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Let’s Talk About Students and Sex Work:
An Explorative Study on the Justification
Process of Students and Sex Work.
C. Eloise Gaddess
11144262
egaddess@gmail.com
Master in Sociology, Cultural Track
Supervisors: dr. Kobe de Keere and dr. M.L. Janssen
Graduate School of Social Sciences – University of Amsterdam
Thesis
01-07-2016
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction………...5
1.1 Let’s Talk About Sex Research Project………6
1.2 The Dutch Context and Sex Work………7
1.3 What is Sex Work?...8
1.4 Let’s Talk About Students and Sex Work………...8
Chapter 2: Methodology……….9
2.1 Qualitative Analysis: Interviews……….10
2.2 Quantitative Analysis: Let’s Talk About Sex Survey……….12
Chapter 3: Theoretical Framework………13
3.1 Justification……….14
3.2 Stigma and Sex work………..15
3.3 Culture and Repertoires………..18
3.4 Class………20
3.5 Morality………..22
3.6 Shame……….23
Chapter 4: Data Analysis………...24
4.1 Class………26
4.2 Morality………..32
4.3 Gender……….38
4.4 Shame………..43
4.5 Comparison between Groups………..47
Chapter 5: Discussion………49
5.1 “…I'm not in an exploitative marginalized position”……….50
5.2 “…I don't want to make myself seem like a Martyr”……….52
5.3 “…scared of judgement from woman, and comments from men”……….53
5.4 “…just ashamed, socially ashamed, that would make me feel uncomfortable”…………54
5.5 Comparison: Students Whom Have Engaged vs. Only Considered………...55
5.6 Limitations and Implications for Further Research………57
3 Bibliography ………..59 Appendix 1 : Interview Guide………63 Appendix 2: Figure 1 Categories of Class……….64
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Summary
Students engagement in sex work has become a prevailing topic of discussion. As a part of the overall project, The Let’s talk about Sex, this thesis is investigating how students experience stigma as well as how they go about justifying their engagement and considerations . By using several theories
including Bourdieu’s concepts on social space, capital and habitus along with the use of Swidler’s concept of cultural repertoires, a theoretical framework was built in order to answer the main research question.
This study uses a mixed methods approach. The qualitative analysis includes interviews with five students who have considered sex work and five students who have engaged in sex work. The quantitative analysis includes a cross- sectional survey aimed for students in Amsterdam universities. Using an explorative approach, this study adds insightful results into the world of students and sex work.
The results included how students manipulate their current social position in order to feel comfortable with their interest or involvement in the stigmatized profession of sex work. Students eschew the Oppressed Paradigm by embracing the Empowerment Paradigm in order to maintain their permissible morality. Additionally, when specifically looking at gender, the female students fear being ‘slut shammed’ or ostracized despite their enlightened or empowered view. In order to mitigate this conflict, students keep their involvement a secret to avoid shame yet still gain access in the field of sex work. Overall, the results of this study are that students experience stigma while utilizing their social position by using various repertoires to justify their considerations or involvement in the sex industry. These finding adds a nuanced understanding of students and sex work in the Netherlands.
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Chapter 1: Introduction
“I want to capitalize on my sexuality because I do love my body and it seemed like the perfect storm for this kind of job and it really was...”
Students’ engagement in sex work is a social trend that is gaining attention. This trend is due to the significant changes in the economic, social and cultural acceptance of sexual consumption in the urban economies of western countries during late capitalism (Roberts, 2010: 145). There is an increasing amount of students engaging in sex work. In recent years, anecdotal reports of students selling sex (Barrett, 1997) have been followed by numerous media stories of students participating in different types of sex work. The phenomenon appears to be international, having been documented in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, and France, where it has been estimated that approximately 2% of students fund their studies through sex work (Roberts, 2010: 146). While the phenomenon of students and sex work has been studied internationally, this study focuses on students in Amsterdam and will add to the international research around this topic. What is unique about this study is that sex work is legal in the Netherlands: this may correlate with how students perceive and therefore engage in sex work.
A common narrative around this topic is that the “major argument for explaining student participation in sex work implicates economic necessity, as is the case for non-student sex workers” (O’Neill 1997; Roberts, 2010: 146). This study will be focusing solely on students at the university level, which may lead to a different ideology around sex work rather than economic needs. The goal is to uncover and gain a better understanding of the ideas, opinions and attitudes of those students who have engaged in sex work and those who have considered sex work. While “even the most
impassioned ideologies tolerate some slippage between their ideas and their lives, some people nonetheless do make conscious attempts to fit their lives to their worldviews” (Swidler, 2001: 68). To better understand these conscious attempts, this study will unravel and explore how students decide and justify ‘fitting their lives’ into the sex industry. Specifically, it is valuable to investigate how student who engage or consider sex work expand their available repertoires of arguments and attitudes to orient themselves to a new phenomenon (Swidler, 2001: 30- 31). This study contributes to the knowledge of students entering into or considering sex work as well as their decision-making and justifications processes. The purpose of this study is to elaborate on the Let’s Talk About Sex project and how sex work and sex workers are defined, and give additional context of sex work in the Netherlands.
6 1.1 Let’s Talk About Sex Research Project
The current research project that I am participating in and therefore my thesis is aligned with is, “Let’s Talk about Sex Project- Students Attitudes and Perceptions toward Sexuality (In
Amsterdam). This research project’s aim is to uncover students’ sexual behavior in Amsterdam (UvA, VU and HvA), focusing on their outlooks and views on sex work on the basis of newly collected quantitative and qualitative data. The Let’s Talk About Sex research project is a reflection of that of The Student Sex Work Project that was done through the University of Swansea 1(Department of Criminology) in the Wales, United Kingdom. The Swansea project has focused on researching students and sex work and the reasons associated with the rise in their engagement within the UK. Our research group includes five Master students and with the coordination of Dr. Marie-Louise Janssen and Dr. Stephanie Steinmetz. Our group has prepared and executed a project that will emulate that of Swansea Universities study. However this study is not a duplicate but a continuation to see the results from students in Amsterdam and gain an informative and comparative view on the data.
This topic is relevant in that students engaging or thinking of engaging in sex work is or has become a new social phenomenon. In the Netherlands, there is a new trend for students to work as an escort in the sex industry as a consequence of higher living-costs and tuition. And so, the economic necessities of student life now means that a high proportion of all students, both full and part time, must work in an effort to support their study and control patterns of spiraling debt (Roberts, 2007: 4). The option to work in the sex industry as a student may look more appealing due to its flexibility and pay whereas a part-time job (for example, in a café or a bar) may not pay enough for the student to pay for living, study and other costs. The short-term gain of sex work brings in more money and therefore allows more time for students to devote to study compared with the poorly paid jobs that are typically available (Lantz, 2004; Moffat & Peters, 2004; Roberts, 2007: p.5).
