On the Inclusion and Exclusion of Male Buyers in Prostitution Policy Debates

• In Event: 40820 - Section on Sociology of Sex and Gender Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 10: Politics and Gender

Abstract

Intellectual inquiry and research on prostitution, sex work, and the sex trade has grown in dynamic new ways at the turn of the twenty-first century as states around the world adopt new but divergent policies. This study focuses in on the contentious opposition of those who advocate for full decriminalization of the commercial sex trade and those who advocate for partial decriminalization of sex selling, but not sex buying. Moving from a critical discourse analysis of legal and social scientific studies of both sides to a focused state-level policy analysis in the twelve US states and the District of Columbia where policy battles have played out in the US since 2017, I examine how the ways opponents include or exclude predominantly male buyers figures into the dynamics of contention. I present qualitative evidence on how differences in highlighting or dimming buyers’ visibility shape oppositional understandings of and advocacy for political power.

Author

• Selina R. Gallo-Cruz, Syracuse University