Economics Without Money; Sex Without Gender: A Critique of Philipson and Posner's<i>"Private Choices and Public Health: The AIDS Epidemic in an Economic Perspective"</i>

Christensen, Kimberly

doi:10.1080/135457098338400

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…For further discussion, see the following literature: Christensen (1998); Wojcicki and Malala (2001); Pettifor et al (2004); Wingood and DiClemente (2000); Jewkes and Morrell (2010). The literature highlights the lack of sexual power among women and shows that women's negotiating power is likely to further decrease with decreases in economic status or upon increasing economic dependence on men.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…In the literature, the current practice has been to make assumptions and acknowledge the mere simplification of sexual behaviour (see, e.g. Philipson and Posner 1995;Christensen 1998;Mannberg 2012). For instance, Philipson and Posner (1995) note that 'The modelling of human behaviour as a reflection of a rational calculus of gains and losses may not provide a complete satisfactory explanation of individuals' actions or even of the aggregate outcomes of such actions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Multiple and Concurrent Sex Partnerships and Social Norms: Young Adults’ Sexual Relationships in the Metropolitan Communities of Cape Town, South Africa

Tibesigwa¹,

Visser²

2015

Sex Res Soc Policy

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Even though antiretroviral treatment is becoming more efficient and available, new HIV infections still occur, and this is particularly evident in the sub-Saharan Africa region. Heterosexual intercourse is still the main mode of HIV transmission in the region, and multiple and concurrent sex partners are arguably crucial for the spread of the epidemic. It is therefore problematic that sexual risk-taking, in terms of multiple and concurrent sex partners, persists in spite of HIV awareness and knowledge. This study examines the role of social norms on multiple and concurrent sex partnerships using longitudinal data of young adults residing in the metropolitan communities of Cape Town in South Africa. Overall, our results show that the social norms related to multiple and concurrent sex partners, in the community, have a positive and significant influence on young adults' choice of sex partners. This effect appears to be stronger amongst male young adults, than female young adults.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Multiple and Concurrent Sex Partnerships and Social Norms: Young Adults’ Sexual Relationships in the Metropolitan Communities of Cape Town, South Africa

Tibesigwa¹,

Visser²

2015

Sex Res Soc Policy

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“…This inequality of power is also expressed in the rare(er) occasions in which women are the one who are gaining sex through giving money to men, something that was touched upon by participants in our study site and noted in other research projects (Dunkle et al 2007), adding further nuance, suggesting that in some cases economic power is more important than gendered power. These explanations that address power relations, including the influence of gendered and economic coercion, are in stark contrast to the rational choice models that underpin mainstream economic approaches (Christensen 1998). …”

Section: The Economics Of Transactional Sex Revisitedmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Firstly, whilst there is some acknowledgment of the challenges that women face, it is unclear whether the notion of agency, conceptualised as the ability for women to rationally and freely choose whether or not to engage in transactional sex, reflects the influence of unequal economic and gender relations that frame these decisions. Indeed, the use of the loaded term 'choice' in this context is certainly questionable (Johnston 2011), with the options that poor(er) women face within a constrained socio-economic environment more akin to the frying pan or the fire rather than alternative outcomes that can be regarded in any sense as optimal (Christensen 1998). This narrow formulation of agency ignores issues such as power, force and coercion.…”

Section: The Economics Of Transactional Sexmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revisiting the economics of transactional sex: evidence from Tanzania

Deane

Wamoyi

2015

Review of African Political Economy

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Transactional sex has been identified as one of the key structural drivers of the HIV epidemic. Mainstream economic analyses of this practice primarily conceptualise transactional sex in the language of rational choice, with the focus on behavioural decisions that women make over whether to engage in transactional interactions (or not). However, whilst providing some important insights in relation to the role of poverty and the importance of acknowledging that women are more than passive agents, these approaches fail to address the social and economic complexities of this practice that are reflected in the broader literature. Further, due to the technical framework used, there is a failure to deal with the broader socio-economic and historical underpinnings of this practice. Using evidence from fieldwork undertaken in Tanzania, the authors revisit the economics of transactional sex, and offer an alternative economic approach to understanding this practice. They explore the notion that transactional sex is an established local sexual norm, and how this norm is creatively applied and reapplied in a range of situations by different actors, including through participation in local value chains. Their analysis has a number of implications for future prevention efforts that differ from the current focus on microfinance as a means of empowering women.

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“…For women in poor circumstances and in migrant situations, sex becomes a commodity that they can sell. It becomes one of their only means to obtain desperately needed money (Clive Evian 1993;Kimberly Christensen 1998).…”

Section: P O V E R T Ymentioning

confidence: 99%

India's New Economic Policy of 1991 and its Impact on Women's Poverty and AIDS

Upadhyay¹

2000

Feminist Economics

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This paper examines the effects of current policies intended to liberalize the Indian economy and facilitate globalization on women close to poverty. The New Economic Policy of 1991 included standard structural adjustment measures including the devaluation of the rupee, increase in interest rates, reduction in public investment and expenditure, reduction in public sector food and fertilizer subsidies, increase in imports and foreign investment in capital-intensive and high-tech activities, and abolition of the cash compensatory support for exports. These policies have resulted in increased urbanization, and fewer job opportunities for women in the formal sector. Such conditions increase poverty for women in particular. As a result, many women flow into cities looking for work in the informal sector. This may have increased numbers of women in sex work, for lack of better economic opportunity. Sufficient data are not available to confirm whether HIV infection rates have risen as a result; however, the evidence suggests there may be a relationship between macroeconomic policies and health outcomes.Globalization, Structural Adjustment, Commercial Sex Work, Aids Women, India,

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Economics Without Money; Sex Without Gender: A Critique of Philipson and Posner's"Private Choices and Public Health: The AIDS Epidemic in an Economic Perspective"

Cited by 7 publications

References 11 publications

Multiple and Concurrent Sex Partnerships and Social Norms: Young Adults’ Sexual Relationships in the Metropolitan Communities of Cape Town, South Africa

Multiple and Concurrent Sex Partnerships and Social Norms: Young Adults’ Sexual Relationships in the Metropolitan Communities of Cape Town, South Africa

Revisiting the economics of transactional sex: evidence from Tanzania

India's New Economic Policy of 1991 and its Impact on Women's Poverty and AIDS

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