Peculiar and Ordinary Men: Comparing Men Who Buy Sex to Men Who Do Not

• In Event: Sociology of Sex and Gender Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 6. Care, Intimate Labor, and Social Reproduction

Abstract

The Sex Wars of the 1980s have re-emerged in contemporary debates about the legalization of
prostitution. Abolitionists view the sex trade as inherently patriarchal and argue that
decriminalization would legitimize the gender inequality it perpetuates. However, sex work advocates frame buying and selling sex as a banal transaction. They have also observed that criminalization does not eradicate the market and may put sex workers at greater risk of violence. The matter of harm or lack thereof is, in part, a question of clientele: are these men hostile towards women or simply customers making a purchase? I deploy an innovative methodological approach that compares large amounts of text data between client and non-client populations. Using frameworks that emphasize nuance in sexism, I conduct an automated content analysis to investigate the similarities and differences in gender-related discourse among users in an online forum for clients and those in one for general men’s advice. My findings provide insight into how men are making sense of and responding to shifting gender relations. I conclude that the client message board reveals greater hostility towards women by perpetuating hetero-normative beliefs regarding sex. Though less sexual in nature, users on the general men’s advice board also espouse an aggrieved masculinity. In addition to its methodological innovation, this paper contributes significant insights relevant to policy and legal reform.

Author

• Alexis Reaves, Princeton University