Ageing/body/sex/work – Migrant women’s narratives of intimacy and ageing in commercial sex and elder care work

Abstract

This article analyses how sex and elder-care workers negotiate intimacy and ageing in their work. We find surprising similarities between sex and care work that derive from the ways in which Eastern European migrant women are sexualised in the sites of our studies: Italy and Finland. The bodywork and intimate labour conducted by the women is defined in part by the social status of their work in society, in part by the ageing bodies upon whom the work is done, and in part by the ways in which the bodies of the workers are gendered, sexualised and racialised. The article draws on interview and participant observation data collected during two ethnographic research projects with female migrants from post-socialist countries working as eldercare workers in Italy and in sex workers in Finland.

I'm a 45‐year‐old woman in the body of an 80‐year‐old: The multiple losses of living and aging in the shadow of prostitution

“…While the study of prostitution typically focused on younger females (Spanger & Skilbrei, 2017), research on older adults in prostitution is limited in number and scope. The small amount of literature reveals that older adults in prostitution may face some unique health, social, interpersonal, and mental health challenges (Fang et al., 2007; Hao et al., 2014, 2015; Näre & Diatlova, 2020). Within this limited literature, only few studies acknowledged the emotional meaning of being an aging woman in prostitution and the losses inherent to this experience.…”

“…While numerous studies have explored multiple prostitution‐related issues, aging women engaged in prostitution have rarely been addressed (Näre & Diatlova, 2020). To date, there is no single agreed‐upon definition of aging women in prostitution (AWIP).…”