There have been studies around the world on this subject: for example 2% of all students (40,000) work in prostitution in France (Van der Wagen et al., 2010; The Guardian, 2006). In the UK, the number of student sex workers has doubled during the last six years (Sunday Times, 2006). And according to recent research by the University of Swansea, 4.8% of the students are working (or have been working) as a sex worker in the sex industry. Moreover, one out of every five students has as least considered sex work and was stopped by the stigma attached to it (Sagar, Jones et al. 2015). This data has been valuable to the countries where the research was located. Because the Netherlands has not had sufficient research done on this specific topic, it will be worthwhile to research this social phenomenon in the Netherlands.
7 Our current study aims to gather more systematic evidence on students’ attitudes and
perceptions toward sexuality and sex work and how this relates to their sexual behavior. This topic and the results stemming from this research will surround the students’ current, future or past involvement or considerations of entering into the sex industry, including how they experience the stigma surrounding the industry and the justifications used when entering into sex work. Specifically, I will investigate how and if their class position affects their involvement or considerations into sex work as well as what elements are involved in the students justification process. In earlier studies, students mentioned that a combination of money, excitement, and pleasure as the most important reason to work in prostitution (Janssen & Veninga, 2016). However, this study is focusing on how students experience and thereby justify their engagement or considerations in entering into a highly stigmatized profession.
1.2 The Dutch Context and Sex Work
The Swansea project was conducted and focused on in the United Kingdom gaining valuable insight into the rising social phenomenon of students participating in the sex industry. In the main research project Let’s Talk About Sex, the project focuses on students partaking in the sex industry in Amsterdam. To gain a better and fuller idea and conception of how and why students would and are engaging in the sex industry in Amsterdam, it is useful to look the background and history of sex work in the Netherlands.
Sex work is known to be ‘one of the oldest professions in the world’ with many diffing opinions and legalities associated with it. In the Netherlands, even in mediaeval Amsterdam,
prostitution may not have been morally acceptable; however it was not to be regarded as an absolute evil (Brants, 1998: 621). The Netherlands has had a long history of tolerating sex work until licensed brothels first appeared in Amsterdam almost 600 years ago (Brants, 1998: 612). Since then, legalizing sex work has been an ongoing process. Looking at the Dutch context regarding sex work will give an overview and provide a clearer picture of the narrative and discourse surrounding sex work in the Netherlands. According to Outshoorn, “In 1999, the Netherlands was one of the first countries to legalize prostitution; it lifted the ban on brothels, recognized prostitution as sex work and delegated the regulation of the sex industry to local authority” (2012; p. 233). Vanwesenbeeck explains that in 2006, more than 3% of both men and women in the adult population (19 to 69 years of age) reported ever having received money for sex (2013: 12). Weitzer states three-quarters of citizens in Holland consider prostitution an acceptable job (2010: 24). The ideology of Dutch citizens claiming that they feel sex work is an acceptable job could render into how students perceive and experience sex work themselves.
8 However, there has been a problem with voluntary and forced prostitution. In 2009, “sex workers, or prostitutes (the common term in Dutch public discourse), will be required to register with the authorities; the age to work in the sex industry is to be raised from 18 to 21 years, and clients will have to check whether the sex worker is registered and not an ‘illegal’ worker” (Outshoorn, 2012; 233). The problems around sex work and the regulations to uphold and keep the industry safe is apparent and a difficult task. Even though sex work is legal in the Netherlands, we must remember that stigma does not necessarily erode where prostitution is legal (Weitzer, 2009: 230). Even though sex work is legalized and is said be an acceptable job, there is invariably stigma attached to the industry. Therefore, it is essential to look at how stigma is experienced for those involved or considering entering into sex work within this context, and for this study, focusing on students.
1.3 What is Sex Work?
The definition of sex work is a conflicting and a debated topic. With so many varying activities and definitions floating around, this term can be very subjective and vary from person to person. And so as a group, our research team discussed how we would define sex work throughout our project as this is a very sensitive, implicit and tricky activity to define as ‘sex work is best considered in terms of a continuum ranging from firmly organized forms … to unmediated
transactions and chance encounters’ (Vanwesenbeeck 2012: 13)2. And so, our research team came to the conclusion that a sex worker is someone who performs sexual acts in exchange for money or commodities, that can vary from stripping via webcam to a complete ‘girlfriend experience’ (Weitzer 2009: 225-6)3. Our team went into deep discussions on the definition of what sex work is and therefore what makes someone a sex worker (see footnotes for definitions).
1.4 Let’s Talk About Students and Sex Work
As mentioned above, my research focuses on students that have either engaged in sex work and who have seriously considered engaging in the sex industry. To go further into this topic to see how and why students engage or are interested in sex work, I want to discover how stigma is experienced and if there is a correlation with class position and the elements that go into the
2Sex Work: the exchange of money or material goods for sex acts or sex services of different kind. So for material or
financial benefits.
3Sex Worker: someone who offers sexual services in exchange for money or material goods and who is making a living in
the sex industry (so not somebody who is doing it once in a while) The term ‘sex worker’ refers to a series of professions which are related to the selling of sexual services, such as prostitutes, but also erotic dancers, strippers, models in the pornographic industry, phone sex, web cams etc
9 justification process for students interested or engaging in the sex industry. My main research
question will be:
How do student who have engaged or have considered participating in sex work, experience stigma and thus justify their decisions?
Moreover, my sub- questions dive deeper into the stigmatization and the justification process as it pertains to students and sex work, as follows:
1). Stigmatization
a. How is sex work stigmatized?
b. How is this stigmatization experienced?
c. How does this pertain to their class, morality, gender and shame? 2). Justification
a. Why do students choose sex work? b. How do they justify their choice?
c. How does this pertain to their class, morality, gender and shame?
To answer, discuss and interpret the findings for this topic, I will focus on the four main themes of Class, Morality, Gender and Shame. While focusing on these themes, I will be looking at the relation between these themes and the various elements students use in their justification process. I am interested in how students justify their considerations as well as their engagement in the industry when they are told and know they have “the world at their finger-tips” as some would say. These upper-middle class, highly-educated students are deciding or considering to engage in an industry that is stereotypically associated with those that are lower-class. This thesis will aid in coming to a better understanding of the logic surrounding students’ considerations and engagement in a highly
stigmatized industry like sex work.
