“It's Just Like Any Other Work, Honey”: Sex, Risk, and Control In
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“IT’S JUST LIKE ANY OTHER WORK, HONEY”: SEX, RISK, AND CONTROL IN SERVICE WORK by EMILY VICTORIA KRUSE (Under the Direction of Linda Grant) ABSTRACT Using interviews with twenty-one current and former erotic laborers, this paper examines how workers control customers. Peepshow dancing, phone sex, club dancing, lingerie modeling, erotic massage, bachelor party stripping, escorting, and domination are presented within their organizational contexts. This evidence shows that erotic labor is not inherently alienating but rather depends on the organizational context. Workers whose organizations offer support, as well as workers whose occupations are structured around strong subcultural norms, tend to experience their work as empowering. Workers whose organizations offer little support or are anomic tend to construct their work as alienating. This paper also explores feminist theories on sexuality, concluding that, because they do not consider organizational contexts, they are inadequate tools for assessing the variation in workers’ experiences. INDEX WORDS: Service work, Sex work, Erotic labor, Organizational control, Workplace norms, Worker control, Feminist theory, Peepshows, Phone sex, Strip clubs, Exotic dancers, Lingerie models, Erotic massage, Bachelor party strippers, Escorts, Professional dominatrix, BDSM “IT’S JUST LIKE ANY OTHER WORK, HONEY”: SEX, RISK, AND CONTROL IN SERVICE WORK by EMILY VICTORIA KRUSE B.A., Indiana University 1999 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS ATHENS, GEORGIA 2002 ã 2002 Emily Victoria Kruse All Rights Reserved “IT’S JUST LIKE ANY OTHER WORK, HONEY”: SEX, RISK, AND CONTROL IN SERVICE WORK by EMILY VICTORIA KRUSE Approved: Major Professor: Linda Grant Committee: Linda Renzulli William Finlay Electronic Version Approved: Gordhan L. Patel Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2002 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I want first to thank not only my fabulous committee, but all the teachers I have had. I have been so fortunate to learn something from everyone I’ve met, especially Miss Kessler, my second grade teacher, who always said, “It’s ok to make mistakes while we are learning.” I extend all my gratitude to Linda, Linda, and William for all their encouragement and helpful feedback. Thank you for being so kind and for having such beautiful smiles. To my family and all my girls, thank you for always listening and being so supportive. I really have to acknowledge my Mom who offered to recruit interview subjects for me on her vacation to Las Vegas. I know it’s a tough topic to explain to people (“No, Emily’s not going to be a prostitute”), but you are my rainbow. And to Andrew, we came here together and you’ve always been here for me, whether you were in Athens, Santa Cruz, Minneapolis, or Tokyo. Now we’ll be leaving together, and I can’t wait to see where the road will take us. And, finally, of course, I thank my gracious participants. Without your generosity I would never have learned what I have. Your willingness to share your time and your stories was a gift for which I am extremely grateful. I hope I will make you all proud of me. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................. iv CHAPTER ........................................................................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................1 2 “IT’S JUST LIKE ANY OTHER WORK, HONEY”: SEX, RISK, AND CONTROL IN SERVICE WORK................................................................7 3 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Sex in the Workplace .............................................................................14 Vulnerability in the Workplace...............................................................19 4 METHODS................................................................................................24 5 EROTIC LABOR IS SERVICE WORK.....................................................29 Making the Decision to Work.................................................................30 Getting a Job: Interviewing ....................................................................33 Starting a Job: Training and Organizational Support...............................35 Peepshow Dancers .................................................................................39 Phone Fantasy Actresses ........................................................................41 Club Dancers..........................................................................................47 Lingerie Models and Erotic Masseuses...................................................53 Bachelor Party Strippers.........................................................................59 Escorts ...................................................................................................61 v Pro Dommes ..........................................................................................69 Quitting Work ........................................................................................75 Personal Identities and Work Identities...................................................83 6 CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................... 103 APPENDICES A INTERVIEW SCHEDULES For telephone and in-person interviews ................................... 108 For email interviews ............................................................... 110 B OVERVIEW OF PARTICIPANTS’ WORK INFORMATION.... 111 C OVERVIEW OF PARTICIPANTS’ DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS................................................................. 113 D OVERVIEW OF PARTICIPANTS’ ORGANIZATIONS............ 115 REFERENCES............................................................................................................ 120 vi 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Research on interactive service work, or work that entails direct interaction and communication with customers (Leidner 1993: 1), has revealed the challenges workers face in controlling their clientele (McCammon and Griffin 2000). However, not all service workers are presumed to have equal access to control over their customers. Workers whose occupations have a sexual or erotic bend, for example, are assumed to experience their work as alienating and beyond their control (Chapkis 1997: 70-82). In this analysis, I look at a kind of service work Chapkis (1997) calls “erotic labor” and workers’ techniques for establishing and maintaining control over customers. Although Chapkis (1997) does not specifically define erotic labor, she equates it with the equally nebulous term “sex work.” I argue against MacKinnon’s (1989) claim that sex work, or erotic labor, by its nature, degrades women. I propose instead that erotic labor is not inherently alienating and that erotic laborers are not, by the sexual or erotic nature of their work, without control over their jobs. Rather, I find workers’ levels of control depend on their organizational contexts. This research shows that the risks associated with erotic labor and the amount of control organizations grant their workers vary greatly. Organizations, thus, determine the degree of control workers exercise and the precautionary measures they take. This research and investigation of the literature show that sex work, although it has not always been considered work, is very similar to other kinds of service work. In 2 reviewing the literature, it is clear that many women service workers do sexual work as a part of their jobs. Various studies have called attention to the sexualization of women secretaries (Hearn and Parkin 1995; Sokoloff 1980), flight attendants (Cobble 1999; Hochschild 1983), and waitresses (Hall 1993; LaPointe 1992; Loe 1996; Mars and Nicod 1984: 61-62; Spradley and Mann 1975), token women in corporations (Kanter 1977), and women in the gambling (Enarson 1993; Filby 1992), retail (Hughes and Tadic 1998), and tourism industries (Adkins 1995; Enloe 2000). To describe the category “sex workers” is problematic, as many women in this study liken the job of a waitress to their more blatantly sexual jobs. When I interviewed Vanessa, a former strip club dancer, she remarked that dancing is “mostly just hostessing” and “just like waitressing, but waitressing is so much harder.” Minax, a respondent who works as a professional dominatrix (abbreviated as pro domme), defined sex work as “any work that has sexual overtones or undertones (that is) paid for.” Katrina, also a pro domme, defined sex work as any work that relies on one’s physical appearance and/or depends on men’s achievement of orgasm. Waitresses, dependent on tips, certainly rely on their physical appearances, charm, attentiveness, and other traits constructed as feminine or womanly. Waitresses, secretaries, paralegals (Pierce 1995), and other women service workers also rely on satisfying men, not necessarily sexually, but making sure that customers, clients, and superiors are content, fulfilled, and secure. The line between sex work and other kinds of sexual service work, such as waitressing, is, thus, difficult to draw. Sex work is a problematic term for still another reason. There is considerable disagreement between pro dommes, concerning whether their work is or is not sex work. 3 Since pro dommes do not have sex with their clients or take off their clothes for them, many do not