UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-2004 Vectors, polluters, and murderers: Hiv testing policies toward prostitutes in Nevada Cheryl L Radeloff University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Radeloff, Cheryl L, "Vectors, polluters, and murderers: Hiv testing policies toward prostitutes in Nevada" (2004). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 2605. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/3mq9-ejlz This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. VECTORS, POLLUTERS, AND MURDERERS: HIV TESTING POLICIES TOWARD PROSTITUTES IN NEVADA by Cheryl L. Radeloff Bachelor of Arts Bowling Green State University 1990 Master of Arts University of Toledo 1996 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology Department of Sociology College of Liberal Arts Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas December 2004 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3181639 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI UMI Microform 3181639 Copyright 2005 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Dissertation Approval NTV The Graduate College Uni\ ersitv ot Ne\ ada. Las Vegas November 22 20 04 The Dissertation prepared by Cheryl L. Radeloff Entitled Vectors, polluters, and murderers: HIV testing policies toward prostitues in Nevada. is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology Exniiiiiintiivi Conmiittcc Chair Div?;; of t/fi' Exaininntion Committee Member G;t7d;/77fe C e /W e T77e77/fi/ Re777rse77f(7f7T\' Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Vectors, Polluters, and Murderers: HIV Testing Policies toward Prostitutes in Nevada by Cheryl L. Radeloff Dr. Barbara Brents, Examination Committee Chair Professor of Sociology University of Nevada, Las Vegas This case study explores HIV testing policy and prostitution in Nevada. Three general themes emerge from analysis of Nevada’s HIV/AIDS policy regarding prostitution. First, HIV testing policies reflect and reproduce hegemonic sexuality—specificallygender inequality, heterosexist orientation, and negative stereotypes of prostitutes. Second, Nevada’s legalized prostitution industry makes visible the effects of economic dynamics, specifically tourism, on policies related to sexuality. Finally, the policymakingprocess depicts conflict between two approaches to regulation: the punitive controlmeasures favored by law enforcement, and prevention and public health strategies favoredby health bureaucracies. Testing prostitutes for HIV became the dominant policy response to an emerging moral panic about AIDS in the mid-1980s. Nevada’s conflicting policy approaches hoth tend to protect Nevada’s economic interests and stigmatize prostitutes. The research examines public documents, newspaper accounts, and interviews with policymakers to describe the emergence of Nevada’s regulatory policies, particularly in the context of interplay between sexuality,gender, economics, and political action. Further study of the relationship between moral panics and morality politics is necessary to understand how fear is transformed into policy through legislative processes. Ill Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.........................................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS............................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER I PROSTITUTION AND ITS DISCONTENTS..............................................1 A Context for the Regulation of Gender and Sexuality..........................................................2 Sin, Science and the Disciplining the Body .............................................................................. 3 Historical Associations: Prostitutes and Disease.....................................................................6 Chastity Belt or Money Belt; Demystifying the Economics of Prostitution.................. 10 Contradictions and Complexities in the Policy-Making Process......................................13 There’s Gold in Those Hills: Nevada and Prostitution....................................................... 14 Work Rules for Working G irls..................................................................................................17 Methodology, Goals, Purposes and Structure of the Study...............................................19 CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................. 24 Gender, Sexuality and “the World’s Oldest Profession” ..................................................... 25 When the Other Woman is a Woman “Other”..................................................................... 26 Sex, Society and the Wages o f Passion...................................................................................29 Queer Fusion: Gender, Sexuality and Policy.........................................................................31 Defining Sexuality to Regulate Sex..........................................................................................3 5 Foucault and the Tools of Governance..................................................................................37 Panic Theories: Sex, AIDS and Morality Politics ..................................................... 37 Physical Bodies, Social Bodies and Sexuality ....................................................................... 40 Politics and Prostitution: Traditional Regulation, Classification and Reaction.............43 'Lsgalir^ation-Kegulation........................................................................................................... 44 Criminalir^tion: Laisse^^-Fam and the Control Model......................................................... 47 Controlling Risk: Prostitution and D isease...................................... ......................................49 Historical Trends: Regulating Trestitution, Treventing Disease..............................................50 Tegalii^ation Policies, Disease Control and Nevada............................................................... 53 Criminalization, Prostitution, STDs and Nevada................................................................. 55 Influences on the Policy Process..............................................................................................58 Health Officials and Hegislators..............................................................................................58 Economics and Prostitution.....................................................................................................63 Prostitution and the Sex and Tourism Industry .................................................................... 66 Conclusion.................................................................................................................................... 7 0 IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER III METHODS..........................................................................................................73 Case Study .....................................................................................................................................74 Policy: Process and Analysis..................................................................................................... 7 6 Selecting a Theory-driven Method 7 8 Data Sources: Documents and Interviews..............................................................................83 Documents................................................................................................................................. 83 Interviews .................................................................................