Books by Ronald Weitzer
Sex Tourism in Thailand, 2023
BOOK AWARD: Honorable Mention -- DIVISION OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINOLOGY, AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CRIM... more BOOK AWARD: Honorable Mention -- DIVISION OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINOLOGY, AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CRIMINOLOGY, 2024
Thailand is known internationally as a popular sex tourism destination. Yet, despite its size and reputation, remarkably little research has focused on the country’s sex industry over the past two decades. Based on original ethnographic data and other sources, Sex Tourism in Thailand is an expansive yet nuanced study of diverse sex markets and their moral economies.
Ronald Weitzer shows that although some of the central pillars of Thailand’s sex industry remain unaltered over the past four decades, in other respects there has been a profound transformation. In the sector oriented toward foreign visitors, the number of sex businesses and independent operators has grown numerically and geographically; customers are increasingly diverse in race and nationality; paid sexual encounters are no longer confined to young Thai women and older white men; transgender women comprise a significant share of the workforce; and technological advances give participants more autonomy than ever before. Sex Tourism in Thailand explores these developments in conjunction with related structural and experiential dimensions in an illuminating account of sexual commerce in Southeast Asia.
The chapter begins with a description of key features of four branches of the sex industry: porno... more The chapter begins with a description of key features of four branches of the sex industry: pornography, prostitution, commercial stripping, and commercial webcamming. The second half of the chapter presents four paradigms, each of which purports to identify the essential features of sex work. The author argues that one of these models, the polymorphous paradigm, best captures the reality of sex work structurally and experientially.
This chapter compares alternative policy models: criminalization, decriminalization, and legaliza... more This chapter compares alternative policy models: criminalization, decriminalization, and legalization. Rather than simply declaring one model superior to the others in the abstract, as many analysts do, it is imperative that scholars and policy makers identify what works best in practice in advancing the interests and needs of all stakeholders and participants involved in sex for sale. In assessing the available evidence, I will argue that only one of these models is consistent with a set of best practices regarding health, safety, and rights.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Sex work : Paradigms and policies / Ronald Weitzer
Motivations for pursuing... more TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Sex work : Paradigms and policies / Ronald Weitzer
Motivations for pursuing a career in pornography / Sharon Abbott
Gay male pornography since Stonewall / Joe Thomas
Women-made pornography / Jill Bakehorn
Gender and space in strip clubs / Katherine Frank & Michelle Carnes
Commercial telephone sex : Fantasy and reality / Kathleen Guidroz & Grant J. Rich
The ecology of street prostitution / Judith Porter & Louis Bonilla
Call girls and street prostitutes : Selling sex and intimacy / Janet Lever & Deanne Dolnick
Male and female escorts : A comparative analysis / Juline Koken, David Bimbi, & Jeffrey Parsons
Prostitutes' customers : Motives and misconceptions / Martin Monto
Nevada's legal brothels / Kathryn Hausbeck & Barbara G. Brents
Remaking the sex industry : The adult expo as a microcosm / Lynn Comella
Sex tourism and sex workers' aspirations / Denise Brennan
Sex trafficking : Facts and fictions / Ronald Weitzer & Melissa Ditmore
This book examines police-community relations in an ethnically divided society, focusing on the a... more This book examines police-community relations in an ethnically divided society, focusing on the attitudes and experiences of the Catholic minority and the Protestant majority, and the lower-class and middle-class sections of those populations. These sectors attach great importance to, but are often polarized over, key issues: use of deadly force, counterinsurgency policing, accountability, the handling of complaints against the police, and the very legitimacy of the police force (the Royal Ulster Constabulary). The study specifies the conditions under which an ethnic group's relations with the police are likely to improve or deteriorate. Comparisons to other societies make this more than a case study of Northern
Articles by Ronald Weitzer
THEORY AND SOCIETY, 2024
Apart from polarized feminist theorizing, which is abundant in the literature, much of the schola... more Apart from polarized feminist theorizing, which is abundant in the literature, much of the scholarship on sex work is atheoretical and based on single-case studies. This paper argues that theorization can be advanced by systematic comparison of multiple settings and types of prostitution at the structural, interactional, and experiential levels. I show that certain structural and interactional characteristics, specific to each sector, can be linked to corresponding patterns in participants' routine or modal experiences and meanings. Drawing on the empirical literature, I show that some of the most important meanings revolve around the degree to which a sector is conducive to rebranding and decommodification by participants, bordering on normalization. In the sociology of deviance, this is known as norm "neutralization" and "deviance disavowal." It is argued that the social organization of one of the sectors is most favorable to destigmatization by the actors involved.