Chapter 2: Methodology
The chosen methodology for the research project and therefore for this thesis research, will be a mixed method approach. Utilizing a mixed method approach enables the study to get a fuller and more enveloped idea of students and sex work. Mixed methods research is a research design or methodology for collecting, analyzing and mixing both quantitative and qualitative data in a single study or series of studies in order to better understand research problems (Creswell, 2003b). The
10 decision to choose to develop a study that utilizes the mixed method approach was evidenced by the fact that the advantage to collecting both forms results in quantitative data yielding generalizable trends and qualitative data providing in- depth voices and experiences of individuals within specific settings or contexts (Green and Caracelli, 1997; Creswell, 2003: 318). This is an explorative study, and so the use of the qualitative data will be the main focus while the quantitative data will be used to gain a bigger perspective on the qualitative data with a larger sample. The advantage of a mixed methods study is the opportunity to enhance research results by comparing and confirming qualitative data with quantitative data (Bryman, 2012: 633-634). The research question of this thesis is
explorative, therefore my thesis entails mostly qualitative research results, with an additional part of quantitative data.
2.1 Qualitative Analysis: Interviews
Procedure. Semi- structured face- to face interviews were conducted with students who are or have engaged in sex work as well as students who have not engaged but have seriously considered working in the industry. The interviews were planned to extend the understanding about the topic as well as being able to delve in deeper and ask much more in-depth questions in which could not answer on the survey. As Hennick et al defines one-on-one interview as ‘in depth’, a ‘conversation with a purpose’ and ‘a meaning making partnership between interviewers and their respondents’ (2011: p. 109).
Sample. Ten interviews have been conducted, five of which are with those students who have engaged in the sex industry, and five of which have not engaged but have seriously considered
entering into the industry. I was originally hoping for more interviews with those that have engaged in sex work; however it is very difficult to find and convince the students to sit and chat about this topic as it is highly sensitive. The interviewees were (8) females, (1) male and (1) transgender woman from the ages 21- 28, and identify as being heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual. The interviewees were students in Amsterdam originating from the Netherlands, Canada, United Kingdom and the United States. The interviewees were in the midst of obtaining their bachelors or Master degrees in various universities in Amsterdam. The interviewees all completed the survey and divulged their emails once done the survey so they could be contacted directly about sitting down for an interview pertaining to the topic of sex work. The respondents who wanted to be contacted about the interview knew that the interview was set up for and created to talk to those who are or have engaged in sex work or have seriously considered and taken steps to enter into the industry and they are students in Amsterdam.
Introducing my respondents. Due to how highly sensitive and personal the topic of sex work is, I am not going to provide the readers with any information that may give away anonymity as I
11 respect their privacy and their wishes that their real names, places of work and details of their lives remain anonymous. That being said, I would like to introduce my respondents, in a generalized manner, as they do deserve a proper introduction.
The five students that are or have been engaged in the sex industry are from the Netherlands (3), United Kingdom (1) and Canada (1). Their ages ranged from 21- 24, one male who identifies as homosexual, one transgender woman who identifies as being bisexual, one woman who identifies as being bisexual and two woman who identify as being heterosexual. All are Caucasian and in the midst of doing either their bachelors or Masters. Within the sex industry, the activities that they are or have engaged in range from pole dancing, stripping, web camming, girlfriend experience, pornography, and escorting.
The five students that have not engaged but have seriously considered participating in the sex industry are from the Netherlands (3), the United Kingdom (1) and the United States of America (1). Their ages ranges from 23- 28, all are female and all identify as being heterosexual. The respondents are all in the midst of completing their bachelors or Masters. Within the sex industry they seriously considered and actively researched activities like erotic dancing, sugar baby/ sugar daddy experience, web camming, phone sex, and escorting. There will be a chart of the respondents’ demographics within the results chapter enabling for a clear understanding of the data analysis.
Interview Method. In order to understand how stigma is experienced and the justification process of students and sex work, in- depth interviews were conducted. In-depth interviews have been proven to be useful in obtaining thorough information regarding an interviewee’s thought process and behavior as well as for the in-depth exploration of new issues (Boyce & Neale, 2006). An initial analysis sample of ten interviews were conducted as it was troublesome to obtain interviews as this subject is very sensitive and private. Acquiring five students who have or are engaging in sex work was difficult however finding students who have seriously considered engaging in sex work but have not participated as of yet were more eager to sit down and be interviewed. The interviews were conducted between the 2nd of May until the 15th of June and lasted around 45 minutes.
The interviews were held in a quiet private place in which the student chose and where they felt comfortable talking about this sensitive subject. One respondent invited me into her home where two others found a quiet area in the office where they work or interned in after working hours and the others I met in quiet cafes. Due to the fact that the interviewees contacted were living in and around Amsterdam, the convenience of getting together was straightforward and manageable. During the interviews, I was very careful not to use the words ‘justify’ or ‘justification’ as I did not want to lead the students in coming up with desirable answers that they feel would deem to be an acceptable rationales. Instead, I asked questions that would enable the interviewees to tell me a story about their
12 ideas around sex work, how they got into the industry or why they are considering it, the stigma around it and how they go about telling people they are involved or considering sex work. Invariably, justifications of why they are engaging or considering sex work came out in the story they told. For an overview of the interview guide, please see Appendix 1.
I would also like to point out that half of the interviewee’s were of Dutch origin and so, their first language was not English. I am Canadian and so I drafted, created and conducted the interviews in English. Before the interview, I asked each Dutch participant if it was alright to conduct the interview in English and if not, I would have a fellow Dutch classmate/ team member join in on the interview in order for the interview to be held in Dutch. All of the Dutch respondents were
comfortable doing the interview in English. I wanted to point this out, as English is not their first language however each of my participants were fluent- yet this may have had an influence on how they could explain themselves or what words they used.
Ethical Issues. This topic is highly sensitive and personal to each of my respondents. Due to this, I have changed their names, have not divulged where they work and what agency they are associated with as well as any names they have mentioned throughout the interview in order to maintain their anonymity and privacy. All but one student that is or has engaged in sex work is doing it secretly or has not told their parents and so, my research is worded and framed in which to not pull my participants ‘out of the sex industry closet’ if you will.
2.2 Quantitative Analysis: Let’s Talk About Sex Survey
4Together the research group and I designed and created a cross- sectional online survey which focused primarily on students in Amsterdam, concentrating on students from UvA, VU and HVA. Combining these schools, we had the opportunity to reach and possibly approach at least 104, 000 students. We realize that there is a chance of a low respondent rate and we allowed for as many respondents as possible, and so we are not limiting participants to these schools. In the process of sending out the survey we shared it via Facebook, Twitter and the Communication televisions around the various campuses in Amsterdam. Our first aim was to obtain students emails and send individual invites per student to participate in the online survey. However, privacy was an issue and so we went with the option to link our survey onto a newsletter that will be sent to all students per institution. We also recruited respondents through a multi- sampling strategy through various personal and social media channels. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter will aid in getting the survey out into the public. We also engaged in using word of mouth among students to gain the survey attention.
