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Money, Agency, and Self-Care among Cisgender and Trans People in Sex Work

Author

Listed:
  • Treena Orchard

    (School of Health Studies, Western University, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada)

  • Katherine Salter

    (Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B2N 5E3, Canada)

  • Mary Bunch

    (Department of Cinema and Media Arts, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada)

  • Cecilia Benoit

    (Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada)

Abstract

Many qualitative studies about the exchange of sex for money, drugs, and less tangible outcomes (i.e., social status) contend that this activity contributes to high levels of internalized stigma among people in sex work. The cis (n = 33) and trans people (n = 5) who participated in our project about health, violence, and social services acknowledged the stigma associated with sex work but were not governed by the dominant discourse about its moral stain. They shared nuanced insights about the relationship between sex work and self-respect as people who use their earnings to mitigate the struggles of poverty and ongoing drug use, and care for themselves more broadly. This study sheds new light on the ways that cis and trans people negotiate issues of money, agency, and self-care, contributing to the literature on consensual sex work that examines different aspects of stigma, safety, and health with a nuanced, non-binary gender analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Treena Orchard & Katherine Salter & Mary Bunch & Cecilia Benoit, 2020. "Money, Agency, and Self-Care among Cisgender and Trans People in Sex Work," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-14, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:10:y:2020:i:1:p:6-:d:470090
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Nemoto, T. & Operario, D. & Keatley, J. & Han, L. & Soma, T., 2004. "HIV risk behaviors among male-to-female transgender persons of color in San Francisco," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 94(7), pages 1193-1199.
    3. Conron, K.J. & Scott, G. & Stowell, G.S. & Landers, S.J., 2012. "Transgender health in massachusetts: Results from a household probability sample of adults," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(1), pages 118-122.
    4. Inna Michaeli, 2017. "Self-Care: An Act of Political Warfare or a Neoliberal Trap?," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 60(1), pages 50-56, September.
    5. Cecilia Benoit & Nadia Ouellet & Mikael Jansson & Samantha Magnus & Michaela Smith, 2017. "Would you think about doing sex for money? Structure and agency in deciding to sell sex in Canada," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 31(5), pages 731-747, October.
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