Antioch University AURA - Antioch University Repository and Archive Student & Alumni Scholarship, including Dissertations & Theses Dissertations & Theses 2018 "The aW y to Become a Man": The nflueI nce of Commercial Sex on Male Psychosocial Development Adrian DeLuna Garcia Antioch University Seattle Follow this and additional works at: https://aura.antioch.edu/etds Part of the Gender and Sexuality Commons, and the Social Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Garcia, Adrian DeLuna, ""The aW y to Become a Man": The nflueI nce of Commercial Sex on Male Psychosocial Development" (2018). Dissertations & Theses. 458. https://aura.antioch.edu/etds/458 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student & Alumni Scholarship, including Dissertations & Theses at AURA - Antioch University Repository and Archive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations & Theses by an authorized administrator of AURA - Antioch University Repository and Archive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. “THE WAY TO BECOME A MAN”: THE INFLUENCE OF COMMERCIAL SEX ON MALE PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of Antioch University Seattle Seattle, WA In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements of the Degree Doctor of Psychology By Adrian Garcia September 2018 “THE WAY TO BECOME A MAN”: THE INFLUENCE OF COMMERCIAL SEX ON MALE PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT This dissertation, by Adrian Garcia, has been approved by the Committee Members signed below who recommend that it be accepted by the faculty of the Antioch University Seattle at Seattle, WA in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PSYCHOLOGY Dissertation Committee: ________________________ William Heusler, Psy.D. Chairperson ________________________ Patricia Russell, Psy.D. ________________________ Marta Guzman, Psy.D. ________________________ Date ii © Copyright by Adrian Garcia, 2018 All Rights Reserved iii 1 ABSTRACT “THE WAY TO BECOME A MAN”: THE INFLUENCE OF COMMERCIAL SEX ON MALE PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT Adrian Garcia Antioch University Seattle Seattle, WA Hegemonic masculinity and the negative consequences that it has on men and women continues to gain increasing attention in research and in popular culture. Particular attention is paid to the sexual violence that is perpetrated by men towards women, however, the research on men’s sexual development and its relationship to this sexual violence focuses largely on biological explanations. The feminist literature, however, on sexual violence offers a differing perspective, which includes the socialization processes that men undergo in their sexual development that lead them towards normalizing sexual violence. One of these processes is the existence and normalization of the commercial sex industry. This study interviewed 12 participants, eight via individual interviews and four in a focus group, to ascertain the relationship between men’s sexual development and their engagement with the commercial sex industry. The findings within this study suggested a strong link between men’s sexual development, pornography, prostitution, and fitting in with all-male peer groups. Commercial sex served as a vehicle for participants to express their masculine identities and bond with peers over sexual topics. Literature and exploration on hegemonic masculinity may benefit from further analysis on how men’s sexual development, including their enactment or understanding of sexual violence, is interwoven into their experiences of commercial sex. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and Ohio Link ETD Center https://etd.ohiolink.edu/etd. 2 Keywords: Hegemonic Masculinity, Pornography, Prostitution, Sex Buyers, Feminist Research, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Dedication This work is dedicated to my Gigi, who passed away halfway through my writing process. I have faith that she would be so proud of me for completing this dissertation and persevering until the bitter end. vi Acknowledgments I wish to acknowledge the contributions of all those who helped inspire and guide my work. I am grateful for the commitment and support offered by my committee members, Dr. William Heusler, Dr. Pat Russell, and Dr. Marta Guzman. I wish to also thank Peter Qualliotine for his guidance and inspiration, as his ideas were fundamental in shaping and framing the research questions and my own personal development through this dissertation process. I would like to particularly thank my friend and colleague, Cailin Qualliotine, who has dedicated so much time, attention, and love to my dissertation over the past several years; I could not have gotten through the results without her help. To the love of my life, Ryan Angulo, thank you for all the emotional support you have provided me during this drawn out process. I owe a special debt of gratitude to my best friend, Tammy Killian, who has been an amazing cheerleader in the completion of this dissertation and my doctoral studies. I would like to thank my mother and father, who came to this country many years ago in the hopes that I might live a different life than they had. And finally, to my siblings, thank you for loving me and for believing that your older brother could do something important. vii Table of Contents Page Dedication ...................................................................................................................................... vi Acknowledgments......................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... xiii List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. xiv Introduction ......................................................................................................................................1 Defining Masculinity .................................................................................................................3 Hegemonic Masculinity .......................................................................................................4 Describing Male Sexuality ...................................................................................................6 Masculinity and Commercial Sex ............................................................................................10 Issues in the Literature on Sex Buying ..............................................................................11 Commercial Sex and Sexual Violence ...............................................................................13 Comparing Sex Buyers to Non-Sex Buyers.......................................................................16 Motivations for Purchasing Sex .........................................................................................19 Study Significance ...................................................................................................................26 Research Question ...................................................................................................................26 Method ...........................................................................................................................................27 Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ..............................................................................27 Hermeneutics .....................................................................................................................28 Foregrounding ....................................................................................................................29 Participants and Recruitment ...................................................................................................32 Demographics ....................................................................................................................33 Exclusionary Criteria .........................................................................................................34 Participant Risks ................................................................................................................34 viii Participant Protection .........................................................................................................35 Participant Benefits ............................................................................................................35 Procedure .................................................................................................................................36 Interviews ...........................................................................................................................36 Data Analysis ...........................................................................................................................38 Reading and Rereading ......................................................................................................38 Initial Noting ......................................................................................................................38 Developing Emergent Themes ...........................................................................................39 Identifying Connections Across Emergent Themes ..........................................................39