13 We, as a group, used an online survey website Survey Monkey5 in order to create and
facilitate our survey which “this means that respondents will answer the questions by completing the questionnaire themselves and anonymously, in order to avoid socially desirable answers of
respondents” (Bryman, 2012: 232). In designing the survey, we created a majority of close ended questions as to keep our transcribing and data to a workable amount. We aimed for the survey to only take up to 20-30 minutes and produce questions that are not boring, repetitive, confusing and were sensitive to the subject matter. As a group, we constructed relevant questions that pertain to the main research question but also pertain to our individual interests and thesis topics. We were able to have a lecture on how to create a survey by a recent Masters graduate that made a very successful survey for her research; I believe her information, tips and knowledge aided in creating an interactive, well planned and organized survey.
The survey went live at the beginning of May which was later than expected and the data was taken from the survey towards the end of June, however the survey continues to stay live and will gain respondents into July to gain more data for the Let’s Talk about Sex research project. The data was taken from Survey Monkey and put into the software program STATA. There, the quantitative team lead, dr. Stephanie Steinmetz, coded the data from the survey to STATA. We worked together to work out what variables were important to take out of the survey data. For my thesis, these variables were: Engagement, Consideration, Class, Sex, Shame and Judgement.
These variables led to aiding in correlations and comparisons of the data. When the data was taken, the survey had a response rate of 661. Out of those 661 students, there were 405 students that completed the survey. Out of those students, 103 students explained they had either engaged or considered sex work. Within that 103 students, the students that expressed they had engaged in sex work were (N=42) and those that had seriously considered were (N=61). I have three different sample sizes depending on the focus of analysis. The sample size changes depending on whether I look at those who have engaged or only considered. The sample size for those who have engaged was (N= 303), and those who have considered was (N= 243) however this changes depending on the dependent variables I used in order to obtain the appropriate data. The reason I did not harmonize the sample sizes across the dependent variables is because I would lose respondents who are relevant for analysis. And so, those that have engaged in sex work are 42 out of 303 respondents, 61 out of 243
respondents who have seriously considered, and 8 out of 114 respondents that are currently engaging. Within in this study, I am planning on predominantly focusing on the qualitative aspect of the research, the interviews, but I will be utilizing the data collected from the survey to reflect and defend the qualitative data. The results on a larger scale help to strengthen the results that I have found in my qualitative data. It is an explorative analysis on a larger scale, although not representative of the
14 population, those that complete the survey will allow confirmation of the qualitative findings from the interviews conducted.
Chapter 3: Theoretical Framework
This theoretical frames and concepts of an array of theorist will be presented in this chapter. I will be laying out said theories in order to aid in interpreting the data found from this research. This theoretical framework will be utilized to aid in uncovering how students whom have thought about, are engaging or have engaged in sex work experience stigma and thus justify the decision to work in the sex industry. Stigma is a concept that is focused on and illuminated as this is key when looking at sex work as it can define how someone experiences sex work as well and how opinions and thoughts about the industry are formed. Along with the concept of stigma, the concept of cultural repertoires is explained and how these are used as tools to justify entering into the sex industry. It is imperative to provide an overview of what is meant by justification compared to motivation and how the students use cultural repertoires in order to justify engaging in sex work. The concepts of Class, Morality, Gender and Shame are also discussed as these concepts have a big influence on how sex work is viewed and how the discourse surrounding sex work is created. These concepts will facilitate a better understanding as to how students experience stigma and how they justify entering into sex work.
3.1 Justification
Explaining the difference between motivation and justification is imperative to do as I want to emphasize the difference as I will focus on how students justify their actions and logic of engaging or considering sex work after the fact, and not the motivation to act. Vaisey points out that while
motivational and justificatory understandings of culture are not necessarily contradictory, the choice to apply one or the other to a specific empirical problem seems largely a matter of the researcher’s personal preference (Jackson 2006: Vaisey 2009: 1676). For this research project, I have chosen to look at the justifications, not the motivations, of that of students engaging or considering sex work. To do this, I think it is important to first define justification and distinguish it from motivation as I do not want these terms to be misunderstood as justification is the main concept I want to delve farther into. A simple definition from Merriam- Webster Dictionary of justification is that is “an acceptable reason for doing something : something that justifies an action”.6 Going farther into defining justification and looking at the concept of moral justification, we can see that it is a difficult term to define. According
15 to Vaisey, Boltanski and Thevenot (1999) refer to moral justification as socially required sense making; DiMaggio (1997, 2002) argues that we grab bits of culture seemingly at random to justify ourselves; Lamont (1992) sees symbolic repertoires serving primarily as tools of social inclusion and exclusion (Vaisey, 2009: p.1679). As shown, justification is hard to define and has an array of descriptions. For this research, I will be following Vaisey’s explanation of justification which is that culture is best viewed as a loose repertoire of justifications that rationalize or make sense of the choices that individuals make in their lives (Boltanski and Thevenot 1999; Swidler 2001; Vaisey 2009: 1675- 1676). I will use Vaisey’s explanation of justification to dive further into how students have engaged or seriously considered sex work use repertoires of justification to explain their choices.
3.2 Stigma, Students and Sex work
Why is stigma imperative to discuss when exploring and investigating students and sex work? Because it is one of the most important aspect as to how one experiences the industry and whether or not someone might decide to engage in the industry or not. If the decision is to engage, the stigma will then follow them and ultimately have an effect on their lives and those around them. In order to elaborate on stigma and sex work I use Weitzer’s (2009) Oppressive and Empowerment paradigms to help illustrate how stigma affects students’ decision to enter into the sex industry as well as Goffman’s fundamental work Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity (1963) in order to gain a better perspective on this topic.
Consequences of stigma on sex workers
The topic of sex work and students is a subject that is gaining attention but lacks in current research and therefore this study will help to gain further insight into this issue. First we must understand that there are many areas within sex work that are encapsulated in the term sex work. A sex worker is basically someone who performs sexual acts in exchange for money or commodities, that can vary from stripping via webcam to a complete ‘girlfriend experience’ (Weitzer 2009: 225-6). Within this thesis, I will be focusing on sex work which I will define as an umbrella term in which is encapsulates a wide variety of activities from telephone sex to web camming to pornography to escorting.
As said by Goffman, a stigma is an attribute, behavior, or reputation that is socially discrediting in a particular way (1963: 3). This can be related to the stigma associated with the sex industry and how students in particular think about and therefore how in fact they experience sex work if they decide to engage. Goffman goes on to explain that stigma management is an offshoot of something basic in society, the stereotyping or “profiling” of our normative expectations regarding
16 conduct and character (1963: 51). Managing the stigma associated with sex work, as a student, by changing their expectations for themselves and from others as well as looking at sex work as an option not from a deviant aspect could enable students to justify their decision to consider or engage.
