Durham E-Theses Incidental Sex Work: Casual and Commercial Encounters in Queer Digital Spaces MORRIS, MAX How to cite: MORRIS, MAX (2018) Incidental Sex Work: Casual and Commercial Encounters in Queer Digital Spaces, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/13098/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Incidental Sex Work Casual and Commercial Encounters in Queer Digital Spaces Max Morris December 2018 A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Sociology Durham University Acknowledgements Completing this doctoral research project would not have been possible without the economic and emotional support of my boyfriend, Alex Powell, and my mum, Corinne Randall. Their feedback on formative ideas, writing structure, and policy implications have significantly shaped this thesis, and (hopefully) the academic publications which will follow it. Alongside our dear friend Dom Birch, who designed the bar charts included in Chapter Seven, Alex played a pivotal role in enhancing Chapters Two and Three, by expanding my understanding of postmodern theories of class, gender, and sexuality. I would also like to thank our combined friends and families for their unconditional love and support. Additionally, this thesis would not have passed the viva examination with no corrections had it not been for the incredible mentorship of Dr Kim Jamie and Professor Fiona Measham, supervisors who provided challenging critique and intellectual inspiration in equal measure. Taking over supervisory responsibility at a time when I felt abandoned by other academics, they responded to unexpected health and social problems with nothing but kindness. I am also grateful to one of my original supervisors, Professor Maggie O’Neill, who not only helped this project to receive funding from the Economic and Social Research Council but also volunteered invaluable feedback on a final draft of the thesis. Similarly, Professor Chris Ashford generously agreed to read a final draft, and has continued to contribute to my development as a researcher. As fellow members of the Sex Work Research Hub, I am also thankful to my internal and external examiners, Dr Alison Jobe and Dr Belinda Brooks- Gordon, for their encouragement during and after the viva. Finally, thank you to everyone in the Sociology Department at Durham University (especially Fiona Jackson) for promoting curious postgraduate researchers to challenge academic assumptions and social norms. 1 Abstract This thesis provides an overview of the first empirical study of ‘incidental sex work’, a form of casual, occasional, unplanned commercial sex arranged on digital media platforms. Rather than advertising, the (50) young sexual minority men I interviewed agreed to sell sex after being propositioned by (125) older men on social networking sites and smartphone apps. Alongside qualitative interviews including photo-elicitation procedures, a survey of 1,473 Grindr users aged 18 to 28, from major cities across England and Wales, found that at least 14.6% had been paid for sex (8.2% incidentally). Interview participants had diverse experiences of acceptance and discrimination in their coming out narratives, sexual experiences, and social networks. Incidental sex work encounters involved a range of behaviours, including ‘vanilla’ and ‘kinky’ sex acts, forms of emotional labour, and webcamming. In most cases, participants framed their paid sexual experiences as comparable to unpaid sexual experiences. Economic motivations included low or insecure incomes, student debts, and the ability to consume (both ‘essential’ and ‘consumer’) goods and services, while sexual motivations included ‘boredom’, ‘desire’, ‘experimentation’, ‘opportunity’, and ‘thrill’. Almost all of the participants distanced themselves from conventional labels such as ‘escort’, ‘rent boy’ or ‘sex worker’, suggesting that their behaviours were not ‘regular’ or ‘professional’ enough to count, alongside a desire to avoid association with stigmatising stereotypes of sex work as criminal, immoral, and pathological. Most incorrectly believed that their behaviours were illegal, but also argued that state interventions would be ‘pointless’, ‘harmful’, or ‘impossible’. Highlighting historical and contemporary associations between sexual minorities (principally men who have sex with men and women who sell sex), this thesis draws on postmodern theories of class, gender, and sexuality to suggest that the boundaries between casual and commercial sex have become blurred by changing social attitudes and the proliferation of internet technologies, complicating the ubiquity of discourses of despair, sexual identity politics, and regulatory policy approaches. Keywords: Casual Sex; Digital Media; Queer Theory; Sexual Minority Men; Sex Work 2 Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................. 2 Chapter One: Setting the Scene 1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 6 1.2 The Sex Work Wars ....................................................................................................... 8 1.3 Debates over (De)criminalisation ................................................................................ 12 1.4 Terminology .................................................................................................................. 16 1.5 Beyond the Binary ........................................................................................................ 18 1.6 Chapter Outline ............................................................................................................ 21 Chapter Two: A Stage Model of Research and Policy 2.1 Changing Historical Perspectives on Sex ................................................................... 25 2.2 Moral Model (1850-1900) ............................................................................................ 27 2.3 Inversion Model (1900-1950) ....................................................................................... 32 2.4 Deviance Model (1950-1975) ....................................................................................... 36 2.5 Liberation Model (1975-1985) ..................................................................................... 40 2.6 Medical Model (1985-1995) ......................................................................................... 43 2.7 Social and Economic Model (1995-2005) ................................................................... 46 2.8 Social Media Model (2005-Present) ............................................................................ 48 2.9 Connecting Sexual Minority Men and Sex Workers ................................................ 53 Chapter Three: Theorising Class, Gender, and Sexuality 3.1 From Modernism to Postmodernism ......................................................................... 54 Part I: Class 3.2.1 Capitalism, Exploitation, and Labour ..................................................................... 58 3.2.2 Cultural Hegemony ................................................................................................... 61 3.2.3 The Symbolic Economy ............................................................................................ 64 3.2.4 Post-Marxist Feminism ............................................................................................. 66 3.2.5 The Work Aspects of Sex Work ............................................................................... 68 Part II: Gender 3.3.1 The Construction of Gender .................................................................................... 70 3.3.2 Exclusive and Inclusive Feminism(s) ....................................................................... 75 3.3.3 Theorising Masculinities ........................................................................................... 77 3.3.4 Homophobia and Heteronormativity ...................................................................... 81 3 Part III: Sexuality 3.4.1 From Gay Studies to Queer Theory ........................................................................ 82 3.4.2 The Charmed Circle and Outer Limits ................................................................... 86 3.4.3 Sex Stigmas and Stereotypes .................................................................................... 89 3.4.4 The Sex Aspects of Sex Work ................................................................................... 92 3.5 Responding to Critiques .............................................................................................. 94 Chapter Four: Recruitment, Reflexivity, and Research Methods 4.1