JNSS 2020, 11(3-4):77-88 | DOI: 10.32725/jnss.2020.010

Lifestyle of women working in the sex business in the context of everyday life

Stanislav Ondrášek*, Alena Kajanová
University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Institute of Social and Special-paedagogical Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

This article aims mainly to describe the lifestyle of women working in the private sex business in the context of everyday life. The study made use of qualitative research strategy and chose biographic-narrative interview for the data collection. The research set consisted of 36 women working in the private sex business, who advertised their services through web advertisements at Naprivat.cz, Agamaseznamka.cz and other portals in the South Bohemian Region and the capital, Prague. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed in the ATLAS.ti computer software. We used the method of anchored theory for data analysis. The following categories were identified based on the analysis: content of the day - waiting for the client; leaving home; social isolation; care for appearance and "normal work". The results show that sex workers feel a freedom that is, however, only subjective, as they subordinate their day primarily to the clients' orders. The sex workers' everyday activities include beautifying activities, fitness centre visits and shopping for clothing. The results also showed that the sex workers lose the perception of their flat as a home where they spend time with family or friends, and they often leave their flat and spend time away from it.

Keywords: Everyday life; Lifestyle; Sex business; Sex work; Sex worker

Received: July 14, 2020; Accepted: October 15, 2020; Published: September 1, 2020  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Ondrášek S, Kajanová A. Lifestyle of women working in the sex business in the context of everyday life. Journal of Nursing, Social Studies, Public Health and Rehabilitation. 2020;11(3-4):77-88. doi: 10.32725/jnss.2020.010.
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Bassermann L (1993). Nejstarší řemeslo [The oldest profession]. Praha: Mladá fronta, 336 p. (Czech).
    2. Chang HH, Weng Y (2012). What is more important for prostitute price? Physical appearance or risky sex behaviour? Econ Lett 117(2): 480-483. DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2012.06.041. Go to original source...
    3. Crosbie T, Moore J (2004). Work-life Balance and Working from Home. Soc Policy Soc 3(3): 223-233. DOI: 10.1017/S1474746404001733. Go to original source...
    4. Cunningham AS, Kendall TD (2011). Prostitution 2.0: The Changing Face of Sex Work. J Urban Econ 69(3): 273-287. Go to original source...
    5. Cusick L (1998). Female Prostitution in Glasgow: Drug Use and Occupational Sector. Addict Res 6(2): 115-130. Go to original source...
    6. Czech Statistical Office (2005). Nelegální ekonomika v ČR (09.06.2005) [Illegal economy in the Czech Republic (09.06.2005)]. [online] [cit. 2020-07-03]. Available at: https://www.czso.cz/csu/czso/nelegalni_ekonomika_v_cr_09_06_2005 (Czech).
    7. Dalla RL (2001). Et Tú Brutè? A qualitative analysis of streetwalking prostitutes' interpersonal support networks. J Fam Issues 22(8): 1066-1085. DOI: 10.1177/019251301022008006. Go to original source...
    8. de Meis C (2002). House and Street: Narratives of Identity in a Liminal Space among Prostitutes in Brazil. Ethos 30(1-2): 3-24. Go to original source...
    9. Di Nicola A, Cauduro A, Lombardi M, Ruspini P (Eds) (2009). Prostitution and Human Trafficking Focus on Clients. New York, NY: Springer, 235 p. Go to original source...
    10. Ditmore MH (Ed.) (2006). Encyclopedia of prostitution and sex work. 1st edition. Boston, MA: Greenwood Publishing Group, 376 p. Go to original source...
    11. Frýbert J (2013). Ulice: Ženy věnující se pouliční prostituci a možnost legálního zaměstnání [The street: Women engaged in street prostitution and the possibility of legal employment]. In: Šídová L, Poláková J, Malinová H, et al. (Eds). Ze sexbyznysu na trh práce? Přenos znalostí v oblasti legálního uchopení prostituce a jeho dopad na trh práce [From the sex business to the labor market? Knowledge transfer in the area of legal handling of prostitution and its impact on the labor market]. Praha: Sportpropag - Rozkoš bez rizika, pp. 103-105 (Czech).
    12. Giddens A (2006). Sociology. 5th ed. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1094 p.
    13. Goffman E (1959). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Doubleday, 256 p.