According to Goffman, one phase of this socialization process is that through which stigmatized person learns and incorporates the stand- point of the normal, acquiring thereby the identity beliefs of the wider society and a general idea of what it would be like to possess a particular stigma (1963: 32). Students who are not typically associated with the stigma surrounding sex work, but yet they engage or seriously consider engaging, are able to view the industry from a privileged standpoint. The students understand the stigma surrounding sex work and if they participate in the industry this could lead to being stigmatized. The students understand and acknowledge that they will have to deal with and experience stigma, as to whether or not this is a defining indication of
engagement or not is dependent on the student.
I am focusing on student sex workers and so, I want to highlight Weitzer’s Oppression and Empowerment Paradigms in order to get a better understanding of how one could experience stigma and how this may affect someone engaging or considering in sex work. I believe delving into these two Paradigms will help shed light on how students experience and justify either engaging or consider engaging in the sex industry. In general, Sociologists have examined sex work as a form of deviant behavior, a type of gender relations, and as a distinct occupational sector (Weitzer, 2009: 214). The deviance framework tends to cast a traditional outlook on sex work in that it is based on the traditional stigmatization of sex work and highlights the ways in which actors are subjected to social control and discriminatory treatment (Weitzer, 2009: 214). The Paradigms that I will be discussing go against the traditional view of the deviance framework and explain how oppression and empowerment have come to exist within the concept of sex work. By comparing and contrasting the Oppression and
Empowerment Paradigms I hope to allow for a more encompassing understanding of where student sex workers find both discouragement and enlightenment when considering or engaging and thus justifying their decision to enter into the sex industry.
Oppression and Empowerment Paradigms
Oppression Paradigm. The Oppression Paradigm holds that sex work is a quintessential expression of patriarchal gender relations. The most prominent exponents of this position go further, however, claiming that exploitation, subjugation, and violence against women are intrinsic to and ineradicable from sex work, transcending historical time period, national context, and type of sexual commerce (Weitzer, 2009: p. 214). The Oppression Paradigm gives way to the ideology that woman, and men, are exploited and victimized which does not fit the description of highly educated students that come from upper- middle class positions. The Paradigm holds that in addition to these essentialist
17 claims regarding male domination, some writers make generalizations about specific aspects of sex work: that most or all sex workers were physically or sexually abused as children; entered the trade as adolescents, around 13– 14 years of age; were tricked or forced into the trade by pimps or traffickers; use or are addicted to drugs; experience routine violence from customers; labor under abysmal working conditions; and desperately want to exit the sex trade (Weitzer, 2009: p. 214).
According to Weitzer, the Oppressive paradigm aims to use language that assumes
victimization and that these people would not chose to engage in the industry. Weitzer explains that the paradigm describes sex work in these terms, as an example “Prostituted” clearly indicates that prostitution is something done to a person, not something that can be chosen, and “survivor” implies someone who has escaped a harrowing ordeal (2009: p. 214). The Oppression Paradigm shows a contrast in that students are not generally looked at as a victim or survivors that do not have other choices in life other than sex work. Students in the sex industry may choose a varying range of activities to engage in which may sway their decision to participate in the industry. When Oppression theorists present empirical support for their arguments, they typically describe only the worst
examples of sex work and treat them as representative (Weitzer, 2009: 214); however, we have to remember that the sex industry has a wide variety of activities and areas that are not represented or focused on throughout the awareness and understanding of sex work in general.
Empowerment Paradigm. The Oppressive Paradigm leads to an understanding of how sex workers and the sex industry is viewed from an oppressed outlook. Looking at an opposite
perspective, the Empowerment Paradigm, “which focuses on the ways in which sexual commerce qualifies as work, involves human agency, and may be potentially empowering for workers” (Carmen & Moody 1985, Chapkis 1997, Delacoste & Alexander 1987, Strossen 1995). This Paradigm holds that there is nothing inherent in sex work that would prevent it from being organized in terms of mutual gain to both parties—just as in other economic transactions. (Weitzer, 2009: 215). In
comparison to the Oppressive view, the Empowerment Paradigm explains that it is not only victims or desperate individuals that are engaging in the sex industry but people that in fact have control and the choice to participate. Weitzer explains that the Empowerment Paradigm holds that this kind of work may enhance a person’s socioeconomic status and provide greater control over one’s working conditions than many traditional jobs (2009: 215). Students who are within and maintaining a certain social position, reputation and furthering their education may enlist on this Paradigm in order resolve the stigma that is attached to sex work. Weitzer goes on to explain that the Empowerment theorists tend to highlight success stories to demonstrate that sex work can be edifying, lucrative, or esteem-enhancing. It can be liberating for those who are “fleeing from small-town prejudices, dead-end jobs, dangerous streets, and suffocating families” (2009: 215). Students who are interested or engaging in sex work may adopt the Empowerment outlook in order to avoid stigma and justify their decisions.
18 The contrast between the two Paradigms gives an umbrella of how the Oppressive Paradigm gives way to traditional stereotypically negative connotations to sex work which creates stigma on those students considering or engaging in sex work. Yet, the Empowerment Paradigm aids in explaining how students can see above these Oppressive views and links to stigma and feel
empowered that they chose to engage in sex work. These Paradigms can lead into the topic of gender and how stigma affects those that engage or are interested in sex work.
The concept of gender is important to incorporate into the framework of this thesis as gender is an influential factor in the decision making process and experiences pertaining to sex work. Gender is a point of interest in that due to the fact that the sex industry is associated with stigma it is
important to remember that men and woman may experience the industry differently. It is important to keep in mind that “fundamental to all analysis of the stigma of sex work is the notion that the female prostitute transgresses norms of femininity and female sexual modesty. Under double standards for gender and sexuality, female sex workers in particular are stigmatized as having ‘a spoiled identity’” (Vanwesenbeeck 2009: 268-9, Vanwesenbeeck 2012: 14). While researching this topic, it is imperative to understand that “males and females may experience the stigma associated with sex work differently and therefore male sex work can be understood within the traditional frameworks of masculinity and femininity” (Vanwesenbeeck 2012: 14). The topic of ‘slut shaming’ is insightful to uncover here as it a “practice of maligning women for presumed sexual activity”
(Armstrong et al, 2014: 100). Damage to one’s reputation and gaining labels like that of a ‘slut’ is important to understand that this is a part of how women are stigmatized for their sexual practices. This stigma could lead to how the students experience the industry and whether or not they are public about their involvement or considerations.
