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At least for me, it's empowering: the changing experience of sex work in the digital age
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Title
At least for me, it's empowering: the changing experience of sex work in the digital age
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Fowler
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Kurt
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1978-
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Kurt Fowler
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Miller
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Andres F
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Vanessa
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Vanessa Panfil
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Rutgers University
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Graduate School - Newark
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theses
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2019-05
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2019
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This study examines how a unique group of sex workers uses the Internet to do their jobs, and how this new technology has affected different areas of their lives: how participants came to enter sex work, create and shape identities in real and digital spaces, and how they perceive and respond to on-the-job risks. Though the workers interviewed participated in different kinds of sex work that was delivered in a variety of ways, they shared a reliance on technology, and described similar processes concerning their entrance, and the management of their identity, business and security concerns.
This project moves away from the “traditional” research paradigms of legality, deviance, and public health and instead uses qualitative research methods to investigate how digital workers use new technologies to create new systems and structures to aid in entrance and address issues in their work. Data was gathered through 50 in-depth interviews with a sample of sex workers from a variety of western nations who rely on Internet technology for their work. Study participants were identified using snowball sampling methods and the interviews were conducted using a semi- structured interview guide that included questions pertaining to how they entered sex work, the daily processes of their work life, and the broader implications of sex work in both society and their personal lives.
This investigation explores the contours of digital sex work, utilizing the experiences of a range of digital providers to argue that the Internet has created substantial changes to the organization of, incentives for, and challenges associated with sex work for those who rely on it for their work. This research joins a growing catalog of scholarship examining the changing social and technological landscape of sex work. Research on the normative aspects of sex work is rare and examining the impact of technology on the way workers construct new tools and systems to address long-standing issues is incredibly important. The dissertation offers new theoretical insights along with recommendations for policy and future opportunities to further scholarship on sex work in the digital age.
This project moves away from the “traditional” research paradigms of legality, deviance, and public health and instead uses qualitative research methods to investigate how digital workers use new technologies to create new systems and structures to aid in entrance and address issues in their work. Data was gathered through 50 in-depth interviews with a sample of sex workers from a variety of western nations who rely on Internet technology for their work. Study participants were identified using snowball sampling methods and the interviews were conducted using a semi- structured interview guide that included questions pertaining to how they entered sex work, the daily processes of their work life, and the broader implications of sex work in both society and their personal lives.
This investigation explores the contours of digital sex work, utilizing the experiences of a range of digital providers to argue that the Internet has created substantial changes to the organization of, incentives for, and challenges associated with sex work for those who rely on it for their work. This research joins a growing catalog of scholarship examining the changing social and technological landscape of sex work. Research on the normative aspects of sex work is rare and examining the impact of technology on the way workers construct new tools and systems to address long-standing issues is incredibly important. The dissertation offers new theoretical insights along with recommendations for policy and future opportunities to further scholarship on sex work in the digital age.
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Criminal Justice
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Sex workers
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Technology -- Social aspects
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Fowler
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Kurt
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Kurt Fowler
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Rutgers University. Graduate School - Newark
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I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.
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2021-05-30
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Access to this PDF has been restricted at the author's request. It will be publicly available after May 30th, 2021.
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Copyright protected
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Open
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Permission or license
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