In this introduction to the special section ‘female clients of commercial sex’, we start by an overview of the early interest in research on male clients of commercial sex and the tendency to criminalize and pathologize them. Then, we will question and discuss the lack of interest and the difficulties of researching women clients. Subsequently, we will look at the literature investigating women paying for sex to better understand and situate the research included in this section. After that, we will examine the contributions of the articles included in this special section and finish by reflecting on the meaning of this issue for future research on sex work.
In this educational memo, we will explore in which measure and form gender and sexuality studies is a part of the Dutch sociology curriculum, and in particular the present situation at the University of Amsterdam and Radboud University. Both universities have a rich history in gender studies, but represent different perspectives within sociology. Looking at both curricula, a general image emerges of social-cultural man-woman differences and sexuality as themes, but these are not anchored in the final attainment level, which makes the individual role of the lectures quite big. In the required readings there is hardly any attention for a gender perspective in which students learn to apply gender as an analytical category. However, both universities offer a wide selection of specialisation courses to interested students. Here, opportunities seem to be missed to apply gender studies within sociology as a bridge between different disciplines and methodological approaches. This exploration ends with a brief outline of the further anchoring of gender and sexuality studies in the sociology curriculum on basis of three educational strategies.
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