3.3 Culture and Repertoires
Swidler’s concept of cultural repertoires is used in order to explain how students justify their engagement in or actively exploring and considering sex work. It will be relevant to understand the students justification rather than their motivations and looking at how they use culture in so far as what repertoires and tools are utilized by the students when justifying their engagement or considerations. I am not proclaiming that students invariably feel the need to justify their
considerations or actions to engage in sex work as each situation and person is different. However, seeing as this industry is highly stigmatized, an assumption can be made about how the students give reasoning and validation to their decisions to enter into sex work.
The concept of culture and action is beneficial to include as “culture influences action not by providing the ultimate values toward which action is orientated, but by shaping a repertoire or “tool
19 kit” of habits, skills, and styles from which people construct “strategies of action” (Swidler, 1986: 273). Swidler’s concept of culture and action will aid in the understanding of why students have considered or engaged in the industry feel the need to use justifications in order to defend their decision to work in the sex industry. Swidler goes on to explain that unsettled lives lead to individuals whom are more likely to grasp onto culture in order to make sense of the situation and in order to make the right decision and action. As Swidler explains “in unsettled periods, in contrast, cultural meanings are more highly articulated and explicit, because they model patterns of action that do not “come naturally” (1986: 284). The concept of culture and action is relevant as these students are using culture in order to justify their actions in an “unsettled time” in their life as they may be going through a transition in their life and are involved or considering entering into a stigmatized industry like sex work.
The cultural logic the students use when making the decision to engage in sex work can be explained in that “we do not subscribe to the notion that each culture is a unified whole with a single overarching logic, we assume that each subpart of the culture, each semiotic code or institutional arena, has its own logic” (Swidler, 2001:187). In order to make the decision to engage in a stigmatized profession, student sex workers use a certain cultural logic that they have gained or learned throughout their lives in order to justify to themselves and others to engage in the sex
industry. When looking at ones cultural logic, according to Swidler, we need to consider what people do with culture, what different kinds of culture are “used for” (2001: p. 187). The students cultural logic around sex work is used by them in order to make sense of the industry, where they can fit within the industry and therefore how they justify considering or engaging in sex work.
The concept of cultural repertoires and toolkits will be used in order to gain a better
understanding on how students use various resources within culture to justify their potential, current or past engagement in the sex industry. According to Swidler, culture cultivates skills and habits in its users, so that one can be more or less good at the cultural repertoire one performs, and that such cultured capacities may exist both as discrete skills, habits, and orientations and, in larger
assemblages, like the pieces a musician has mastered or the plays an actor has performed (2001: 25). The repertoires and tools students use allow for justification to enter into the sex industry. Swidler explains that repertoires are in this sense that people have an array of cultural resources upon which they can draw. We can ask not only what pieces are in the repertoire but why some are performed at one time, some at another(2001: p.25). The cultural resources the students use in order to justify their decision depends on the situations and is dependent on who they are having to justify their decision to. As Swidler explains, the easiest way to see culture as a repertoire is to examine a situation in which people mobilize several parts of their repertoires simultaneously: when they have a position to defend and they are willing to call up any argument that seems plausible (2001: p.25).
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3.4 Class
It is imperative to have an integration and understanding of class and its influence on the students and their justification process. In this section, I will utilize Bourdieu’s concept of social spaces, habitus and capital in order to gain a more complete understanding of how class and sex work affect each other and thus the justifications as well as Freidman’s interpretation on the habitus clivé in order to understand the students upper- middle class dispositions, attitudes and position in relation to sex work. Looking at sex work and class, “researchers generally do not examine sexual- economic exchange in the lives of people who are not branded prostitutes, nor do they ask if the category “prostitute” means anything other than social status, or if that status has any relevance to the research question at hand” (Pheterson, 1996; 31). Bourdieu’s concepts around social position may aid in a better understanding of the phenomenon of students, whom the majority are from the upper- middle class, considerations or decisions to engage in sex work. The idea that sex work is predominantly done by lower class woman is no longer the case, where woman and men of all classes are
considering or engaging in the industry. Looking at students decision to engage or not engage in the sex industry and therefore the justification process can be linked to their class and therefore social position. Highly educated students are thought to be from the upper- middle class and therefore are not deemed as the norm of which will participate in the sex industry. When looking at students and sex work, class comes into play in which those who would engage in sex work would not be from an entitled position like Bachelor, Master or PhD students.
Bourdieu explains that agents and groups of agents are defined by their relative positions within that space. Each of them is assigned to a position or a precise class of neighboring positions (i.e., a particular region in this space) and one cannot really - even if one can in thought - occupy two opposite regions of the space(1985: 724) . Students and sex workers are not generally linked or seen to be in the same social space or position thus yielding an interesting parallel between spaces. Bourdieu theory helps to explain that students who are thinking of or have engaged in sex work take up space in certain positions in which they are affiliated with due to their class which they may or may not have had an option to be a part of. This class was succeeded onto them, and as such these students represent and live within this space. These spaces, according to Bourdieu, are principally, economic capital (in its different kinds), cultural capital and social capital, as well as symbolic capital, commonly called prestige, reputation, renown, etc., which is the form in which the different forms of capital are perceived and recognized as legitimate. One can thus construct a simplified model of the social field as a whole that makes it possible to conceptualize, for each agent, his or her position in all possible spaces of competition (1985: 724). The students cultural, economic and social capital help to build their habitus that upper- middle class agents hold which are not generally associated with those that would consider or engage in the sex industry.
21 As stated by Bourdieu, on the basis of knowledge of the space of positions, one can separate out classes, in the logical sense of the word, i.e., sets of agents who occupy similar positions and who, being placed in similar conditions and subjected to similar conditionings, have every likelihood of having similar dispositions and interests and therefore of producing similar practices and adopting similar stances (1985: 725). For this research, looking at students who are engaging or have seriously considered engaging in a highly stigmatized profession, it is relevant to understand their space of positions and their class. University students are generalized to fill the social position of upper- middle class where in which they then attain outlooks and interest that would align with those in the same social position or class. In this thesis, I am looking at students in which seem to deviate from this norm and are outliers to the commonalities that are shared within the upper- middle class.
