Fish for money, not for sex: opportunistic sex work

My question about this warning against the temptations of sex was: Are the women portrayed considered sex workers, in the context of the poster? The reply was: I think they are keeping their options open. In other words, the fisherman is being warned not to waste his money on women – paying to wine, dine and possibly have sex with them. Selling sex is often opportunistic, a snap decision unrelated to any professional identity as sex worker or prostitute (whether celebrated or deplored). As a story from Angola had it the other day, people may prey on others’ desires to have fun if there is money to be made from it. But the ‘preying’ may also be what those with money want – that those who know how to provide fun come and present themselves! Traditional language of the market (workers, clients, soliciting) masks the realm of ambiguity and opportunism inherent in many sex exchanges. Note too a recent post about the meanings of prostitution in Egypt.

The poster was produced by Young Men as Equal Partners (YMEP), with support from SIDA (Swedish development agency), Family Health Options Kenya and RFSU (Swedish sex education).

2 thoughts on “Fish for money, not for sex: opportunistic sex work

  1. peripheries

    It is called Jaboya, and no she is not a sex worker, but she pay using sex. Sex to buy the fish, sex to get on the first bus that goes to town and probably sex to get spot on the market.

    It is transactional sex based on the same idea as the western exchange system. You do my roof I do your garden…

    See my post on the subject

    Reply
  2. Pingback: Twitter Trackbacks for Kenya | Sex work | Opportunism | Fishing | Border Thinking on Migration, Trafficking and Commercial Sex [nodo50.org] on Topsy.com

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