Stigma and Sentiment: The Perception of Terms Related to Sex Industry Participants

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2022-03

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Abstract

The goal of this study is to explore perceptions by the general public of different terms used to refer to people in the sex industry. Many of these words carry heavy connotations and insinuate certain things about a sex worker's character. Although some have embraced sex workers and ardently defended their humanity and right to work, the world has not made suitable progress in accommodating sex industry participants by describing them with dignity and sensitivity. An anonymous survey was administered using Qualtrics. The survey focused on four terms: sex worker, escort, prostitute, and hooker. Participants were first asked demographic questions about their race and ethnicity, sexuality, gender identity, and political affiliation. Next, participants were asked questions about their familiarity and experiences with each term. Participants were prompted to describe the judgments and feelings associated with the four items, as well as provide input on what they believe the political alignment of the speaker to be. The survey received 17 responses. When asked whether they perceived a term as negative, neutral, or positive, participants agreed unanimously that hooker and prostitute were negative terms. Participants associated words like "dirty" and "trashy" with hooker and "judgmental" and "impersonal" with prostitute. In contrast, escort was ranked as neutral and sex worker was ranked as neutral to positive. Generally, participants associated the more negative terms - hooker and prostitute - with right-wing identifying speakers and the more neutral terms - escort and sex worker - with left-wing identifying speakers. All 17 participants stated that they would use the term sex worker when referring to a sex industry participant. As our society moves towards a place of empathy in describing others, sex industry participants cannot be left behind. The words that are used to describe sex workers carry baggage that can contribute to the harm and endangerment of a group of already marginalized people, many of whom are further disenfranchised due to the impacts of systemic oppression. Developing a safer and more equitable world for sex workers begins with using speech that reflects respect and consideration.

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Human Experience: 2nd Place (The Ohio State University Denman Undergraduate Research Forum)

Keywords

sociolinguistics, sex work, stigma, linguistic representation

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