Being a part of a social space and therefore class, one generates a social identity. According to Bourdieu, the most resolutely objectivist theory has to integrate the agents' representation of the social world; more precisely, it must take account of the contribution that agents make towards constructing the view of the social world, and through this, towards constructing this world, by means of the work of representation (in all senses of the word) that they constantly perform in order to impose their view of the world or the view of their own position in this world their social identity (1985: 727). Students social identity would be aligned with that of their class, however those students that decide to engage in sex work could have a split social identity in that they believe the sex industry is an option for them however they know that their decision is not generally accepted or agreed upon within their social position or class. The concept of split social identity was elaborated and researched by Bourdieu in which he called Habitus clivé . Bourdieu explains that one may experience a habitus clivé when a sense of self is torn by contradiction and internal division (Friedman, 2015: 130). Students that are thinking about or engaging in sex work may experience this sense of division as they may feel that sex work has not been integrated into their social trajectory. Freidman explains that the habitus represents a key conceptual tool in Bourdieu’s social theory, representing both a ‘structured’ and ‘structuring’ force in explaining social action (2015: 130). Students habitus will vary per student, however at the university level assumptions of their social and cultural habitus can be developed. The split of habitus for students in regards to the engagement of sex work can then be link to social mobility and how participating in the sex industry may challenge their upward mobility within their current class or among classes. Bourdieu explains that primary dispositions are ‘long-lasting; they tend to perpetuate, to reproduce themselves, but they are not eternal’ (Bourdieu, 2005: 45; 2015: 131). The ability to change and rearrange ones disposition and therefore habitus can help explain students engagement or considerations in the sex industry when this option may not have been in their social or class trajectory during their past.
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3.5 Morality
The use of Lamont and Bourdieu’s theory will aid in relating how morality can be linked to students and sex work. Sex work among highly educated students lends to the topic of morality due to the sex industry being extremely stigmatized and deviates from the norms and social field of that in which students are associated with and linked to. According to Lamont, “lower- and working- class people emphasize tolerance and flexibility to a lesser extent than middle- and upper- middle- class people, especially college graduates… This difference holds true whether we consider attitudes toward deviant sexual behavior (e.g., homosexuality), ethnic minorities, or issues concerning freedom of expression and civil rights. Furthermore, the non- college- educated give more support to “cultural fundamentalism”, the cluster of values that motivate moral reform activists who support “adherence to traditional norms, respect of family and religious authority, asceticism, rigidity, and control of
impulse.” Because they require a certain level of moral rigidity, these values all militate against conflict avoidance” (1992: 176). This tolerant outlook from the upper- middle class could lend to a more permissible morality within the students. This more permissible morality is better explained by Bourdieu, in that the proof of this is seen in the fact that the rising petit bourgeois, who are usually much stricter than the other classes ( particularly on everything concerned with their children's upbringing-their work, going out alone, reading-matter, sexuality etc. ) can, without contradiction, show themselves much less strict than the dominant morality and the class fractions most attached to it ( who make it a 'matter of principle')(1984: 352).
The idea that the middle- upper class are more flexible and less ridged in attitudes and opinions may lead to the answer as to how highly educated students are deciding to engage in the sex industry even though this profession does not normally fit into their social trajectories. Bourdieu can explain this further in that the “morality and disposition of the upper class has changed and become that of amusement and gratification”(1984: 367). Bourdieu describes that thus, “whereas the old morality of duty, based on the opposition between pleasure and good, induces a generalized suspicion of the 'charming and attractive', a fear of pleasure and a relation to the body made up of 'reserve', 'modesty' and 'restraint', and associates every satisfaction of the forbidden impulses with guilt, the new ethical avant-garde urges a morality of pleasure as a duty “(1984: 367). This helps to explain how students mobility into a social field like the sex industry, can be linked to that of the middle class morality shifting from an old frame to a new modern one.
The concept of valuing and seeking out pleasure can be related to morality and can be linked to students and sex work. Bourdieu explains that the fear of not getting enough pleasure, the logical outcome of the effort to overcome the fear of pleasure, is combined with the search for self-expression and 'bodily expression' and for communication with others (relating), even immersion in others (considered not as a group but as subjectivities in search of their identity ) (1984: 367). Pleasure and
23 self- expression through exploring their sexuality and satisfying curiosity within the world of sex work lends to students looking at the sex industry as a source of pleasure and thus their duty.
3.6 Shame
Scheff’s theory on shame along with Armstrong’s theory on social shame will aid in relating how shame, students and sex work are linked. The concepts of shame and social shame are presented in this thesis as the idea of students engaging in a stigmatized profession may enlist these feelings which could alter or guide their behavior. Shame could also lead to ways in which student sex workers justify their decision to work in the sex industry. Scheff explains that many social theorists have tried to define shame and notes that shame “concern[s] the whole self, not just one’s
actions”(2003; 245). Scheff goes on to explains that shame is a concept that does not have an agreed definition. Due to the fact that sex work is highly stigmatized, looking at how emotions like shame have an effect on the ways in which student sex workers justify engaging in sex work would be beneficial for a fuller understanding. For example, do they keep it a secret that they are an escort or do they lie to their parents but still justify working in the industry to themselves? In order to understand shame and emotions I will look at how working in the sex industry, a stigmatized profession, could lead to the students feeling shame and therefore this emotion will construct their reaction on how to justify to themselves and others that they are working in this industry or negate involvement in the industry. According to Scheff, defining taboo as an institution that evokes shame, because it points to an identifiable process (2003: p. 240). The fact that institutions like sex work in which are stigmatized or ‘taboo’, evoke emotions like shame, need to be included in the research as it will enrich the
understanding of why and how the student sex workers justify their decisions.
The idea of social shame is a valuable concept to present in this framework in that “social-evaluative threat can occur in a variety of situations: in performance contexts that require displays of valued attributes, traits, or abilities in the presence of others (e.g., competence, intelligence), in rejection-laden contexts where one is (or could be) judged unworthy of acceptance or group
membership” (Dickerson et al, 2004: 1195). Social shame is an undesirable outcome that is avoided especially when one finds themselves entering into or considering a stigmatized industry. The idea that shame “may be a key affective response to social-evaluative threat, based in part on evidence that this emotion is preferentially elicited under these conditions” (Dickerson et al, 2004:1195) elaborates on how social threat of damaging ones reputation could lead to actions being taken to avoid shame and social shame. These concepts will be discussed further throughout the thesis.
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Chapter 4: Data Analysis
This chapter is aim at showing how stigma affects student’s potential involvement and/ or their experience of sex work. This chapter looks at how stigma leads to the students justifying either their participation or serious considerations of sex work to themselves and those around them. I look at how the students go about justifying and what elements are used in order to do so.
I realize that justification is something one does after one acts and this does not apply to those that have only considered sex work as they have not actually engaged in the act itself. However, each of the interview participants that have seriously considered sex work do justify actively researching sex work and taking the steps to enter into the industry. Thus, I will be looking at how each student justifies their active research and considerations as well as participating in the industry. This study has followed a mixed method approach, however the qualitative data from the interviews are the main source of data that will be focused on. The quantitative survey data will be used as a reflection of the qualitative interviews throughout the analysis to strengthen the qualitative results. The data will be analyzed on the assumption that both the students that have engaged in sex work as well as those that have only seriously considered it are affected by the stigma surrounding the industry, and thus feel the need to justify their involvement or considerations.
