Forbidden Zones: Prohibited Sexual Practices among Sex Workers

MORCILLO SANTIAGO

Hanoi

Conferencia; VII International Conference: "Contested Innocence: Sexual Agency in Public and Private Space"; 2009

International Association for the Study of Sexuality, Culture and Society (IASSCS)

Sex workers´ subjectivity is invaded by stigma at the intersection of sexual practices and the public/working sphere, constituted in and through power, gender and sexual relations. What are the possible strategies from this subjective position? This paper examines the subjectivities of female and transgender sex workers, considered in a relational perspective, and taking into account the relations with their clients and the meanings attributed to sexual practices. In particular, we aim to understand the role of prohibited sexual practices with clients. The analysis is based on in-depth interviews with female and transgender sex workers. In the selection of cases we looked for diversity, in terms of zones, working modalities, and types of male clients. Interviews were carried out in Buenos Aires and Rosario, the metropolis of sex work in Argentina. Based on the sex workers´ voices, we understood the role of certain practices that remain forbidden in the context of the sexual exchange with the clients, such as French kissing, anal, or oral sex). We also analyzed the variability of those forbidden practices and the conditions and processes of those limitations. In the analysis of sexual practices, their meanings, and their limits, we found data related to two main dimensions: the subjective (affection, self-esteem, romantic love) and working conditions (strategies and mechanisms). The integration of both the subjective and working conditions is necessary to explain what sexual practices are accepted and what practices are forbidden in the context of sex work. These preliminary reflections need to be deepened in order to better understand the links between sexual practices, subjectivities, and sex work.