IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/sagope/v6y2016i2p2158244016650241.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Risky Pleasures

Author

Listed:
  • Lim Soo Jin
  • Cheah Shu Xu

Abstract

This ethnographic study explores the discourses and practices of male clients of foreign female sex workers (FSWs) who carried out relationships with their regular FSW. Situated in an environment that rejects and stigmatizes sex work, this study explores the paths taken by this small group of men pursuing a relationship with a FSW. Findings from a sample of 23 Malaysian men obtained from an online forum and through snowball sampling display a demand for intimacy that for some clients transcends conventions of commercial sex, while for others display a desire for consumption of commodified intimacy within the sex trade. Participants’ narratives provide an insight as to how FSWs adapt and utilize emotional labor to their advantage. The resulting relationship is one of extreme inequality in power relations, resulting in both sides developing different strategies to compensate for their vulnerabilities.

Suggested Citation

  • Lim Soo Jin & Cheah Shu Xu, 2016. "Risky Pleasures," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(2), pages 21582440166, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:6:y:2016:i:2:p:2158244016650241
    DOI: 10.1177/2158244016650241
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244016650241
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/2158244016650241?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Charles Winick, 1962. "Prostitutes' Clients' Perception of the Prostitutes and of Themselves," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 8(4), pages 289-297, September.
    2. Gavin W. Jones, 2007. "Delayed Marriage and Very Low Fertility in Pacific Asia," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 33(3), pages 453-478, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dong, Xiaoqi & Liang, Yinhe & Zhang, Jiawei, 2023. "Fertility responses to the relaxation of migration restrictions: Evidence from the Hukou reform in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    2. S. Philip Morgan & Guo Zhigang & Sarah R. Hayford, 2009. "China's Below‐Replacement Fertility: Recent Trends and Future Prospects," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 35(3), pages 605-629, September.
    3. Premchand Dommaraju & Shawn Wong, 2023. "Transition to first marriage in Thailand: cohort and educational changes," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 1-16, March.
    4. Jeongok Park & Kyoungjin Lee & Heejung Kim, 2021. "Factors Associated with Subsequent Childbirth between Marriage Years in Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-11, November.
    5. Seongsoo Choi, 2018. "Fewer mothers with more colleges? The impacts of expansion in higher education on first marriage and first childbirth," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 39(20), pages 593-634.
    6. Albert Esteve & David S. Reher, 2021. "Rising Global Levels of Intergenerational Coresidence Among Young Adults," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 47(3), pages 691-717, September.
    7. Yen-hsin Alice Cheng, 2020. "Ultra-low fertility in East Asia: Confucianism and its discontents," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 18(1), pages 83-120.
    8. Yue Qian & Zhenchao Qian, 2014. "The gender divide in urban China: Singlehood and assortative mating by age and education," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 31(45), pages 1337-1364.
    9. Yumiao Zhang & Wenbin Zang, 2022. "Do the Marital Statuses of Adult Offspring Affect Their Parent’s Mental Health? Empirical Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-18, August.
    10. Sam Hyun Yoo, 2016. "Postponement and recuperation in cohort marriage: The experience of South Korea," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 35(35), pages 1045-1078.
    11. Héctor Pifarré i Arolas, 2017. "A cohort perspective of the effect of unemployment on fertility," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 30(4), pages 1211-1239, October.
    12. Shuang Chen, 2022. "The Positive Effect of Women’s Education on Fertility in Low-Fertility China," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(1), pages 125-161, March.
    13. Sam Hyun Yoo & Tomáš Sobotka, 2018. "Ultra-low fertility in South Korea: The role of the tempo effect," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 38(22), pages 549-576.
    14. Felicia Tian, 2013. "Transition to First Marriage in Reform-Era Urban China: The Persistent Effect of Education in a Period of Rapid Social Change," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 32(4), pages 529-552, August.
    15. Poh Lin Tan & Jeremy Lim-Soh, 2023. "Access to Ovulation Tests and Strategic Timing of Intercourse in a Low Fertility Context," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(1), pages 1-23, February.
    16. Weiguang Liu, 2018. "The Self-Ful?lling Discriminations and Mismatches for Old Workers and Poor Workers," Applied Economics and Finance, Redfame publishing, vol. 5(1), pages 58-74, January.
    17. Wan-Chi Chen, 2012. "The Changing Pattern of Educational Differentials in Divorce in the Context of Gender Egalitarianization: The Case of Taiwan," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 31(6), pages 831-853, December.
    18. Mengni Chen & Stuart Gietel-Basten & Paul S. F. Yip, 2020. "Targeting and Mistargeting of Family Policies in High-Income Pacific Asian Societies: A Review of Financial Incentives," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(3), pages 389-413, June.
    19. Karel Karsten Himawan & Matthew Bambling & Sisira Edirippulige, 2018. "What Does It Mean to Be Single in Indonesia? Religiosity, Social Stigma, and Marital Status Among Never-Married Indonesian Adults," SAGE Open, , vol. 8(3), pages 21582440188, September.
    20. Hwang, Jisoo & Park, Seonyoung & Shin, Donggyun, 2018. "Two birds with one stone: Female labor supply, fertility, and market childcare," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 171-193.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:6:y:2016:i:2:p:2158244016650241. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.