Follow: exploring the role of social media in the online construction of male sex worker lives in Dublin, Ireland

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Gender, place and culture : a journal of feminist geography place and culture : a journal of feminist geography, 2016-12, Vol.23 (12), p.1713-1724
Main Author: Ryan, Paul
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Clubs
Commodities
Consumption
Dublin Ireland
gimnasio
Grindr
gym
G达（Grindr）
Homosexuality
Instagram
Internet
Lifestyle
Male sex work
Males
Mass media
Mass media effects
Prostitution
redes sociales
Sex industry
social media
Social networks
Social psychology
Trabajo sexual masculino
Trade
Workers
健身房
男性性工作
社交媒体
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0966-369X
1360-0524
DOI:10.1080/0966369X.2016.1249350