    14. Green ST, Goldberg DJ, Christie PR, Frischer M, Thomson A, Carr SV, Taylor A (1993). Female street worker - prostitutes in Glasgow: A descriptive study of their lifestyle. AIDS Care 5(3): 321-335. DOI: 10.1080/09540129308258615. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    15. Havighurst RJ, Feigenbaum K (1959). Leisure and Life-Style. Am J Sociol 64(4): 396-404. DOI: 10.1086/222500. Go to original source...
    16. Jeal N, Salisbury CH (2007). Health needs and service use of parlour-based prostitutes compared with street-based prostitutes: a cross-sectional survey. BJOG 114(7): 875-881. DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2007.01379.x. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    17. La Strada Czech Republic (copy; 2015). [online] [cit. 2020-07-03] Available at: https://www.strada.cz/ (Czech).
    18. Law M (2002). Participation in the Occupations of Everyday Life. Am J Occup Ther 56(6): 640-649. DOI: 10.5014/ajot.56.6.640. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    19. Long B (2012). Freedom for Women in the Sex Work Occupation: Twenty-Three Reasons Why Prostitution Should Be Legalized In America. Int J Human Soc Sci 2(16): 24-33.
    20. May T, Harocopos A, Hough M (2000). For love or money: pimps and the management of sex work (Home Office Police Research Series Paper No. 134). London: Home Office, 134 p.
    21. Mayring P (2002). Einführung in die qualitative Sozialforschung: eine Anleitung zu qualitativem Denken [Introduction to Qualitative Social Research: A Guide to Qualitative Thinking]. Weinheim: Beltz, 170 p. (German).
    22. Murphy LS (2010). Understanding the Social and Economic Contexts Surrounding Women Engaged In Street-Level Prostitution. Issues Ment Health Nurs 31(12): 775-784. DOI: 10.3109/01612840.2010.524345. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    23. Peršak N, Vermeulen G (2014). Reframing Prostitution: From Discourse to Description, from Moralisation to Normalisation. Antwerp: Maklu, 300 p.
    24. Pleasure without Risk (2015). Legislativa a sexbyznys v ČR [Legislation and sex business in the Czech Republic]. [online] [cit. 2020-07-03]. Available at: https://www.poradna-rr.cz/o-sexbyznysu/legislativa-a-sexbyznys-v-cr/ (Czech).
    25. Poláková J (2016). Sexuální práce v praxi a v zákonech: Analýza situace v ČR [Sex work in practice and in laws: Analysis of the situation in the Czech Republic]. In: Kutálková P, Malinová H, Poláková J, Šídová L, Losinecký J (Eds). Tak tohle ne! Analýza násilí v sexbyznysu a jeho řešení [Not this! Analysis of violence in the sex business and its solution]. Brno: Rozkoš bez rizika, pp. 21-53 (Czech).
    26. Rigg R (2010). The Not-So-Risky Business of High-End Escorts and the Internet in the 21st Century. Richmond Journal of Law and Technology 17(1): 1-28.
    27. Rössler W, Koch U, Lauber C, Hass A-K, Altwegg M, Ajdanic-Gross V, Landholt K (2010). The mental health of female sex workers. Acta Psychiatr Scand 122(2): 143-152. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2009.01533.x. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    28. Sanders T (2005). Sex Work. A Risky Business. Portland, OR: Willan Publishing, 224 p.
    29. Schuit JA, van Loon AJM, Tijhuis M, Ocké M (2002). Clustering of Lifestyle Risk Factors in a General Adult Population. Prev Med 35(3): 219-224. DOI: 10.1006/pmed.2002.1064. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    30. Schutze F (1999). Narativní interview ve studiích interakčního pole [Narrative interview in interaction field studies]. Biograf 20: 33-51.
    31. Tani S (2001). "That kind of girl in this kind of neighbourhood …" The potential and problems of street prostitution research. City 5(3): 311-324. DOI: 10.1080/13604810120105152. Go to original source...
    32. Tatzel M (2002). "Money worlds" and well-being: An integration of money dispositions, materialism and price-related behavior. J Econ Psychol 23(1): 103-126. DOI: 10.1016/S0167-4870(01)00069-1. Go to original source...
    33. Tomiyama JA, Mann T, Comer L (2009). Triggers of eating in everyday life. Appetite 52(1): 72-82. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2008.08.002. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    34. Walsh R (2011). Lifestyle and mental health. Am Psychol 66(7): 579-592. DOI: 10.1037/a0021769. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    35. Wood W, Quinn JM, Kashy DA (2002). Habits in everyday life: Thought, emotion, and action. J Pers Soc Psychol 83(6): 1281-1297. Go to original source...

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content