Constructing the ‘respectable' client and the ‘good' researcher: the complex dynamics of cross-gender interviews with men who pay for sex

Abstract

Although illegal and highly stigmatised in South Africa, the buying and selling of sex on street corners, in brothels, in private domains or online is widespread. This reflexive methodological paper is the result of narrative interviews I conducted with 14 men who pay female sex workers for sex. It focuses on the complex cross-gender interview relationship that emerged when I, a feminist female researcher, interviewed men about their experiences of paying for sex. I reflect on the ways in which the interview became not only a context in which men could negotiate their masculinity in relation to their client identities in favourable ways, but also a context in which both the participants and I reproduced and performed dominant discourses of masculinity and femininity through our interactions with one another. The methodological implications of doing cross-gender research with men around issues of gender and sexuality are discussed.

Keywords:

• reflexivity
• cross-gender research
• masculinity
• feminist research
• sex work

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Professor Jeff Hearn and Professor Rob Pattman for their contribution to early versions of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Monique Huysamen is a doctoral student at the University of Cape Town's Psychology Department. Her research has explored various facets of the sex work industry in South Africa. Her work focuses on social constructions of gender and sexuality, specifically looking at the ways in which men construct and negotiate their masculinities and sexuality. Her work centres strongly on the methodological aspects of critical qualitative research. She has published in the international journal Culture, Health and Sexuality.

Notes

1. A racial term created during Apartheid that grouped particular South African citizens according to their skin ‘colour’, which was darker than ‘white’ but lighter than ‘black’ skin. Despite the abolition of Apartheid, this term is still used to identify and name people as Coloured in South Africa.

2. In an attempt to come across as ‘neutral’ during interviews I tended to use a ‘sex-as-work’ discourse instead of the term ‘prostitution’ which is often associated with exploitation. However, there is no neutral language with which to discuss the issue (Niemi, 2010). For further reading on this debate see Phoenix (2000).

3. I would like to thank an anonymous reviewer for suggesting this point.

4. I would like to thank Professor Rob Pattman for helping me formulate this point.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Harry Crossley Foundation and the National Research Foundation.