The sub- questions that will be answered throughout this chapter are: 1). Stigmatization:
a. How is sex work stigmatized?
b. How is this stigmatization experienced?
c. How does this pertain to class, morality, gender and shame? 2). Justification:
a. Why do students claim to choose sex work? b. How do they justify their choice?
c. How does this pertain to class, morality, gender and shame?
The chart below is offered to quickly summarize the students in the interview groups. Demographics of students:
Name Age Sex Sexual
Preference Education Activities ENGAGED
Gemma 21 Female Heterosexual Bachelors Webcam Girl
25
Vienna 24 Female Bisexual Bachelors Porn
Simon 24 Male Homosexual Masters Pole
Dancer/Stripper/ Sex shows
Tessa 25 Transgender Bisexual Bachelors Webcam Girl/
Escort/ Porn SERIOUSLY
CONSIDERING
Olivia 23 Female Heterosexual Masters Phone sex/
Webcam Girl/Escort
Eva 24 Female Heterosexual Masters Escort
Mary 25 Female Heterosexual Masters Escort
Nora 26 Female Heterosexual Masters Escort
Mae 28 Female Heterosexual Masters Webcam Girl
In the data analysis I will use quotes from the interviews, and in order to maintain clarity the respondents name, age and whether they have engaged or considered will be shown. Throughout the results chapter, I answer one sub- question per section. I answer how sex work is both stigmatized and justified in relation to the (4) themes; (1) Class, (2) Morality, (3) Gender and (4) Shame. Each theme has its own sections within the results chapter and within each section, I first look at how students are affected by stigma and secondly, how this affects their experience and shapes their justifications about their potential or actual involvement in the sex industry. Throughout analyzing the results, I have found patterns in the ways in which students experience stigma as well how the justification process is constructed and what components are commonly used. The elements used for justification are seen to be that of the students social position and capital which leads into the creation of repertoires. The main purpose for using repertoires were when the students explain they are motivated and guided by the notions of non- conformity, autonomy, the duty of pleasure, managing one’s reputation and avoiding social shame. I will elaborate on how students experience stigma and then turn to justify either considering or engaging in the sex industry using the justification elements above in relation to the four themes represented.
4.1 Class
The concept of the social position of students that are engaging in sex work or have seriously considered engaging in the industry, through the data, effects the students decisions and how they experience stigma and therefore justify their decisions to themselves and others. In order to answer the sub- question: how is sex work stigmatized and experienced as well as the justification process in relation to class? I will first look at how the stigma of sex work is associated with being of the lower class. I will discuss how the students interviewed explained that they engage or are considering sex
26 work only from a high class point of view. Throughout the data, stigma is related to lower class, which allowed the students who all have an upper- middle class social position, to pick and choose what activities they consider to be high- class sex work and if these activities are suitable and allows them to steer clear of stigma. Choosing high- class sex work allows them to showcase attributes and qualities they feel are of high quality and great value and which can be utilized in the high- class areas of sex work. The choice of doing high- class activities only is using their social position and capital in order to justify their considerations and/ or engagement in the sex industry.
It is helpful to first illustrate the class dispersion among the students that have engaged, are engaging or seriously considering sex work using the survey results. As shown in Figure 1, it is apparent that the majority for each area of involvement belongs to the upper- middle class. We should keep in mind the fact that our sample is biased in that the targeted respondents were those in
university however, this is evidence that those whom have had serious consideration or have engaged in the sex industry are among those in the upper- middle class. For the explanation of what falls under each category of class, please see Appendix 2.
Figure 1: Share of students by different social classes (in %)
Source: LetsTalkAboutSex survey 2016, considered N= 61 (out of 243), ever engaged N=42 (out of 303), currently engaging N= 8 (out of 114).
Students, Stigma and Class
The data presents a correlation between students social position and how they experience stigma which molds the justification process of engaging or seriously considering participating in the sex industry. A reoccurring theme is how the students refer to the stigma of sex work being related to the lower class. The respondents explain that society views sex workers as those that are desperate and pushed into it, yet they justify how they do not agree with this outlook as well as emphasize that they themselves do not fit into this category or stereotype.
66.67
50 47.54
21.43
37.5 42.62
11.9 12.5 9.84
Have Engaged Currently Engaging Considered High Class Middle Class Low Class
27 In order to understand how students view sex work in general and their role within the industry, Bourdieu’s theory of social space will be applied to the data in order to understand how students understand and experience stigma and how they justify their decisions and considerations. Bourdieu describes that agents and groups of agents are defined by their relative positions within that space. Each of them is assigned to a position or a precise class of neighboring positions (i.e., a
particular region in this space) and one cannot really - even if one can in thought - occupy two opposite regions of the space (1985: 724). Students come from a social space which does not
traditionally view sex work as a viable or sought after industry to enter into. For students, sex work is not generally seen as an activity that they would seek out as a form of work, as it is not a position that is stereotypically within the space of their upper- middle class dispositions. And so, the respondents explain that sex work is linked to the positions of the lower class and they recognize that they occupy a different position in social space. During the interviews, the respondents explained they felt that the general ideology and narrative around sex work is very traditional and consists of victimization, desperation and coercion. Two of the respondents explain what they feel is the general consensus and ideology around sex work:
Tessa, 25 (engaged) :” I think most people are seeing sex workers as victims and you have a group who say "oh it's fine" then another group that say it’s disgusting. I think that the three things I hear most”.
Eva, 24 (considered): “I think that's the main idea, these woman are sad they need to be helped it's not free choice you know that stigma places a stigma on ALL sex work, but I don't think it's possible that every area of the sex work industry is like that”.
The students explain that they understand how their social circles comprehend sex work. Throughout the interviews, it is apparent that being critical and analyzing the sex industry sector from their upper- middle class position enables them to acknowledge the stigma associated with the
industry. This allows them to look at sex work from a position of control and to choose whether they agree with this stigma or not. The students interviewed explain that they are very aware of how sex work is viewed and how sex workers are looked at and judged, but that they also understand that that this stigma is a social construct which has been linked to lower class or desperate individuals. Simon (24, engaged) explains that even the words ‘sex’ and ‘work’ are socially constructed and that the construction is looked at in a negative light:
“No, but it's good I understand if they say it's sex work but maybe the term itself is a bit... already socially created… depends on whether sex is negative”.
During the interviews, there was a consensus that sex work is stigmatized and linked with the lower class and traditional activities of sex work. Weizter gives examples of what the traditional view
