On The Construction Of Gender, Sex, And Sexualities

Abstract

Sexy Babes!Live 1-on-1!"Perhaps you've seen the ads in newspapers and magazines, with their promise of "Hot Live Talk!" followed by a toll phone 900-number, "$2.99 per minute," and easily dismissed restrictions, such as "18+" or "Adults Only."What ideas do these ads bring forward about sex, gender, and sexualities?One way to account for phone sex services is that they exist because men have powerful sex drives that must be satisfied even when a partner is not readily available.The 900-numbers provide an outlet for men's innate needs.Another explanation might center on the idea that there are two kinds of women: good women who would never dream of earning money from "hot talk" with strangers, and bad women-sluts or whores-who do.Still another explanation might emphasize that sexual services for hire constitute exploitation of women.Perhaps the women who deliver such services are mentally disturbed, destitute, or drug abusers, and they take these degrading jobs out of desperation.Yet another account is that sex work is a job like any other job, and what people choose to do sexually is no one's business but their own so long as no one is harmed.Women are free agents, and those who do phone sex must like it or they would not do it.Perhaps readers can think of still other ways of understanding why 192

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