Mis/representation & Silence: Gendered Sex Work Discourse in the London Free Press

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15173/nexus.v23i2.937

Keywords:

Canadian media, discourse analysis, sex work, heteronormativity, gendered representation, London Ontario

Abstract

In December 2014, despite the Supreme Court of Canada finding Canada's prostitution laws unconstitutional, the Conservative government passed a bill criminalizing the buying of sex and the advertisement of sex for sale. Sex work has a long history as a hot-button topic, and it continues to remain newsworthy throughout the country. This public discussion in some contexts has privileged certain lobbyists and so-called advocates, disregarding or distorting the voices of sex workers themselves. This territory is starkly heteronormative, reinforcing gendered stereotypes and naturalizing certain types of heterosexual behaviour while ignoring a spectrum of other realities. By analysizing depictions of sex work published for 2013 in the London Free Press, a politically centre-right newspaper printed in a midsized Canadian city, this paper provides analysis of articles about sex work in the local-regional context of London, Ontario (Canada). Exposing a Foucauldian rarefaction of discourse, the analysis works to unveil ideological underpinnings, fleshing out a distorted gendered discourse. 

Author Biography

Nathan Dawthorne, Western University

I received my BA from Western University in 2013 (with Honors Specialization in Anthropology). After a summer of productive narrative interviews with male sex workers in London, Ontario, Canada, I fast-tracked out of the MA program and am currently pursuing my PhD (in Sociocultural Anthropology) at my alma mater. Under the guidance of the distinguished Dr. Regna Darnell, I am continuing my research attempting to detail a contextualized account of male sex work locally as well as gain insight into the cultural discourses they draw upon as they reflect on and construct stories from situated life experiences.

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2015-10-02

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