Sex Work (Prostitution)

The term sex work encompasses a wide range of commercial endeavors in which sexual acts, images, or conversations are traded for money, goods, and services. Sex work can include, but is not limited to, prostitution, pornography (print and video), stripping, telephone sex, dominance and submission, and fetishism, and combinations and permutations of all these are now available on the Internet. Except in rare cases of “sacred” prostitution found in ancient societies, in most eras and geographical locations, “respectable” members of society have stigmatized sex work and characterized sex workers as sinful, morally bankrupt, intellectually weak, drug or alcohol addicted, or victims of incest, rape (“seduction”), or sex traffickers. In reality, however, most sex workers fit none of these negative stereotypes easily. Rather, women, and to a lesser extent men, who have entered into sex work typically come from working- or middle-class backgrounds, possess average intelligence and education, and work under the moral assumptions and biases of their era, religion, and ethnic or racial backgrounds. Just as taxi drivers, waitresses, receptionists, computer programmers, and CEOs sell their time and expert services, so do sex workers.

This entry focuses heavily on prostitution because it is the form of sex work most easily recognizable in historical sources, although prostitutes are more often seen through the lens of reforming men and women and the courts than their voices are heard in the historical record. After discussing some of the reasons women sell sex and the conditions under which they have sold it, the entry turns to the less well-known worlds of women consumers of sex and male prostitutes. Finally, a brief discussion of the scholarship of sex work concludes the entry.