15.1: Introduction to Sex(uality) Work that Engages with the Body
After completing this module, students should have a working knowledge of:
- The varying types of sex(uality) work done
- Stigma around sexually related work that engages with body, intimacy and desire
- Advocacy for sex(uality) workers in the field
- Some examples of what it is like to do sexually related work that engages with body, intimacy and desire
Introduction
You may have heard the term “sex work” before. It is often used as an umbrella term to define work within the sex industry. The sex industry includes both criminalized and decriminalized work selling sexual services. A sex worker is someone working in that industry. Today, we have many categories of sex workers, including escort, sugar baby, stripper, cam girl/boy, porn star, professional dominatrix, etc.
The purpose of sex work is to provide an opportunity for sexual pleasure and gratification. There are other fields of work that engage directly with the body and sexuality with a therapeutic goal instead. These include sexological bodywork and surrogate partner therapy. This is not to say that sex work can’t be therapeutic, and that therapeutic modalities don’t also have the potential to give pleasure and sexual satisfaction, but the difference lies in the intention of the work.
In this chapter, we will explore some of the ways that sex workers, sexological body workers, and surrogate partners all perform work that engages directly with sexuality. We will also address the movement to decriminalize sex work in the United States, and hear stories from people doing the work.
Whether the goal of the work is to titillate and excite, to give sexual pleasure and release, to help someone learn sexual skills and experience physical and emotional intimacy, or to help someone feel good in their body and embrace their sexuality, sex workers and other sexuality-related practitioners play critical roles in the field of sexuality.
I want
To trace between your shoulder blades
To softly rub the nape of your neck and hairline
To kiss the spot below your ear
To watch you close your eyes in exhale —
I want the hot and heavy
The sweet and tender
Like the taste of sweat and the
Humming while tracing your veins
Slow motion enthusiasm
Medicinal shivers
Part time seduction and full time friend
I want to go to cheap motels with you
And wander around odd shops in small towns
Joy in the mundane, warm comfortable silence
Feverish smiles of unabashed honesty
Shall we pick up a dancing class?
Will you stand there while I take a picture?
I want us to go back home
Where you kneel in front of me
The place Where Shame Dies.
-Anonymous