Sex for Sale~Prostitution, Pornography and the Sex Industry
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Authors: Ronald Weitzer
Tags: #Sociology
SEXfor
SALE
A groundbreaking collection of essays on the sex industry,
Sex for Sale
contains original studies on sex work, its risks and benefits, and its political implications. The book covers areas not commonly researched, including gay and lesbian pornography, telephone sex workers, customers of prostitutes, male and female escorts who work independently, street prostitution, sex tourism, legal prostitution, and strip clubs that cater to women. The book also tracks various trends during the past decade, including the “mainstreaming” and growing acceptance of some types of sexual commerce and the growing criminalization of other types, such as sex trafficking.
Sex for Sale
offers a window into the lived experiences of sex workers as well as an analysis of the larger gender arrangements and political structures that shape the experiences of workers and their clients. The book greatly contributes to a growing research literature that documents the rich variation, nuances, and complexities in the exchange of sexual services, performances, and products. This book will change the way we understand sex work.
Ronald Weitzer
is Professor of Sociology at George Washington University in Washington, DC. He has written extensively on the sex industry in the United States and abroad, and is currently writing a book on political conflicts over prostitution policies in selected nations. He is frequently contacted by the media for information and comment on issues regarding the sex industry.
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SEXfor
SALE
P R O S T I T U T I O N ,
P O R N O G R A P H Y ,
A N D T H E
S E X I N D U S T R Y
Second Edition
E D I T E D B Y
R O N A L D W E I T Z E R
First published by
Routledge 2000
This edition published 2010
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
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This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2009.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sex for sale: prostitution, pornography, and the sex industry/Ronald Weitzer.—2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes index.
1. Prostitution.
2. Pornography.
3. Sex-oriented businesses.
I. Weitzer, Ronald
HQ115.S49 2009
306.74–dc22
2009005994
ISBN 0-203-87280-0 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN10: 0–415–99604–X (hbk)
ISBN10: 0–415–99605–8 (pbk)
ISBN10: 0–203–87280–0 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–99604–4 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–99605–1 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–203–87280–2 (ebk)
CONTENTS
List of Tables and Figures
Preface
1
Ronald Weitzer
, Sex Work: Paradigms and Policies
2
Sharon A. Abbott
, Motivations for Pursuing a Career in Pornography
3
Joe A. Thomas
, Gay Male Pornography Since Stonewall
4
Jill A. Bakehorn
, Women-Made Pornography
PA RT I I: STR I P P I N G A N D TE L E P H O N E S E X
5
Katherine Frank and Michelle Carnes
, Gender and Space in Strip Clubs
6
Kathleen Guidroz and Grant J. Rich
, Commercial Telephone Sex: Fantasy and Reality
PA RT I I I: P R O STITUTI O N
7
Judith Porter and Louis Bonilla
, The Ecology of Street Prostitution
8
Janet Lever and Deanne Dolnick
, Call Girls and Street Prostitutes: Selling Sex and Intimacy
9
Juline Koken, David S. Bimbi, and Jeffrey T. Parsons
, Male and Female Escorts: A Comparative Analysis
10
Martin A. Monto
, Prostitutes’ Customers: Motives and Misconceptions
v
CONTENTS
11
Kathryn Hausbeck and Barbara G. Brents
, Nevada’s Legal Brothels
12
Lynn Comella
, Remaking the Sex Industry: The Adult Expo as a Microcosm
13
Denise Brennan
, Sex Tourism and Sex Workers’ Aspirations
14
Ronald Weitzer and Melissa Ditmore
, Sex Trafficking: Facts and Fictions
Contributors
Index
vi
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
F I G U R E S
3.1
The 2007 GayVN Awards Show
4.1
Video Cover for
One Night Stand
9.1
Escort Advertisements
11.1
Sherri’s Ranch Brothel, Pahrump, Nevada
12.1
Hustler Booth, 2008 Adult Entertainment Expo
TA B L E S
1.1
Characteristics of Types of Prostitution
1.2
Attitudes Toward Legalization of Prostitution
7.1
Characteristics of Street Prostitution by Locale
8.1
Client Characteristics
8.2
Relationship with Last Client
8.3
Characteristics of Last Transaction
8.4
Drug and Alcohol Consumption with Last Client
8.5
Acts Engaged in with Last Client
10.1 Customers’ Background Characteristics
10.2 Customers’ Sexual Behavior
10.3 Motives for Buying Sex
10.4 Reasons for Buying Sex, 2007 Sample
11.1
Nevada’s Brothels
vii
PREFACE
Like the first edition of
Sex for Sale
, this second edition breaks new ground by deepening our understanding of sex work and the sex industry. Some of the chapters are substantially revised and updated versions of chapters that appeared in the first edition, and the other chapters are entirely new to this volume. We present new data on the clients of prostitutes; a chronicle of recent trends in gay male pornography; an analysis of pornography made by and for women; chapters on telephone sex work and on the mainstream porn industry—studies that stand almost alone in research on these two topics; a comparison of strip clubs that cater to men and clubs that cater to women customers; an analysis of street prostitution in different locations in one city and a comparison of street and indoor prostitution in another city; an examination of similarities and differences between male and female escorts who work independently, with no ties to an agency or broker; an updated chapter on Nevada’s legal brothels; an exploration of the “mainstreaming” of the sex industry, seen through the lens of the annual Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas; a chapter on sex tourists and the workers who sell sex to them; and an examination of sex trafficking focusing on both the myths and realities of trafficking as well as public policies regarding this issue.