Contemporary Sociology, 2024
A review essay on two books on different types of recreational sex.
Contexts, 2023
A photo-essay in the In Pictures section of Contexts, Fall 2023
Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 2021
This article explores bar prostitution as a distinct sexual arena. Drawing on fieldwork in six re... more This article explores bar prostitution as a distinct sexual arena. Drawing on fieldwork in six red-light districts in Thailand, the article identifies key structural and interactional features of the bars located in these areas. The analysis draws on an "interaction rituals" framework to elucidate scripted encounters between workers and customers, successive ritual chains, and the way departures or "broken chains" help to confirm the existence and vitality of normative chains. I argue, further, that the bars are organized around a distinctive moral economy-a courting-and-dating model-that allows sex workers and their clients to simultaneously downplay their involvement in prostitution and form affective ties with one another. Due to this framing, bar prostitution can be distinguished from most other types of prostitution, where opportunities for destigmatization are either minimal or nonexistent.
Contemporary Organized Crime, edited by Hans Nelen & Dina Siegel, 2021
ANNUAL REVIEW OF SOCIOLOGY, 2009
This review examines key dimensions of contemporary sex work, particularly prostitution. Most res... more This review examines key dimensions of contemporary sex work, particularly prostitution. Most research focuses exclusively on street prostitution and female workers, with much less attention devoted to indoor prostitution, male and transgender workers, customers, and managers. Furthermore, most of the literature examines prostitution where it is illegal, neglecting contexts where it is legal and regulated by the government. The review demonstrates how research on these topics can enrich our understanding of contemporary sex work.
Politics & Society, 2007
The issue of sex trafficking has become increasingly politicized in recent years due to the effor... more The issue of sex trafficking has become increasingly politicized in recent years due to the efforts of an influential moral crusade. This article examines the social construction of sex trafficking (and prostitution more generally) in the discourse of leading activists and organizations within the crusade,and concludes that the central claims are problematic,unsubstantiated,or demonstrably false. The analysis documents the increasing endorsement and institutionalization of crusade ideology in U.S. government policy and practice
ANNUAL REVIEW OF SOCIOLOGY , 2015
The article begins with a discussion of definitional issues regarding human trafficking and moder... more The article begins with a discussion of definitional issues regarding human trafficking and modern slavery and then briefly critiques some popular claims regarding each problem. Examples of macro-level research are critically evaluated,followed by a review of micro-level studies that illustrate tremendous variation and complexity in structural arrangements and individuals’ lived experiences. These studies suggest that in this field micro-level research has at least three advantages over grand, macro-level meta-analyses—advantages that are quantitative (i.e., estimating the magnitude of the problem within a measurable universe), qualitative (i.e., documenting complexities in lived experiences), and well suited to formulating contextually appropriate policy and enforcement responses.
Sexuality Research and Public Policy, 2020
Sex work was not a prominent public issue in the USA a generation ago. Law and law enforcement we... more Sex work was not a prominent public issue in the USA a generation ago. Law and law enforcement were fairly settled. Over the past two decades, however, a robust campaign has sought to intensify the stigmatization and criminalization of the participants involved in all types of sex work, which are now conflated with human trafficking. These efforts have been remarkably successful in reshaping government policy and legal norms and in enhancing penalties for existing offenses. The article analyzes these developments within the framework of a modernized version of moral crusade theory that includes both instrumental and expressive arguments against sex work.
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Books by Ronald Weitzer
Thailand is known internationally as a popular sex tourism destination. Yet, despite its size and reputation, remarkably little research has focused on the country’s sex industry over the past two decades. Based on original ethnographic data and other sources, Sex Tourism in Thailand is an expansive yet nuanced study of diverse sex markets and their moral economies.
Ronald Weitzer shows that although some of the central pillars of Thailand’s sex industry remain unaltered over the past four decades, in other respects there has been a profound transformation. In the sector oriented toward foreign visitors, the number of sex businesses and independent operators has grown numerically and geographically; customers are increasingly diverse in race and nationality; paid sexual encounters are no longer confined to young Thai women and older white men; transgender women comprise a significant share of the workforce; and technological advances give participants more autonomy than ever before. Sex Tourism in Thailand explores these developments in conjunction with related structural and experiential dimensions in an illuminating account of sexual commerce in Southeast Asia.
