Graduate Journal of Social Science

Articles

• Saving us from penetration – ponderings from a trans rentboy

  Jet Young

  • Abstract

    A Chinese diasporic trans rentboy reflects on the contested arena of sex work. Ponderings on whorephobia as a strategy of imperialism, the continued oppression of femininity, and the murky politics of penetration.

  • View Abstract
  • Read Article
  • pp. 21–27

• Between the Sex Industry and Academia: Navigating Stigma and Disgust

  Gemma Ahearne

  • No abstract available.
  • Read Article
  • pp. 28–37

• ‘Yeah, they’ve started to get a bit fucking cocky…’ Culture, Economic Change and Shifting Power Relations within the Scottish Lap-Dancing Industry

  Billie Lister

  • Abstract

    This article is informed by data taken from wider findings from a Ph.D study in which the author worked as a stripper in a lap-dancing venue in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and, at the time of writing, is home to five venues. The data was collected over a ten month period in 2011. The findings are generated through in-depth interviews with a number of women who worked in lap-dancing venues across Scotland, and the findings reflect their experiences of their involvement in this changing industry. By using dancers’ voices, this work contributes to the growing body of literature which supports the complex and contradictory nature of involvement in the sex industry (Bradley-Engen and Ulmer, 2009; Sanders et al, 2009). In doing so, I reveal how dancers’ working experiences are fluid, and subject to change in accordance with economic and cultural shifts outside the venue. These elements, I argue, directly impact not only upon the generation of income, but also on the power relations within clubs, resulting in a far more precarious form of labour than previously. It is suggested that dancing as a strategy for sustaining a viable income as a stand-alone form of work ended in 2008 in response to the economic crisis (Sanders and Hardy, 2015). Until then, although always precarious, dancers reported that their work provided them with an acceptable standard of living (Sanders and Hardy, 2015). The findings of this Scottish study support Sanders and Hardy’s research, which took place in England. The definition of economy used here differs from that used by Brents and Sanders (2010, 43), who refer to it in combination with mainstreaming and involves ‘processes that push businesses towards smoother integration with mainstream economic institutions’. Within this article I refer to economic impact as a wide spread reduction in disposable income amongst average workers (Sanders and Hardy, 2014) that has contributed to the declining earning possibilities within the lap-dancing industry as the result of the economic recession. 

    Keywords

    Sex work, gender, Power, labour, Mainstreaming

  • View Abstract & Keywords
  • Read Article
  • pp. 38–54

• Victor or victim? Foregrounding the independent escort experience outside of the polarised debate

  Rae Story and Glen Jankowski

  • Abstract

    The sex worker as a sociocultural ‘phenomenon’ occupies a liminal space, simultaneously absent from sociopolitical acceptability yet ever present in often inflammatory, ‘condemn/celebrate’ discourses. In this paper we aim to contribute to a destabilising of the dichotomisation of these representations by referring to the lived experience of independent escorts. In addition we attempt to contextualize the sex worker in consumer capitalism through which notions of choice and exploitation, that arise from both sides of the ‘condemn’/’celebrate’ debate, are rendered oblique. We draw upon the author’s own experience of being an escort as well as accounts from a popular escort internet forum¹ to illustrate the issues escorts share with women as a wider social demographic, including violence and abuse, appearance pressures, and economic hardship. By situating escorting as a form of self-employment labour, within the practical reality of neoliberal, consumer capitalism, we aid in the nuancing of the debate, foregrounding the escort experience over prior, moral ideologies. We also promote the merging of the academic debate surrounding the sex work industry, with the grassroots debate that forum member escorts have on a daily basis. We conclude it is important to demystify and destigmatise escorts so they are not regarded as 'victims or victors' or other grotesque parodies, but a real, diverse people and members of a labour force.

