Abstract:The research presented in this paper supports claims by feminists and queer theorists that there are numerous and diverse sex/gender/desire categories (Bem, 1995). Taken from a broader digital ethnography of digital sex markets in the United Kingdom, the findings are based on ten in-depth interviews with those who identified as men or ‘gender flexible’ and who buy and/or sell sex within digital markets. The participants featured in this paper used digital sex markets as a space to explore and express non-norma… Show more
“…Emails are generally considered by workers as a communication tool to arrange sessions and develop a ‘connection’ with potential paying customers. Customers, however, may experience sexual arousal and enjoyment from those exchanges (Rand, 2022; Robinson & Moskowitz, 2013). As Anita states:They message me, but I discourage it as a lot of them are getting a jolly just from messages from me.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Yet, Kristy's recognition that she obsesses over emails does suggest the work involved is more than labor easily given. Furthermore, since customers can be sexually aroused from browsing free online content and interacting via email with sex workers, they end up not paying workers for their services (Rand, 2022; Robinson & Moskowitz, 2013).…”
The context in which labor occurs shapes work. In online work, the platform is one site of work and therefore influences the experiences of workers. Current research on affordances considers how these platform features create value for the platform, shape workers' rights and safety, and reinforce existing racial hierarchies through algorithms. This project, researching online sex work practices in the UK, adds to this literature on platform work by analyzing how workers themselves experience and view the role of platform affordances in their work. With sex work as gendered and stigmatized labor, it also provides unique insights into the role of platforms in valuing typically feminized work both economically and culturally. Drawing on 19 interviews with workers on the UK‐dominant platform AdultWork and platform observations, we show that platform affordances do create, shape, and maintain the valuation of online labor but in dynamic and relational processes with workers. Structural analysis shows how platform affordances may create competition that decreases the value of labor, but individually sex workers revealed strategies to engage with these affordances to resist devaluation and set boundaries in what appears to be a highly competitive market, thus, highlighting the multidirectional, relational agency, and connectivity between platform affordances and workers. By focusing on the experiences of sex workers, the findings contribute to discussions on the role of platforms in valuing feminized online labor.
“…Emails are generally considered by workers as a communication tool to arrange sessions and develop a ‘connection’ with potential paying customers. Customers, however, may experience sexual arousal and enjoyment from those exchanges (Rand, 2022; Robinson & Moskowitz, 2013). As Anita states:They message me, but I discourage it as a lot of them are getting a jolly just from messages from me.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Yet, Kristy's recognition that she obsesses over emails does suggest the work involved is more than labor easily given. Furthermore, since customers can be sexually aroused from browsing free online content and interacting via email with sex workers, they end up not paying workers for their services (Rand, 2022; Robinson & Moskowitz, 2013).…”
The context in which labor occurs shapes work. In online work, the platform is one site of work and therefore influences the experiences of workers. Current research on affordances considers how these platform features create value for the platform, shape workers' rights and safety, and reinforce existing racial hierarchies through algorithms. This project, researching online sex work practices in the UK, adds to this literature on platform work by analyzing how workers themselves experience and view the role of platform affordances in their work. With sex work as gendered and stigmatized labor, it also provides unique insights into the role of platforms in valuing typically feminized work both economically and culturally. Drawing on 19 interviews with workers on the UK‐dominant platform AdultWork and platform observations, we show that platform affordances do create, shape, and maintain the valuation of online labor but in dynamic and relational processes with workers. Structural analysis shows how platform affordances may create competition that decreases the value of labor, but individually sex workers revealed strategies to engage with these affordances to resist devaluation and set boundaries in what appears to be a highly competitive market, thus, highlighting the multidirectional, relational agency, and connectivity between platform affordances and workers. By focusing on the experiences of sex workers, the findings contribute to discussions on the role of platforms in valuing feminized online labor.
“…Isto fundamenta um mercado ambíguo, no qual a precariedade se manifesta em meio à expansão de oportunidades de trabalho, da flexibilização laboral e das possibilidades de gerenciamento de rotinas e ganhos financeiros. Os mercados erótico-sexuais têm canalizado e adaptado rapidamente essas tendências a fim de oferecer novos modos de produzir e comercializar conteúdos e serviços (Rand, 2019a). As plataformas têm sido centrais para alavancar a indústria erótica de webcams ou webcamming (Van Doorn e Velthuis, 2018), a venda de conteúdo erótico por assinatura (Cardoso e Scarcelli, 2021) e os serviços de acompanhantes e prostitutas (Rand, 2019b;Sanders et al, 2018).…”
Resumo Este artigo discute o avanço de plataformas digitais nos mercados de sexo e erotismo brasileiros, analisando a configuração dos modelos de negócio implementados e seus impactos no trabalho sexual. O estudo se concentra na indústria erótica de webcams, o primeiro serviço erótico-sexual gerenciado por plataformas no Brasil. A análise resulta de etnografia digital, desenvolvida entre 2016 e 2020 nas duas plataformas de webcamming brasileiras, Câmera Hot e Câmera Privê, e de 15 entrevistas em profundidade com trabalhadoras sexuais. Os resultados demonstram que as plataformas descentralizam a gestão, elaboração e venda de serviços e conteúdo erótico-sexual, visto que as trabalhadoras coordenam individualmente esses processos, sendo responsáveis por suas dinâmicas laborais. Em contrapartida, as plataformas centralizam a infraestrutura técnica e financeira, tornando as trabalhadoras mais dependentes de seus espaços. Entretanto, visando promover a centralização e progredir, as plataformas precisam garantir segurança pessoal e financeira às trabalhadoras. Destarte, vetores de pressão ao trabalho sexual são acompanhados de vetores de autonomia e segurança. Este texto traz uma contribuição ao tratar de uma atividade precária e pouco discutida nas abordagens da economia de plataformas digitais. Adicionalmente, contribui para questionar a dominância do vetor de precarização, evidenciando as ambiguidades das plataformas em trabalhos historicamente informalizados.
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