Undergraduate Course: The Sociology of Sex Work (SCIL10085)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will provide students with a sociological introduction to the world of sex work: in various forms and within a wide breadth of relevant of social theory, concepts, and ideologies. This course will start by exploring and reviewing core concepts and ideas within Sociology critical to grounding one's understanding of sex work. Theoretical frameworks and literature will be introduced throughout the course whilst examining a wide variety of sex work and the experiences of sex workers. This course will encourage students to develop critical thinking and analysis skills in the face of topics that are divisive, emotive, and contentious and allow students to gain extensive knowledge about the various worlds of sex work.
"Sex work" is not a homogeneous term that represents any one historically, culturally or socially consistent population or type of work.
To explore this range, the course will explore the following types of sex work within concentrated modules: Stripping, Burlesque and Peep Shows: Pornography - video and still: Digital Pornography (live chats, video) and Phone Sex Hotlines: and finally, prostitution (broken down into street sex work, brothels and massage parlors, escorts, brief coverage of sex trafficking).
This course is rated 18 and will cover R-18 media, topics, and issues. It is expected that those who sign up for this course will be adults consenting to frank, uncensored and open discussions around sex work, including some exposure to 18 and R-18 medias. It is also expected that students will respect the vulnerable, sensitive and emotional issues that surround these topics. Respect and consideration for fellow students is absolutely essential. Rules and conduct expectations for the course will be developed with students within the first class.
The course will be assessed on the basis of essays and number of short quizzes based on readings. An unmarked reflection journal will be kept throughout the course reflecting on the experiences, impressions, and ideas of the student in relation to coursework: this will be completed within class time.
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| Course description |
This course will start by exploring and reviewing core concepts and ideas within Sociology critical to grounding ones understanding of sex work- these would include gender, deviance, violence, socio-cultural inequalities, race, histories of sexuality, and human and social capital. Theoretical frameworks and literature will be introduced throughout the course whilst examining a wide variety of sex work and the experiences of sex workers. Frameworks such as Foucault's history of sexuality, Goffman's theories on stigma ad performance, Hochschild's work on emotional labor, Butler's gender theories, Connell's works on masculinities, Gidden's ideas on structuralism, Bourdieu and social and cultural capital, the works of Marx and Engels, and the writings of a wide and diverse selection of feminist thinkers such as hooks, Hill-Collins, Harding, MacKinnon, Irigara, Smith, Queen and many more.
The complexity of the world of sex work requires an interdisciplinary approach. The main focus of this course would be through a sociological lens but would also incorporate criminology, social policy, law, policing, gender and women's studies, and anthropology amongst others.
Sex work is not any one form of work; it is instead made up of a plethora of roles, 'works', and functions. The course will be organised based on forms of sex work within set modules: stripping, burlesque, and peep shows; pornography in two forms - still pornography and video pornography; digital (live chat and video) pornography, and phone sex hotlines; prostitution. The unit on prostitution will explore varieties within prostitution such as street work, brothels, massage parlours, and escorts services. The contentious debates and discourses regarding prostitution will be investigated in great detail from multiple angles and a plethora of perspectives will be offered.
Classes will usually consist of a one-hour lecture and then one hour of small group and whole class discussions and activities. Multiple medias will be used within this course to try and allow for a more comprehensive understanding of the topics. Guest speakers will be invited where appropriate to the topics being discussed to shed more light on the experiences and lived realities of sex work.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- critically assess data, perspectives and theories to form informed positions and perspectives
- form coherent and robust written and oral presentations of their interpretations and understandings.
- Link abstract sociological theories and concepts to everyday realities and experiences
- Work effectively independently as well as within groups
- Effectively and intellectually cooperate and engage in discourse on contentious topics with individuals with whom they disagree.
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Reading List
Body/Sex/Work: Intimate, embodied and sexualised labour - Critical Perspectives on Work and Employment. (2013) Eds Wolkowitz, Chone, Sanders & Hardy
On the Game: Women and Sex Work (2007) Day, S.
Sex For Sale: Prostitution, Pornography, and the Sex Industry (2009) Weitzer, R.
Whores and Other Feminists (1997) ed. Nagle
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
By the end of the course students should have strengthened their skills in:
- critically assessing data, perspectives and theories to form informed positions and perspectives
- forming coherent and robust written and oral presentations of their interpretations and understandings.
- Link abstract sociological theories and concepts to everyday realities and experiences
- Work effectively independently as well as within groups
- Integrate reflexivity into their thinking and writing processes
- Effectively and intellectually cooperate and engage in discourse on contentious topics with individuals they disagree with
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| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Angus Bancroft
Tel: (0131 6)50 6642
Email: Angus.Bancroft@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Laura Thiessen
Tel: (0131 6)50 3932
Email: laura.thiessen@ed.ac.uk |
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