A Feminist Discourse Analysis of Sex 'Work' - of /courses - Victoria ...

326 Feminism & Psychology 11(3)
nant discourses of sex and sexuality would feature in participants’ accounts of sex
work and the sex industry. Thus a novel aspect of this research is to show how
discourses of sex and sexuality, largely identified in accounts of sexual experiences
in heterosexual romantic relationships, are also threads in a different cloth
– the social construction of sex work.
To summarize, the aims of the study are two-fold. One is to show how discourses
of sex and sexuality, identified in different research contexts, are used by
participants to constitute and contest various constructions of sex work. The other
is to illustrate that, despite the contradictions between various feminist explanations
of sex work, they are used flexibly and productively by sex workers to
account for sex work and their experiences of it. By grounding our analysis in sex
workers’ accounts we address the criticism that previous feminist work has
ignored the views of people involved in the industry. However, explanations of
sex work are not taken as simple representations of what it is ‘really’ like. Rather,
explanations are viewed as exposing the discursive resources available to interpret
experiences of sex work and to stabilize and destabilize what sex work
means.
DATA AND ANALYTIC APPROACH
The data for this study were semi-structured interviews between the second
author, for her master’s dissertation, and each of 19 people with work experience
in the sex industry (Priestley, 1999). There were 13 women, four men (Cal,
Damo, Josh and Stud) and two self-identified transgendered people (Crystal and
Tammy). The age of the participants ranged from 20 to 41 years old. The sample
was representative of the range of service activities in the industry (see Woods,
1996) and included three street workers, six parlour workers, 10 escort workers,
two sado-masochistic workers and six people who worked independently. Note
that some participants reported working in different areas of the sex industry at
different stages, so the numbers of participants and the area of work differ.
Each participant was recruited either from the Wellington branch of the NZPC
or from an escort agency in Wellington. A further three participants were
recruited through personal contacts. The interviews took place at the NZPC or
the escort agency and in three cases at the participants’ homes. The interview
questions covered a range of issues including the legal and social status of sex
work, health and safety concerns, why there was a demand for sex workers’ services
and issues about sexual identity and love relationships. Before the interview
took place, each participant was informed that questions were merely a guide to
prompt discussion and they were invited to raise any issues that they felt were
significant. Furthermore, each participant was asked to use a pseudonym to
ensure confidentiality. The relatively informal nature of the interview questions,
combined with assurances about confidentiality, helped to establish good rapport
in the interviews.