Sex for Sale Flashcards
Types of Sex Work
- prostitution, escorting, hustling
- dancing
- erotic massage
- live sex shows/peep shows
- phone sex
- dominatrixes/doms
- webcaming
- pornography
Major Debates, Criticisms, and Concerns
1. Socio-cultural
- issues to political ideology/religion
-
Effects on performers/workers
- issues of safety
3.** Effects on consumers**
- what is the effect in their relationship
Three Feminist perspectives
- Expression of patriarchal culture (radical) - women are exploited
- Respect for free speech, and women’s rights to choose what they will do with their bodies (liberal)
- Porn, sex work has benefits for
women; sexual freedom (pro-sex, sex- positive)
Pornography
- anything/ material sexually explicit that is primarily intended to, or used to, induce sexual arousal
- representation of our fantasies
Obscenity
any publication a dominant characteristic of which is the undue exploitation of sex(illegal)
so what is obscenity and what is pornography? (how do we know)
Community standards of tolerance test:
we ask people what would canadians accept other canadians to be exposed to
ex: would u be okay for child pornography be avalible in your community? (probably no) = obscenity
causing harm = obscene
pornography vs erotica
pornography depicts sexually explicit activities that are coupled with violence, are degrading or dehumanizing (usually to women), or include children. In contrast, erotica depicts explicit sex that is not violent and is neither degrading nor dehumanizing.
Prevalence of pornography
Pornhub stats for 2022
* Worldwide
* 42 billion visits
* Top countries by traffic: USA, UK, France, Japan, Mexico, Italy (Canada is 8th)
- Most popular terms: Hentai, Japanese, MILF, Lesbian, Pinay, Asian, Step Mom
- Canada
- 29% of visits by women
- Average duration of visit 9 minutes 28 seconds
Adolescents
- By age 17, 93% of boys and 62% of girls have been exposed to pornography
- 66% of boys and 39% of girls ages 13-17 have seen at least one form of pornography in the past year
- Rates of exposure are uncommon before age 13
Hardy et al. (2019) Ages 13-18 (USA)
* 30% had watched a pornography video online in the past year
Adults
- 87% of men
- 31% of women
- 11% view pornography 1x/week or more
Criticism and Concerns of Pornography
Socio-Cultural
- belief that sex is a private matter, shared between two people in a committed, loving relationship
- subverts common social and moral good
- pornography is obscene/explicit depictions of human sexuality
- pornography is not an expression of healthy sexuality
- profound misogyny; reflects and promotes male dominance
- pornography is exploitative, degrading, and dehumanizing towards women
Types of Pornography
- Written
- Illustration
- Cartoon, Hentai
- Electronic images
- Video (mainstream, fetish, underground, alt, amateur, feminist, pro-sex/sex positive, queer)
- Web camming
- Virtual reality
Reasons for Use:
- Stimuli during masturbation
- Entertainment
- To get sexually aroused for later sexual interaction
- With partner: (1) entertainment; (2) sexual stimuli as part of sex play; (3) to explore sexuality
- As a sexual outlet during periods of not having a partner
- Mismatched sexual desire – as extra outlet
- Satiate desires that can’t be met in relationship
Fraser Commission Report (1983)
conclusion: did not find any support for the idea that pornography leads to violent crime, sexual assault, the moral degradation of society
Criticism and Concerns of Pornography
Effects on People in the Industry
- Historically, marginalized industry, taboo
- Abuse, coercion, drugs, etc.
