Are Men Who Pay for Sex Sexist? Masculinity and Client Attitudes Toward Gender Role Equality in Different Prostitution Markets

Abstract

Prostitution clients’ attitudes toward gender equality are important indicators of how masculinity relates to the demand for commercial sexual services. Research on male client misogyny has been inconclusive, and few studies compare men in different markets. Using an online survey of 519 clients of sexual services, we examine whether male client attitudes toward gender role equality are related to the main methods customers used to access prostitution services (i.e., through print or online media vs. in-person contact). We found no differences among men in these markets in attitudes toward gender role equality in the workplace and home. This is in a context where all clients had more egalitarian attitudes toward women’s roles than the U.S. male population in the General Social Survey (GSS). However, clients in in-person markets were less supportive of affirmative action than in online markets in a context where all clients were less supportive compared to the national average. These findings point to need to rethink how masculinity and gender role attitudes affect patterns of male demand for paid sex.

How client criminalisation under end-demand sex work laws shapes the occupational health and safety of sex workers in Metro Vancouver, Canada: a qualitative study

“…In line with previous research,4 13 18 19 the majority of participants reported that clients were non-predatory, non-violent, ‘average’ people. However, almost all acknowledged that, similar to other service industry work environments, they sometimes encounter clients who may be rude, coercive (ie, ask for services that were not offered), threatening, and in some cases, physically aggressive.…”

“…While end-demand legislation is based on pervasive social representations of exploitative and predatory clients,14 our findings are consistent with past research4 11 13 17–20 37 38 demonstrating that client characteristics, demographics, attitudes and relationships are diverse, and tend to parallel those of the general public. Despite being a heterogeneous group, participants indicated that end-demand’s unilateral conceptualisation of clients as dangerous made it challenging for them to manage their work environments and intensified experiences of harm.…”

“…The ultimate goals of end-demand laws are to abolish sex trafficking, promote gender equality and eradicate sex work by ending the demand for paid sex 2 3 7 11 12. The goals of end-demand regulation reflect radical feminist ideology that conceptualises sex workers categorically as women and as ‘at risk’ of exploitation and gendered sexual violence and clients as men who are perpetrators of violence, coercion and exploitation 7 13–15. As a result, end-demand criminalisation legally enshrines sex workers as victims and clients as predators, invalidating the labour of sex work and the rights and autonomy of people who sell or trade sexual services, while at the same time reinforcing moralistic concerns about the commodification of sexual activity, and undermining sex workers’ occupational health, safety and human rights 3 12 13 16…”

“…By conceptualising clients homogenously as predatory men, the laws reduce the relationship between workers and clients to one of violence and exploitation, and ignore robust evidence that clients pay for sex for a number of different reasons and exist along a broad spectrum of socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, age, ability and gender 4 11 13 17–19. Research focusing on clients in Canada highlights their varied motivations and sociodemographics.…”

Análisis de las Actitudes de las y los Adolescentes hacia la Prostitución y los Motivos para su consumo

“…El consumo de prostitución, pornografía o sexo de pago, responde mayoritariamente a una demanda masculina; son los hombres quiénes muestran las actitudes más favorables ante ella (Malamuth, 1996;Gomez-Suarez y Verdugo-Martés, 2015;Serrano, 2018). Estos hombres además manifiestan actitudes negativas hacia la igualdad de género, como un indicador de cómo esta masculinidad se relaciona con la demanda de servicios sexuales (Brents et al, 2020). Satz (2010) señala que la prostitución es "un teatro de desigualdad, nos muestra una práctica en la que las mujeres son vistas como sirvientas de los deseos de los hombres" (p.147).…”