Sociology of Gender Conference Andrew Carvajal

Questions about theory? What you always wanted to know about gender and feminist theory but were afraid to ask!

Applying the Theories How can we explain this using the different theoretical perspectives?

Sociobiology Charles Darwin

Sociobiology Men have a biological predisposition to gain access to a wide variety of women (promiscuity) / spend little time with their sexual partners They are never certain of their paternity Don’t need to spend much time with their offspring Men seek sex workers when courting is unsuccessful Males will be highly attracted to women who look young, as they are the most likely to be at their reproductive peak

Structural Functionalism Talcott Parsons Emile Durkheim

Structural Functionalism Sex work can play a functional role in Thailand’s economy Sex work could be the result of the break down of the stabilizing social unit of the family Or, sex workers can serve a functional role in society by keeping men satisfied with their spousal relationships?

Liberal Feminism Betty Friedan

Liberal Feminism Unequal access to jobs and proper salaries force women into alternative professions from which they can derive an income The prevalence of sex work and the sexual abuse of young children is due to the absence of a proper legal framework that would prevent it Or a proper State structure that would enforce it

Marxist Feminism

Economic inequality and unequal access to property and the public sphere lead women into the few alternative profession they can enter Since their work is undervalued/underpaid they need to resort to desperate measures Women are dependent on men to make their living The family (usually the male head) exploits the reproductive labour of women and girls in order to subsist It is difficult for sex workers to organize and overthrow the order of the sex trade

Radical Feminism Catharine Mackinnon Andrea Dworkin

Radical Feminism Prostitution as a male attempt to control women and their bodies Sexuality as constructed by males and what satisfies males’ needs and arousal Women as the object of sexuality Their bodies are used to achieve male arousal Inequality of reproduction makes men jealous of women’s reproductive abilities  need to control women Prostitution is deeply embedded in Thailand’s sexual and societal culture

Socialist Feminism Sex work is the result of economic and reproductive differences and inequalities between men and women Women’s market value is dependent on their reproductive/sexual appeal The productive and reproductive are intertwined Lack of alternative jobs make women dependent on their reproductive bodies Other similar issues raised by Marxist/Radical feminism since this theory combines both

Multicultural Feminism Audre Lorde bell hooks

Multicultural Feminism Looks at the race factor of this phenomenon and how it may too influence oppression Also class An expression of not just males wanting to dominate women, but also whites wanting to dominate other races Transnational sex work as a result of sex, race and class dominance Coloured and third world women as the ultimate sexual object They are the most subordinated individuals in the social order Their bodies can be manipulated and denigrated in any way men want Not all women suffer oppression in the same ways

Post-modern Feminism & Queer Theory Judith Butler

Postmodern feminism Sex work as a social construction based on a gender binary of the privileged vs. the unprivileged Man/woman; client/sex worker Sex work reinforces gender as do so other cultural and individual tendencies of the day-to-day living Queer theory Heterosexual sex as a ground where men assert power over women and impose their sexuality upon them Sex work as contained within the realm of compulsory heterosexuality