All of these chapters are based on carefully conducted empirical research and, taken together, they demonstrate the wide variety of sex for sale as well as differences in the structural arrangements and personal experiences of those involved in sexual commerce—the workers, customers, third parties, and businesses that differ tremendously from one context to another and make up a diverse, variegated sex industry.
The book would not have been possible without the hard work of the contributors, who graciously accommodated the demanding schedule I imposed on them and diligently addressed my suggestions regarding their chapters. I am delighted that these experts were willing to contribute to the book, helping to make this second edition as cutting edge and fascinating as the first edition.
ix
H A P T E
C
R
1
SEX WORK:
PARADIGMS AND POLICIES
Ronald Weitzer
Sex work involves the exchange of sexual services, performances, or products for material compensation. It includes activities of direct physical contact between buyers and sellers (prostitution, lap dancing) as well as indirect sexual stimulation (pornography, stripping, telephone sex, live sex shows, erotic webcam performances). The sex industry refers to the workers, managers, owners, agencies, clubs, trade associations, and marketing involved in sexual commerce, both legal and illegal varieties.
O V E R V I E W O F TH E S E X I N D U STRY
Sex for sale is a lucrative growth industry. In 2006 alone, Americans spent $13.3 billion on X-rated magazines, videos and DVDs, live sex shows, strip clubs, adult cable shows, computer pornography, and commercial telephone sex.1 Rentals and sales of X-rated films jumped from $75 million in 1985 to $957 million in 2006.2 In just one decade, the number of X-rated films released annually more than doubled, from 5700 in 1995 to 13,588 in 2005.3
There are around 3500 strip clubs in America, and the number has grown over the past two decades.4 In addition to these indicators of legal commercial sex, an unknown amount is spent on prostitution.
A significant percentage of the population buys sexual services and products. In 2002, 34% of American men and 16% of women reported that
1
RONALD WEITZER
they had seen an X-rated video in just the past year.5 As of 2000, 21% of the population had visited an Internet pornography site (32% of men, 11% of women).6 The most recent figures on strip club attendance are from 1991, when 11% of the population said they had done so in the past year; fewer people (0.5%) had called a phone sex number in the past year.7 And a significant percentage of American men have visited a prostitute. The General Social Survey reports figures on the number of men who said that they had ever paid for sex—between 15–18% in eight polls from 1991 to 2006 (in 2006, 4% said they had done so in the past year).8 Remarkably similar figures are reported for Australia (16%) and the average within Europe (15%),9 and 11% of British men say they have paid for sex with a prostitute.10 Because prostitution is stigmatized, the real figures may be significantly higher. In some other societies, even more men say they have paid for sex. For example, in Spain 39%
of men have done so during their lifetime, and in northeastern Thailand 43%
of single men and 50% of married men had visited a prostitute.11 An unusual question was included in a recent British survey: respondents were asked whether they would “consider having sex for money if the amount offered was enough”: 18% of women said yes, as did 36% of men.12
A steady trend is toward the
privatization
of sexual services and products: porn has migrated from the movie house to the privacy of the viewer’s house.