More Than a Sex Machine: Accomplishing Masculinity Among Chinese Male Sex Workers in the Hong Kong Sex Industry

Abstract

Situated in the masculinity and deviance literature, this article examines a “deviant” masculinity, that of the male sex worker, and presents the ways men who engage in sex work cope with the job. Based on in-depth interviews of Chinese male sex workers (n = 18) in the Hong Kong sex industry, I argue that the stigma management techniques these men employ are simultaneously gender strategies they use to accomplish masculinity. It is through this process that they negotiate a masculine identity within the hierarchy of masculinities in order to become “respectable” and “responsible” Chinese men.

The study was funded by the author's previous institute: Departmental General Research Funds, the Department of Applied Social Sciences, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The author thanks the involved NGOs, Mr. Kenneth Cheung, and Mr. Leo Yau who helped in respondent referral; Prof. Karen Joe Laidler, Dr. John Thorne, the anonymous reviewers, and the editor for their helpful reviews and comments on previous drafts.

Notes

¹A local derogatory term for male sex workers is “duck” (aap). This term for male sex worker is a counterpart for the term “chicken” (gail), used for female sex worker. Another common term is “male prostitute” (naam gei or naam coeng). Naam means male; the terms gei and coeng mean prostitute, but these terms imply the female gender. Neoi means female, but to say neoi gei or neoi coeng would be redundant. Naam gei and naam coeng thus have the connotation that prostitution, per se, is feminine. These romanized local terms are Cantonese, the most widely spoken language in Hong Kong. (http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/Canton/). “PR” means “public relations.”

²Due to its colonial history, Hong Kong follows the U.K. model of regulating prostitution, which is referred to as an “abolitionist” variant of the prohibition model by West (2000), and as “negative regulationalism” by Smart (1995). Briefly put, the U.K. system has sought to balance public disorder and private freedom. Prostitution is thus decriminalized and legal only when a person works independently (all third party activities being illegal) and indoors (public soliciting is not allowed).

³Due to the scarcity of land, buying a flat is a burden for most people in Hong Kong, but is regarded as a salient necessity for a “successful” person, especially for a man. The values of flats depreciated during the Asian economic crisis in the late 1990s, and also as a result of the SARS epidemic in 2003.

⁴The education system in Hong Kong is highly competitive. Failure, especially of men, in “do-or-die” public examinations blocks the way to better positions in the employment structure.

⁵See footnote 1.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Travis S. K. Kong

DR. TRAVIS S. K. KONG is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Hong Kong, where he teaches sexuality, queer theory, media, and cultural studies. His research interests include Chinese homosexuality and masculinity, prostitution in Hong Kong and China, and transnational Asian sexuality. His articles have appeared in books, encyclopedias, and journals such as Body & Society, Sexualities, Gender, Work and Organization, AIDS Care, and Sexuality Transmitted Infections. He is now completing a single-author book on homosexuality, male identity, and prostitution in different Chinese locales, within the constellation of global culture. The book, entitled Chinese Male Homosexualities: Memba, Tongzhi, and Golden Boy, will be published in Routledge's Contemporary China Series.