    Keywords

    Sex work, Escorts, Liminality, Escort forum, Capitalism

  • View Abstract & Keywords
  • Read Article
  • pp. 55–75

• Direct sex work in Great Britain: reflecting diversity

  Jane Pitcher

  • Abstract

    Recent policy debates in the UK and Europe have tended to frame sex work as consonant with trafficking and sexual exploitation, often drawing on the most extreme cases to exemplify the position of sex workers. These examples are frequently based on the experiences of specific groups such as street-based sex workers, who tend to encounter different working circumstances from their indoor-based counterparts and may present a broader range of social problems. Yet existing research evidence shows that street-based workers form a minority of sex workers in the UK. Policy reports and proposals often focus exclusively on female sex workers, rather than also considering the position of male and transgender sex workers. Many policy initiatives thus ignore the diversity amongst sex workers and are based on inadequate information, which can contribute to social exclusion of sex workers. Research has identified gaps in data and lack of up-to-date information about the numbers of sex workers of different genders in diverse sectors of the sex industry. Drawing on two recent pieces of original research exploring the relative proportions of female, male and transgender sex workers in different sectors of the sex industry in Great Britain, and the working experiences of adult sex workers in indoor-based settings, this article considers how inaccurate or partial information has been used to present a misleading picture of the sex worker population in the UK. It considers the methodological challenges in calculating the size and composition of the British sex worker population, presents new estimates of the numbers and comparative proportions of female, male and transgender sex workers in street-based and indoor sectors in Britain and demonstrates ways in which the working experiences and perspectives of indoor-based sex workers challenge the messages perpetuated in policy and media discourses.  It suggests that changes to the law to protect sex workers’ rights and safety need to move away from criminalisation, towards recognition of sex work as a legitimate occupation.

    Keywords

    Prositution, Sex work, Policy, Service Provision, gender

  • View Abstract & Keywords
  • Read Article
  • pp. 76–100

• The changing landscape of Scottish responses to sex work: addressing violence against sex workers

  Emma Smith

  • Abstract

    Sex work is currently a topical issue in Scotland, having being subject to various legislative and policy developments in recent times. These have included attempts to criminalise the purchase of sex and sauna raids, purported to reduce harm and provide protection to sex workers and communities. Within this paper, I draw upon findings from my Ph.D research that explores responses to violence associated with sex work in Scotland, using qualitative interviewing methods. These are used as a basis for examining the nature and extent to which Scottish legislative and policy responses to sex work have changed, with a particular focus on how this involves and relates to violence. Specifically, the paper considers the role relationship violence has within current Scottish legislative and policy responses to sex work: how violence is defined in law and policy and by individuals; understood and experienced by both sex workers and service providers; how they conceptualise violence as it applies to law and policy development, and perceive the implications of such developments. It is concluded that more continuities (related to ongoing stigmatisation and marginalisation of sex workers, and service provision issues in engaging with sex workers) than changes can be attributed to recent law and policymaking surrounding sex work in Scotland, resulting in a climate of violence-involving further stigma, exclusion and marginalisation for sex workers, as well as access challenges for service providers, which may contribute towards increased violence and issues of safety for sex workers. An approach, which takes account of a variety of sex worker perceptions and experiences of violence, is recommended, in order to sustain positive social and political change relating to sex work and sex workers.

    Keywords

    Policy, Violence, Sex work, Scotland

  • View Abstract & Keywords
  • Read Article
  • pp. 101–128

• Contested spaces: Exploring the intersections of migration, sex work and trafficking in South Africa

  Rebecca Walker and Elsa Oliveira

  • Abstract

    This paper considers the discourses, practices and conditions that contribute to the multiple vulnerabilities faced by female migrants who sell sex in South Africa and, in turn questions the ways in which they negotiate and challenge these vulnerabilities. In Johannesburg, a city with the largest proportion of South Africa’s migrants, female migrants who sell sex face a number of vulnerabilities due to the criminalised nature of their work and other factors such as irregular documentation status, fear of deportation and xenophobia, (Gould & Fick 2008; Richter 2012 et al). In addition, concerns around human trafficking in South Africa are seen to negatively impact upon attitudes towards sex work. Drawing from two research projects with migrants who sell sex in inner-city Johannesburg, this paper highlights the need for a more nuanced discussion around sex work and trafficking. While highlighting the distinctions between the two, we argue that it is necessary to recognise the multiple realities for women who sell sex; realities which seep out far beyond the popular discourses which label them as victims and which demonstrate that experiences of sex work can embody risk, hope, fear, enjoyment, violence and fulfilment.

    Keywords

    Trafficking, Migrancy, Vulnerability

  • View Abstract & Keywords
  • Read Article
  • pp. 129–153

• The ‘Rescue Industry’: The blurred line between help and hindrance

  Laura Connelly

  • No abstract available.
  • Read Article
  • pp. 154–160

• Photo Essay

  Toni Stone

  • No abstract available.
  • Read Article
  • pp. 161–176