Sex work : Paradigms and policies / Ronald Weitzer
Motivations for pursuing a career in pornography / Sharon Abbott
Gay male pornography since Stonewall / Joe Thomas
Women-made pornography / Jill Bakehorn
Gender and space in strip clubs / Katherine Frank & Michelle Carnes
Commercial telephone sex : Fantasy and reality / Kathleen Guidroz & Grant J. Rich
The ecology of street prostitution / Judith Porter & Louis Bonilla
Call girls and street prostitutes : Selling sex and intimacy / Janet Lever & Deanne Dolnick
Male and female escorts : A comparative analysis / Juline Koken, David Bimbi, & Jeffrey Parsons
Prostitutes' customers : Motives and misconceptions / Martin Monto
Nevada's legal brothels / Kathryn Hausbeck & Barbara G. Brents
Remaking the sex industry : The adult expo as a microcosm / Lynn Comella
Sex tourism and sex workers' aspirations / Denise Brennan
Sex trafficking : Facts and fictions / Ronald Weitzer & Melissa Ditmore
Articles by Ronald Weitzer
Thailand is known internationally as a popular sex tourism destination. Yet, despite its size and reputation, remarkably little research has focused on the country’s sex industry over the past two decades. Based on original ethnographic data and other sources, Sex Tourism in Thailand is an expansive yet nuanced study of diverse sex markets and their moral economies.
Ronald Weitzer shows that although some of the central pillars of Thailand’s sex industry remain unaltered over the past four decades, in other respects there has been a profound transformation. In the sector oriented toward foreign visitors, the number of sex businesses and independent operators has grown numerically and geographically; customers are increasingly diverse in race and nationality; paid sexual encounters are no longer confined to young Thai women and older white men; transgender women comprise a significant share of the workforce; and technological advances give participants more autonomy than ever before. Sex Tourism in Thailand explores these developments in conjunction with related structural and experiential dimensions in an illuminating account of sexual commerce in Southeast Asia.
Sex work : Paradigms and policies / Ronald Weitzer
Motivations for pursuing a career in pornography / Sharon Abbott
Gay male pornography since Stonewall / Joe Thomas
Women-made pornography / Jill Bakehorn
Gender and space in strip clubs / Katherine Frank & Michelle Carnes
Commercial telephone sex : Fantasy and reality / Kathleen Guidroz & Grant J. Rich
The ecology of street prostitution / Judith Porter & Louis Bonilla
Call girls and street prostitutes : Selling sex and intimacy / Janet Lever & Deanne Dolnick
Male and female escorts : A comparative analysis / Juline Koken, David Bimbi, & Jeffrey Parsons
Prostitutes' customers : Motives and misconceptions / Martin Monto
Nevada's legal brothels / Kathryn Hausbeck & Barbara G. Brents
Remaking the sex industry : The adult expo as a microcosm / Lynn Comella
Sex tourism and sex workers' aspirations / Denise Brennan
Sex trafficking : Facts and fictions / Ronald Weitzer & Melissa Ditmore
presents a foundational perspective on core relationships between the
police and racial groups in the United States. The theses—group position
and minority threat—are described and expanded upon, applied to
long-standing group relations with the police, and further illustrated with
material on the racial politics surrounding recent incidents of police misconduct. Findings from surveys and other research methods are presented in support of the theoretical framework.
Sex work : Paradigms and policies / Ronald Weitzer
Motivations for pursuing a career in pornography / Sharon Abbott
Gay male pornography since Stonewall / Joe Thomas
Women-made pornography / Jill Bakehorn
Gender and space in strip clubs / Katherine Frank & Michelle Carnes
Commercial telephone sex : Fantasy and reality / Kathleen Guidroz & Grant J. Rich
The ecology of street prostitution / Judith Porter & Louis Bonilla
Call girls and street prostitutes : Selling sex and intimacy / Janet Lever & Deanne Dolnick
Male and female escorts : A comparative analysis / Juline Koken, David Bimbi, & Jeffrey Parsons
Prostitutes' customers : Motives and misconceptions / Martin Monto
Nevada's legal brothels / Kathryn Hausbeck & Barbara G. Brents
Remaking the sex industry : The adult expo as a microcosm / Lynn Comella
Sex tourism and sex workers' aspirations / Denise Brennan
Sex trafficking : Facts and fictions / Ronald Weitzer & Melissa Ditmore