The Exploited?

            Katherine Frank’s article, “Thinking Critically About Strip Club Research” in Sexualities: Identities, Behaviors, and Society, offers a brief, yet interesting look into the sex industry, and of one particular type of sex worker, strippers.  It was reassuring to read that much of the data utilized was obtained from women who had first-hand experience working in strip clubs.  That invariably offered this reader, as others, greater insight into some authentic information associated with the sex industry, from first-hand sources.

                                    “women can, and do, negotiate meanings of power related

                                    to their bodies….At the same time, cashing in on these bodies

                                    may reinforce the same objectified constructions that oppress

                                    women.  The complicated relationship between women and

                                    their bodies is compounded for women who work as exotic

                                    dancers.”  (Wesley, 2003: 488)

            Quite a dichotomy… How does one reconcile profiting from the exploitation of others’ sexuality to earn a living, while faced with being sexually exploited themselves?  Does stripper (exotic dancer) gender play a role in determining attitudes about working in the sex industry?  Do men, living in a culture of compulsory heterosexuality (Seidman, 2009) experience different facets of this exploitation?  What about LGBTQ sex-industry workers? 

            Question posed: does one’s sexual identity, and/or sexual orientation shift one’s thoughts and ideas about sexual exploitation, related to the prospects of working in the sex industry?  Are there any differences in attitudes from one group, to another, be that of the heteronormative variety, or otherwise?

            Elizabeth Bernstein’s article (Kimmel, et al) suggests that it is not only a question of who is the exploited, and the exploiter—the oppressed or agentic party… she proposes that sex industry work is a conscious choice for some---not just the last refuge for underprivileged, or marginalized peoples---and may be developing a new reputation of “respectability.”

           

                                    “…the argument over whether sex work is either exploitative

                                    or liberating is a ridiculous one that produces ridiculous

                                    conclusions, and…had little relevance to the complex, contradictory,

                                    and widely varied experiences of sex workers.”  (Lerum, 1999: 8)

                 

                  With the role of new technologies, and increased employment challenges for many, the billions-of-dollars-per-year sex industry may be providing much more than fiscal gain, or a “good time” for many citizens.  Workers, and/or clients… 

            Contrary to late 20^th century (“double self”) work offered by Edwards in 1993, Hoigard and Finstad in 1992, and Perkins and Bennett, 1985; it appears some of the newer middle class sex workers are aspiring toward the “single self” (Goffman, 1959) that need supply no distinction between “front stage” and “back stage.”  Perhaps insinuating that the sex industry is turning a historical corner; with outward views, and internal perceptions by sex workers themselves beginning to shift from the prototypical shame and insecurity, to that of pride, and confidence.

SOURCES:

Kimmel, et al;  Sexualities:  Identities, Behaviors, and Society.  Second Edition.  New York:  Oxford University Press.  2004-15.  Print.

Lerum, Kari (1999)  “Twelve Step Feminism Makes Sex Workers Sick:  How the State and the Recovery Movement Turn Radical Women into ‘Useless Citizens,” in Barry M. Dank and Ro erto Refinetti (eds.)  Sex Work and Sex Workers:  Sexuality and Culture Volume 2, pp. 7-36.  New Brunswick:  Transaction publishers.

Wesley, Jennifer K. (2006)  “Negotiating Myself:  The Impact of Studying Female Exotic Dancers on a Feminist Researcher.”  Qualitative Inquiry 12(1):  146-62.

PHOTO:

JBuk, stock.