Female online sex work. Educational perspectives between power asymmetries and care

Abstract

Drawing on the theoretical framework of pedagogical problematicism, this paper reflects on preliminary findings from an ongoing qualitative study concerning youth sexuality in the onlife dimension, with a specific focus on online sex work. The investigation was conducted through semi-structured interviews with undergraduate and graduate students in the humanities. The study contends
that this phenomenon is eminently relational and, therefore, can be examined through the meanings that involved actors attribute to the connections between sex work and other social dimensions. This work specifically focuses on the work experience of an interviewee on an online sex work platform, highlighting the dynamics and effects in terms of potential asymmetries of power within the relationship with users and the constraints of a stringent logic of profit. Nevertheless, the findings suggest that the platform can emerge as a space for exploring non-standardized sexual imaginaries, as well as a site for a complex “economy of care”.