NCJ Number
223292
Date Published
2008
Length
253 pages
Annotation
Drawing on original empirical data from men who buy sex, this book examines the relationships clients have with female sex workers in an attempt to dispel many of the myths that exist about the nature of the relationship between sex worker and client and raises many questions about the nature of human sexuality.
Abstract
The opening chapter examines why the focus has shifted to men who buy sex in recent years to fully understand the politics of prostitution and sex work and the organization of sex markets. The second chapter sets out the parameters of the research questions; the access and recruitment process; the men interviewed; reflections on the nature and dynamics of the researcher-respondent relationship; and the therapeutic element of the interview process. Chapter 3 presents some overall findings about the behavioral conduct of clients. In the fourth chapter, the role of the Internet in men’s experiences and processes of buying sex is explored arguing that new technologies have provided a space for a ‘sex work community’ to develop. Chapter 5 examines the role of intimacy in the commercial sexual relationship, the process and reasons for becoming a ‘regular’ client to the same sex worker and the emotional and psychological impact of buying sex. Chapter 6 examines the stigma attached to men who buy sex and the ways in which male clients subvert or manage the stigma. The seventh chapter examines the recent government strategy to ‘tackle demand’ and heavily enforce the laws. Chapter 8 applies key criteria of the theory of moral panic to the case of the male client. The concluding chapter discusses why there has been a growing increase in the use of sexual services in late modernity. The core questions that form the backbone of the research are not only the expected inquiry into ‘why men buy sex,’ but also into the sociological and psychological processes that men encounter in order to enter an assumed ‘deviant’ sexual behavior as part of their everyday lives. Tables, appendix, bibliography and index