Phone sex work is a border area of the sex industry, where sex is sold but through the voice only. In this chapter I explore the discursive micro-practices that constitute this specific kind of sex work. While it has been regarded as a fantasy factory - or a typology of sex work whose core feature is the possibility to play with fantasies and creativity due to the lack of visual and corporeal connection among workers and customers – I argue that rather than fantasies what makes a phone sex work interaction successful is the operators’ professional ability to discursively mobilize suitable corporeal, sexual and gender resources and make clients feel that the interaction is ‘real’ in the conversational space created through the phone.
The Ordinary Nature of Fantasy: Language, Gender and Sexuality in Phone Sex Work
Giulia Selmi
2018-01-01
Abstract
Phone sex work is a border area of the sex industry, where sex is sold but through the voice only. In this chapter I explore the discursive micro-practices that constitute this specific kind of sex work. While it has been regarded as a fantasy factory - or a typology of sex work whose core feature is the possibility to play with fantasies and creativity due to the lack of visual and corporeal connection among workers and customers – I argue that rather than fantasies what makes a phone sex work interaction successful is the operators’ professional ability to discursively mobilize suitable corporeal, sexual and gender resources and make clients feel that the interaction is ‘real’ in the conversational space created through the phone.
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