ABSTRACT
This chapter develops our theme of variety in the understanding and experiencing of prostitution by analysing the ways in which prostitutes negotiate and construct their sense of themselves. As such, it moves one stage beyond our analysis of the discursive positioning of sex work in chapter 7, focusing primarily on the micro-practices of identity which are discernible in prostitution in our core context (the UK, the USA and Australia). This allows us to suggest that individual workers’ tactics for managing the contradictions of working as a prostitute and preserving self-esteem are both similar and different and, moreover, that not all prostitutes necessarily want to maintain a strict divide between work sex and non-work sex at all times. Moreover, even for those who do, the trials of maintaining the divide are considerable, as is the permeability of the boundaries. In chapter 9, we return to the consideration of the discursive context of these micropractices, and suggest that where prostitutes locate themselves among or in resistance to particular discourses has an inevitable impact on their identity work and professional life.