-
Paradox: to improve pornography and the pornography
industry, perhaps it needs to become less restricted, not more restricted= needs to be more mainstream - more oversight
Damaged goods hypothesis
- original hypothaisis: people who choose to become actors/performers of pornography have something wrong with them
- 177 actresses, community matched controls findings (performers):
performers had :
* more likely to identify as bisexual
* more partners
* more concerned about STIs
* enjoyed sex more/more sexual satisfaction
* greater self-esteem
* more likely to use recreational drugs
* no difference in rates of CSA (child sexual abused)
result: nothing wrong with them, they are more alike to non-performers then different(but some differences)
Criticism and Concerns of Pornography
Effects on Consumers
- consumers will continue to seek more extreme forms of porn(myth)
- can lead to erectile dysfunction(some-true because of masturbation)
- promotes promiscuity(myth)
- porn rewires the brain(myth except for people with very high consuption)
- it’s addictive(most people no)
Pornography Addiction
- behavioural addictions in DSM-5
- sexual sensation seeking which can risk themselves (higher in consuption)
- it comes allong with other negative states (depressed, anxiety)
Criticism and Concerns of Pornography
Effects on Consumers
- increases hostile attitudes towards women
- glorifies aggression and violence against women
- interferes with relationships
- unrealistic expectations
theoretical models
- Sexual script theory that pornography can influence sexual scripts for bad (normalize violence against women)
- differential susceptibility to media effects model, It means that different people show different responses to viewing pornography. Certain people are more susceptible and others are less susceptible to any negative effects of pornography
Attitudes Supporting Violence Against Women
Hald, Malamuth, & Yuen (2010)
- meta-analysis: 9 studies
- attitudes supporting violence against women (ASVAW):
» acceptance of interpersonal violence
» adversarial sexual beliefs
» attitudes towards rape
» sexual harassment
results
- consumption of all pornography associated with ASVAW (r = .18)
small association
- consumption of non-violent pornography associated
with ASVAW (r = .13)
small association - consumption of violent pornography associated with ASVAW (r = .24)
big association
- we dont know if violent people are seeking out violet pornography or if violent pornography is producing violent people
Pornography and Sexual Aggression
Vega & Malamuth, 2007
- 102 male undergrads
independent variables:
» hostile masculinity [HM] – attitudes supporting violence
against women, rape myth acceptance, hostility towards women, etc.
» **impersonal sex **[IS] – sexual preoccupation, masturbation
» general hostility[GH] – impulsive irritability, low empathy
» pornography consumption
dependent variables:
» sexual aggression
Results
- for men who scored high on composite HM, IS, and GH, pornography consumption contributed to model
(i.e., predicted aggression) - for men who scored low and moderate on composite HM, IS, and GH, pornography consumption had no effect
so this suggest that pornograhy increses sexual agression only on people who already are at risk
The Confluence Model of Sexual Aggression (Malamuth,
1986):
- Sexual aggression may be conceptualized as resulting from the convergence of several factors:
- Motivation + Disinhibition + Opportunity
so pornography might play a role in this but is defenitly not direct
research provides solid evidence that education can eliminate at least
negative effects of pornography on attitudes.
prebriefing of participants in research involving exposure to sexually explicit materials.
The typical briefing— pre or post. It reminds participants that women do not enjoy forced sex and that sexual assault is a serious crime.
found that there were no negative effects of exposure accompanied by an educational briefing.
participants were less accepting of rape myths at the conclusion of the study than at the beginning
Pornography and Relationships
- several studies: correlation between porn use by male partner, and relationship and sexual dissatisfaction
so we dont know if relationship disatisfaction causes pornography use or if pornography use causes relationship desatisfaction
Kohut, Fisher, & Campbell (2017)
- 430 men/women, porn use by at least one partner
- most common response: “no negative effects”
- positive effects(ex:sexual experimentation,communication) **> negative effects **
Unrealistic Expectations
behaviour
* no discussion of consent
* always willing, ready, and orgasmic
* capable of any sexual act without preparation
* no concern for STIs, pregnancy
* no emotional context
attributes
* young, attractive
* mostly Caucasian
* women: trimmed/removed pubic hair, low BMI
* men: big penises, often muscular
Excessive internet pornography viewing associated with:(more then once a day)
George et al., 2019
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Sexual dysfunctions
- Higher levels of delinquent behaviour
- Decreased emotional bonding
- Can bring about changes to the brain similar to what can be seen in drug addictions
Tranchese & Sugiura, 2021
How incels and mainstream
pornography speak the same
extreme language of misogyny
Can pornography have positive
effects?
Self-Perceived Effects of Pornography
Hald & Malamuth (2008)
» sex life
» life if general
» perception of and attitudes toward the opposite gender
» attitudes toward sex
» sexual knowledge
Other Potential Positive Effects
- normalization of sexuality
- undoing damage caused by sex negative messaging by parents and in environment
- permission giving - permission to explore their own sexuality
- increased confidence to experiment, adventurousness
- greater sexual knowledge
- increased partner intimacy
Can pornography consumption be ethical?
