"Mongering Is a Weird Life Sometimes": Discourse Analysis of a Sex Buyer Online Community. (July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Alves, Catarina D. B.; Cavalhieri, Klaus E.
• Is Part Of: Violence against women. Volume 27:Number 9(2021)
• Page Start: 1448
• Page End: 1474
• Publication Date: 2021-07
• Subjects: sex buyer -- johns -- feminist critical discourse analysis -- women escorts -- commercial sexual exploitation; Abused women -- Periodicals; Women -- Crimes against -- Periodicals; Violent crimes -- Periodicals; Femmes victimes de violence -- Périodiques; Femmes, Crimes contre les -- Périodiques; Crimes violents -- Périodiques; 362.8292
• DOI: 10.1177/1077801220930820
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1077-8012

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the narrative of sex buyers in an unmoderated online forum. Using a feminist critical discourse analysis (FCDA) and intersectionality approach, we investigated overt and subtle ways power inequalities were present in the discourse of men who bought sex in Chicago. Four main themes emerged: (a) toxic masculinity; (b) violence against women; (c) intersectionality of sexuality, race, and age; and (d) the need to maintain the community. Our findings imply that johns' self-described monger identity is closely associated with maintaining, perpetrating, and minimizing violence against women.