rural to urban areas, in search of jobs
• The commodification of sexual intimacy
  Making all types of sex a commodity or service for sale
• Increased travel for recreational purposes

All these are tied to globalization.

Pornography

Pornography: sexually arousing material or material intended to produce sexual arousal.

Terms

Pornography: sexually arousing art, literature, or films
Obscenity: that which is offensive to decency or modesty, or calculated to arouse sexual excitement or lust
Erotica: Sexually arousing material that is not degrading or demeaning to women, men or children.

The porn industry

Internet porn

The internet has made available a wide variety of sex-related products and services to.

• Adult web sites display and sell a variety of sexual materials and services.
• Chat rooms provide a location where individuals can meet and carry on conversations electronically
• News groups log on on sex-oriented news or discussion groups.
• Commercial bulletin boards contain sexually explicit photographs in digital form.

DVDs, videos, and films

Sexually explicit movies were made as early as 1915.

The privatization of pornography was furthered by the development of the internet, and vastly expanded the potential marked.

There is a continuum from the subtle to the explicit in video portrayals of sex.

• The subtle end is music videos

Magazines

A declining share of the pornography marked consists of magazines, ranging form soft-core to hard-core.
Magazines catering to specialized tastes remain on the marked.

Live entertainment

Shows providing live, sexualized entertainment.

Telephone sex

Sexually explicit conversation between one or more persons.
Often the participants engages in masturbation.
May also be non-commercial.
May also ad video.

Kiddie porn

Kiddie porn: any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a person under 18 years of age.
This is illegal.

• Children cannot truly give informed consent of participation in such activities
• The potential for doing psychological and physical damage to them is great

Advertising

Sex in advertising.
Both subtle and sexual promises are used to sell a wide variety of products.

The producers

The development of handheld cameras and portable equipment allowed movement away from studio-based production.
Tube sites accept uploads from almost anyone.

The consumers

Men who are younger and nonwhite are more likely to report viewing.
Computer porn attract both men and women of diverse ages.

The effect of exposure

Sexual script theory
Scripts define appropriate sexual interactions by identifying actors, behaviours, and context for sexual activity.
As media portrayals have become more common, they have become a major socializing influence on persons exposed to them.

• Aquisition
  Learning via exposure
• Activation
  Cueing a script already learned
• Application
  Using the script to guide behaviour or interaction

Exposure to material that the viewer finds acceptable produces arousal.
Exposure to portrayals that the viewer finds objectionable produces a negative reaction.

Men report higher levels of arousal to such portrayals than do women.
This is often attributed to the fact that most erotica and pornography is male oriented.

Men and women may report an increase in sexual thought, fantasies and behaviours in response to erotic portrayals.

Viewing pornography is associated with a greater number of sexual partners.

Exposure to aggressive pornography does increase males’ aggression toward woman and may affect males’ attitudes, making them more accepting of violence against women, particularly men at high risk.

Issues related to pornography

Reasons to object to pornography

• Pornography debases women
  One can also argue that porn objectifies men.
• Pornography associated sex with violence toward women
  But, the evidence suggests that it is exposure to aggression, not sex, that produces the effect
• Pornography shows unequal power relationships between women and men
• Pornography addiction