Sex 'work', sex and sexuality within the New Zealand sex industry

Abstract

The present study investigated the varying ways in which a sample of New Zealand sex workers talked about issues relating to sex, sexuality and power in the context of their occupation. A construction of sex work that is being promoted by the New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective is that it is a legitimate industry. One of the aims was to evaluate the construction of sex 'work'. A second aim was to examine the explanations for sex work by sex workers themselves and to compare these with the theories documented in the academic literature. The social construction of sex has attracted considerable, theoretical and empirical attention by feminist psychologists. A further aim of this thesis was to broaden the literature by investigating how sex workers talked about what constituted 'sex'. Somewhat related to the issue of sex is sexuality. The present research also documents how sex workers described their sexuality particularly as it related to their personal lives. Nineteen women, men and transgendered sex workers were interviewed individually or in pairs by the researcher, using a semi-structured interview schedule. Discourse analysis was used to examine the ways in which sex workers accounted for their job, constructed 'sex' and talked about their lives as sex workers. Analysis revealed that when sex workers engaged in an economic discourse, constructing sex work as a legitimate industry, there were consequences with respect to power and agency. When sex work was constructed as a service, participants spoke of feeling autonomous and in control. However, when sex work was constructed as a 'good', participants spoke of feeling exploited and objectified. The analysis also revealed, 'sex work' was often constructed using the uncontrollable 'male sex drive' discourse, identified by Hollway (1984; 1989). Sex workers often constructed the term 'sex' to mean penile-vaginal penetration (PVP), however further constructions revealed broader definitions of 'sex' which did not involve penetration. Participants often constructed their sexuality according to conventional labels, however, at times they resisted these labels. Furthermore, participants discussed both a separation and an intersection of their identity as a 'sex worker' and their 'other lives'.