CALL FOR PAPERS
Special Issue for Wagadu, Journal of Transnational Women's and Gender Studies
Edited by Susan Dewey, Ph.D.
University Studies, DePauw University
Sex workers throughout the world share a uniquely maligned mystique
that simultaneously positions them as sexually desirable and socially
repulsive. In order to better understand how these processes function
cross-culturally, this special issue of Wagadu invites papers focusing
upon the everyday lives of sex workers, broadly defined as those who
exchange sexual services for something of value. While recent years
have witnessed a dramatic outpouring of feminist scholarship on sex
work (Bernstein 2007; Day 2007; Doezema 2001; Kempadoo 2005, 1998; Kuo
2002; Munro and Della Giusta 2008), much of this literature
unintentionally reinforces the social stigmatization of sex workers by
depicting them solely through their income-earning activities. This
burgeoning research has convincingly demonstrated that sex work is
embedded in a complex social matrix that often centers upon sex
workers' perceptions of their individual choices and responsibilities
(AgustÃn 2007; Bott 2006; Dewey 2008; Weitzer 2009). A limited amount
of academic work has presented sex workers as complete social beings
by depicting the full picture of their daily lives and economic
struggles with appropriate complexity (Barton 2002; Brennan 2004;
Kelly 2008; Raphael 2004; Wesely 2003, 2002; Zheng 2009). Accordingly,
this special issue will fill a significant gap in the literature by
examining how individual biography intersects with structural position
to condition certain categories of individuals to believe that their
self-esteem, material worth and possibilities for life improvement are
invested in their bodies and sexual labor. Such beliefs inevitably
combine with sex workers' knowledge of their marginal, conflicted
social status to inform many of their decision-making strategies.
Papers in this issue will thus illustrate the processes by which sex
workers are able to see themselves as agents and entrepreneurs despite
pervasive social messages to the contrary. We particularly welcome
papers focusing on the everyday life experiences of sex workers that
address the following topics, although others are welcome for
consideration:
* occupation-specific perceptions of risk, fair exchange and emotional
labor, with particular regard to biological family and other members
of social and financial support networks;
*life history analyses that explore both the long and short-term
impacts of what sex workers often describe as a short-term survival
strategy;
*perceptions of institutional processes that translate social stigma
into public policy, particularly by placing unmarried, low income
mothers at a serious disadvantage in the post-welfare reform era;
*critical analyses of the relationships between the feminization of
poverty, homelessness, substance abuse and sex work, including
assumptions made about such connections by policymakers and popular
culture;
*relationships with and perceptions of social service providers,
including special issues for migrant and/or undocumented sex workers;
*personal narratives describing sex workers' negotiation of biological
family relationships and other social networks, including others'
awareness of sex work as a source of income and support;
*experiences in previous non-sex work employment and perceptions of
sustainable options for other forms of non-sex work, with particular
regard to sex workers' long term aspirations;
*the complex intersections of social stigma with individual agency as
sex workers seek to define themselves on terms outside the narrow
purview of their labor;
*individual sex workers' experiences with law enforcement officials,
with particular attention to perceptions of the impact of
anti-trafficking inPlease send abstracts (300 words max.) by January 15, 2010 and, if
accepted for publication, complete essays by April 15, 2010. All
submissions should be submitted electronically to wagadu.org
For other inquiries, please email Dr. Dewey at susandewey@depauw.edu
Susan Dewey, Ph.D.
University Studies
DePauw University
7 East Larabee Street
Greencastle, IN 46135
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