Digital Desire: Commercial, Moral, and Political Economies of Sex Work and the Internet
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Digital Desire: Commercial, Moral, And Political Economies Of Sex Work And The Internet By Copyright 2016 Emily Jean Kennedy Submitted to the graduate degree program in Sociology and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ________________________________ Chairperson Dr. Joane Nagel ________________________________ Dr. Bob Antonio ________________________________ Dr. Kelly Haesung Chong ________________________________ Dr. Brian Donovan ________________________________ Dr. Akiko Takeyama Date Defended: May 4, 2016 The Dissertation Committee for Emily Jean Kennedy certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Digital Desire: Commercial, Moral, And Political Economies Of Sex Work And The Internet ________________________________ Chairperson Dr. Joane Nagel Date approved: May 4, 2016 ii ABSTRACT This dissertation investigates the relationships among changing public attitudes toward sexuality, the rise of the Internet as a site of commercial sex production and consumption, and public opinion toward and media portrayals of sex workers. In light of increased cultural acceptance of changing sexual practices and identities, I ask, has there been increased acceptance of commercial sex work and sex workers as measured in public opinion, sex workers’ experiences, popular films, and news media portrayals? In order to answer this question, I reviewed and interacted with more than 100 sex work bloggers on Tumblr.com, and conducted interviews with 36 sex workers, to determine the effect of the Internet on their work and their experience of acceptance or stigmatization in their personal and professional lives; attended two commercial sex industry conferences to observe the impact of the Internet on different aspects of the industry; conducted content analysis of the top 50 films annually from 1990-2013 to examine changes in the depictions of sex workers from the beginning of the Digital Age to the present; and analyzed 353 English-language newspaper articles on prostitution and sex work during the period October 21, 2012-December 5, 2012 to determine how sex work was portrayed in the news – as criminal or commercial activity. I found that sex work and sex workers remain deeply stigmatized in American society. This is despite sex worker activism and increased availability of pornography and other commercial sex products. I conclude that the persistent stigmatization of the commercial sex industry and those who work within it results from occupational structures within the commercial sex industry, continued criminalization of sex work, the entertainment industry’s negative depiction of sex workers, and news media reports of sex workers as criminals, especially the conflation of “sex trafficking” and sex work. iii Acknowledgments First and foremost I thank the research participants. Without you this project would not exist. I thank Anna Kern for her brilliant mind, searing wit, and countless outstanding ideas about this research. Thank you Emily Virginia Morrow Jones for being an incredible connector, solution generator, and dear friend. Thank you Lydia Rowan Ash for supporting this project in a multitude of ways. Thank you Patricia Oslund for taking my questions and never giving me the impression they were dumb. Thanks to James Ordner for sharing your experiences about graduate school. David Heath Cooper, Shane Montgomery Willson, and Brian Azcona thank you for reading early versions of these chapters and offering great feedback. Thank you to Pooya Naderi and Pamela Rooks for advice and assistance. Thank you Donna K. Ginther for inspiring me throughout the time I have known you. You are an incredible mentor and I am so grateful to have worked for you. Thank you Steven Maynard-Moody for modeling a tireless work ethic and giving fantastic advice. Thank you Hannah Britton for believing in my potential, often when I wasn't sure I did. Thank you Dennis Dailey for your wisdom and for helping me see what was possible. Thank you Corinne Schwarz and Hajar Aghababa for being fantastic co-authors and friends. Thank you to my dissertation committee members Akiko Takeyama, Kelly Haesung Chong, Brian Donovan, and Bob Antonio for reading this dissertation and providing critique. Thank you Joane Nagel for steering multiple projects towards completion over all these years. Thank you for being fearless. I thank the University of Kansas Department of Graduate Studies and the Institute for Policy & Social Research for providing funding for this project. Thank you Pat, Lauri, Daniel, Carmel, Avery, Eli, Nick, Dave, and Judy for being my awesome family. Thank you Colin for being the light on even my darkest days. iv Thank you CK for your incredible support. Thank you for the delicious meals, the attentive ear, the thoughtful mind, and the flexible attitude you have maintained at every moment of this process. You made this project possible. You care for me in the most wondrous ways. Your love is divine. v Dedicated to sex workers and their allies. vi Table of Contents Introduction: Changes in U.S. Sexuality and Sex Work ................................................................ 