- depends on who is making it, who is involved, how it’s made, and its content
- production:
- content:
- reality
pornography statistics
- men view it more
- between ages 21-30
- a few times a week
- less than one hour
- for masturbation
answering some questions
- What effects does pornography use have on immediate responses: cognitive, emotional, and physiological arousal? Therefore, exposure to pornography with apparently underage actors did in fact create a cognitive link to eroticism.(of women looking young and sexy)
-
What effects does porn have on viewers (long term)?predicted more permissive attitudes toward premarital sex two years later, providing stronger evidence of a
cause-and-effect relationship. and less relationship satisfaction (when only one partner watches and the other dont)
Issues Related to Pornography
- First, they argue that
pornography debases women(objify them). - pornography associates sex with violence toward women and, as such, contributes to sexual assault and other forms of violence against women and girls
- pornography shows—indeed, glamorizes— unequal power relationships between women and men
Sex Work
Sale of services to satisfy a sexual fantasy, produce sexual excitement or arousal, and/or provide sexual satisfaction to the customer
Why the term “sex work”? - is unbrela term that they are doing a job for money
Venues for Sex Workers
Call girl
Brothels
In-call services: residence where they shift
Out-call services: escourts
Massage parlours
Streetwalker
sugar babis
very common
26 regular age for babies
41 for sugar dadies
reason: they like extra income
Reasons for Becoming a Sex Worker
- Drug addiction
- Force or coercion
- Economic (no options)
- Economic (chosen option)
common bawdy house
place in which prostitution occurs)
Protection of
Communities and Exploited Persons Act.
buying but not the selling of sex illegal;
Venues for Sex Work
- their own homes(call girls)
- brothels (declined after WW2)
- In-call services- which employs women working regular shifts in an apartment or condominium,servicing clients who come to the apartment
- massage parlour.
- **out-call service **since the escorts go to the clients. This is obviously a more risky business in that the escort cannot control the setting(Escorts)
- streetwalker - they are in more risk and payed less
- **strip club **
The Role of Third Parties
pimp (“The Man”), portrayed as the companion-master. If a sex worker has a pimp, she supports him with her earnings, and in return he may provide her with companionship and sex, bail her out of jail, and provide her with food, shelter, clothing, and drugs
- madam, a woman who manages or ownsan in-call service, out-call service, brothel, or escort service.
Sex Trafficking
refers to the recruitment and control of persons, by threat or use of force or deception, for purposes of sexual exploitation
Salve jorge
-garotas sao prometidas empregros/uma vida melhor em outro pais (em paises de 3 mundo) e quando chegam nesses lugares os traficates/recrutates pegan seus documentos e as obrigam a fazer atos sexuais(para outros)
The Career of a Sex Worker
entry to sex work factors:
1. negative experiences in childhood and adolescense such as abuse,poverty,family instability and contact with exploitative man (pimps)
- actors in the environment at the point of entry: economic need, the lack of job skills, and limited employment opportunit
a lot of them are corsed by a lover
- On entering, most sex workers go through an apprenticeship in which they learn the skills of the trade
middle of sex work: sex worker may work in several different venues over time
Sex Workers’ Well-Being
The risks to a woman and thus her well-being varied according to the venue in which she worked
- street walking has bigger saftey risk which influences mental and physical health
Risks are especially high for women who are being trafficked because they are at risk of suffering abuse and injury by both clients and masters, experiencing illness and infection, and facing medical neglect
high levels of violence and of psychological distress found among sex workers are not due to the nature of the sex work per se, but instead reflect the stigma
associated with sex work
some see their work positively like being able to provide for their children
Customers
- prostitution has declined by a lot in the past 70 years
- half of them are married ,heterosexual and middle class
- more likehood of rape and hostile masculinity
what are the types of costumers?
- One-time clients
- Regular clients/“friends
- long-term financial providers
reasons for use of sex work
- satisfy sexual needs
- married men want sex more frequently than their wives do or want to engage in practices their wifes dont
- gain sexual experience/prove manhood
Male Sex Workers
These male
sex workers virtually never work in the street(more like out-call basis,massage parlours)
they experience less risk then women
except Outdoor workers are often young, and identify as heterosexual; they
typically solicit pedestrans and motorists and engage in sex in cars, homes, or other
locations.(have a lot of risk)
most men sex workers work as escorts or call boys and most are gay or biasexual
gigolo
man who provides companionship and sexual gratification
on a continuing basis to a woman in exchange for money.
Transgender Sex Workers
More than half never or rarely told their customers that they were male
workers found that the transgender sex workers were more similar to the female sex workers than to the male sex workers in keeping regular hours and spending less time with each
client
Sex Tourism
refers to varieties of leisure travel that have as their purpose the purchase of sexual services
(both man and women do this)
Sex tourism is made possible by three large-scale social forces:
- The migration of people in search of economic opportunities provides a large group of young men and women in search of work
- in some countries, sex tourism is the most rapidly growing economic sector and a major source of hard currency; in such places, governments have little incentive to reduce it
- The tourists who can purchase sexual services are obviously wealthy enough to travel and sometimes attracted in another ethinicity
- in canada going to a different country to purchese sex with children is illegal and can be prosecuted
-sexual tousism is faciliteded by the internet.
