Unveiling stigma in the digital age : Exploring attitudinal differences in perceptions of the exchange of sexual services for payment in the United States

Summary, in English

This chapter examines how people associate various sex work activities with the exchange of sexual services for payment. It considers both in-person activities, such as sexual intercourse, oral sex, erotic massage, and dancing, as well as remote, digitally mediated activities like webcamming and the production of pornographic videos and photos. Drawing on an original US survey of adults (n = 1,024), the analysis uses regression models to compare perceptions among those with and without personal experience in sex work. Respondents with sex work experience are more likely to associate all listed activities with the exchange of sexual services for payment. The gap between experienced and non-experienced individuals is especially wide for digital forms of sex work. In contrast, perceptions of in-person activities show less variation. These findings suggest that people without sex work experience tend to rely on more traditional, physical definitions of sex work, overlooking newer forms that have expanded with the rise of information and communication technologies. The chapter draws on sociological theories of work and stigmatization to interpret these patterns. Overall, the results highlight how persistent stigma can obscure recognition of the changing nature of the sex industry and the legitimacy of emerging forms of sexual labour.

• Author: Isabelle Johansson; Michael A. Hansen
• Editor: Iztok Šori; Majda Hrženjak
• Department/s: Department of Sociology; Social Anthropology
• Publishing year: 2025
• Language: English
• Publication/Series: Transformations of Labour through the Lens of Sex Work : Navigating Digitalization, Precarity and Resistance
• Document type: Book chapter
• Publisher: Routledge
• Topic: Social Work; Social Anthropology
• Status: Published
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISBN: 9781003640837