1 Chapter 1: Constructing Deviance: A History of Sexual and Digital Revolutions .......................... 9 Chapter 2: Overview of Interacting Industries: Technology and Sex Work ................................. 37 Chapter 3: If My Parents Found Out: Lived Experience of Sex Work Stigma ............................. 82 Chapter 4: Screening Sex Work: Culture, Film, and Commercial Sex ...................................... 120 Chapter 5: Outcall Only: News Media Portrayals of Sex Work and Prostitution ....................... 155 Digital Desire Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 192 Appendix A - Interview Participant Demographics .................................................................... 202 Appendix B - Oral Consent Form .............................................................................................. 204 Appendix C - Digital Desire Interview Instrument ..................................................................... 206 Appendix D - Defining Sex Work .............................................................................................. 208 Appendix E - Sex Work Keywords in the Internet Movie Database .......................................... 210 vii List of Figures Figure 1: The Growth of U.S. Internet Usage Over Time. ........................................................... 20 Figure 2: Digital Desire Interviewees by Sex Work Trade .......................................................... 42 Figure 3: U.S. Residents Answering Yes to "Did you have sex for pay within the last year?" .... 45 Figure 4: Word Cloud Depicting Keywords Used to Flag Top 50 Films .................................... 130 Figure 5: U.S. Arrests for Prostitution Annually 1980-2015 ...................................................... 170 List of Tables Table 1: Internet-Related Outcomes in Sex Work Trades .......................................................... 74 Table 2: U.S. Newspapers Reports on Human Trafficking Over Time...................................... 172 viii Introduction: Changes in U.S. Sexuality and Sex Work Accounts of sexuality in the 21st century agree one of the most remarkable changes in nationwide cultural attitudes towards sexuality has been increased acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, Trans, queer, and intersex identities (LGBTQI).1 Nationwide 2015 opinion polls on same-sex marriage show 60% of respondents favored legalization (McCarthy 2015). The LGBTQI acronym reflects a radical expansion of the longstanding gay/straight binary. During the last 50 years, researchers have documented dramatic increases in acceptance rates of divorce, cohabitation, and childbearing outside marriage (Pleck 2012, Yodanis 2005, Bock 2000). Researchers also have reported relaxing public attitudes towards the consumption of pornography (especially online), strip clubs, and pole dancing (Price 2008, Trautner 2005, Barton 2002, Frank 2002, Wood 2000, Brooks 1997). This scholarship parallels an increase in non-academic memoirs, magazine articles, and movies that more casually depict stripping and exotic dance. Increased public acceptance of diverse sexual orientations can be understood, in part, as a result of gay rights organizational activism and lobbying. More tolerant attitudes towards exotic dance more likely reflect a trend in popular culture, than organized campaigning, and are part of a larger landscape of increased acceptance of variation in sexual identities, practices, and consumption. What is sex work? Of the seven major areas of sexual social life in which researchers find increased tolerance, acceptance, or participation (LGBTQI identities, divorce, cohabitation, childrearing outside of marriage, pornography, pole dancing, and stripping) three are part of the nationwide commercial sex industry2 (pornography, pole dancing, and stripping), part of the larger set of sexual commerce known as "sex work." I define sex work as sexual activity or provocation for 1 Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, queer, intersexed. 2 The commercial sex industry has also been termed the erotic labor market (Social Science Research Center 2014). 1 commercial gain. Concurrent to the relaxation of attitudes toward sexual identities and practices, there has been an expansion