Ryan, Paul
(2016)
#Follow: exploring the role of social media in the
online construction of male sex worker lives in
Dublin, Ireland.
Gender, Place and Culture, 23 (12).
pp. 1713-1724.
ISSN 0966-369X
Abstract
This article draws from qualitative interviews with 18 South American male
sex workers in Dublin, exploring how their use of the gym and new social
media has created alternative spaces for the conduct of commercial sex.
The interviews reveal how sex workers alternatively use escort specific sites
in conjunction with mainstream dating apps like Grindr, offering greater
flexibility and control over how they are self-defined within the sex industry.
These male sex workers become known for their presence in gyms and
clubs within the small gay community offering potential clients a real-time
embodied interaction. Social media, like Instagram, offered the men in this
study a further platform to share part of a choreographed online world with
thousands of followers presenting new economic opportunities. The men
trade access to their bodies and to their taste in designer commodities and
lifestyle to interact with followers who can financially contribute to dictate
the format of the photos available for private or public consumption.
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Keywords: |
Male sex work; Instagram;
gym; social media; Grindr; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology |
| Item ID: |
11969 |
| Identification Number: |
https://doi.org/10.1080/0966369X.2016.1249350 |
| Depositing User: |
Paul Ryan
|
| Date Deposited: |
03 Dec 2019 11:33 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
Gender, Place and Culture |
| Publisher: |
Taylor & Francis (Routledge) |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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