Ordinary or Peculiar Men? Comparing the Customers of Prostitutes With a Nationally Representative Sample of Men

Abstract

Recent media attention implies that prostitution seeking is widespread, an "ordinary" aspect of masculine sexual behavior. Other accounts suggest that customers are "peculiar," characterized by distinct qualities, perversions, or psychological impairments. Using the nationally representative General Social Survey (GSS), this study demonstrates that prostitution seeking is relatively uncommon. Only about 14% of men in the United States report having ever paid for sex, and only 1% report having done so during the previous year. Furthermore, this study dissects whether customers are ordinary or peculiar by comparing a new sample of active customers who solicit sex on the Internet with an older sample of arrested customers, a sample of customers from the GSS, and a nationally representative sample of noncustomers. The customers of Internet sexual service providers differed greatly from men in general and also from other customers. The remaining samples of customers differed slightly from noncustomers in general. We argue for a balanced perspective that recognizes the significant variety among customers. There is no evidence of a peculiar quality that differentiates customers in general from men who have not paid for sex.

Centroamericanas menores de edad prostituidas en California

“…La concepción esencialista aparece avalada por estudios como los realizados por Kinsey et al (1948) o benjamin y Masters (1964), los cuales subrayan que más de dos tercios de los varones estadounidenses demandan los servicios de prostitución. por el contrario, la concepción peculiarista aparece avalada por investigaciones como las realizadas por Michael et al (1994) o Monto y Milrod (2013), las cuales subrayan que menos de una sexta parte de los varones de Estados unidos demandan dichos servicios. Estos datos podrían interpretarse como un cambio profundo en la conducta sexual masculina en Estados unidos en las últimas décadas, que justificarían el paso de políticas reglamentaristas a abolicionistas.…”

Risky Pleasures

“…The early 20th-century view based on the natural male sexual drive and the psychopathological model proposed by Charles Winick (1962) who linked men's desire for sex workers as a sign of mental disorder has largely been abandoned by scholars in light of current empirical literature which suggest that men who purchase commercial sex are "normal" "everyday" men spread throughout all social groups with little distinguishing characteristics (Monto & Milrod, 2013;Monto & McRee, 2005;McKeganey & Barnard, 1996;Serughetti, 2013). Studies relying solely on street-level sex workers have been challenged not providing a complete picture of the experiences of sex workers (Weitzer, 2005), resulting in greater interest on the less visible sectors (indoor mid-tier and high-end) of the sex trade.…”

Entire Issue / Numéro complet

“…La plupart de ces travaux http://cgjsc-rcessc.uwaterloo.ca indiquent qu'en regard des données sociodémographiques, les clients ne sont nullement différents des non-consommateurs de services sexuels. Les travaux de Monto et de ses collaborateurs (Monto, 2000a(Monto, , 2000b(Monto, , 2004(Monto, , 2010Monto & Hotaling, 2001;Monto & McRee, 2005;Monto & Milrod, 2013) Une personne peut avoir recours aux services sexuels tarifés pour différentes raisons, lesquelles peuvent se regrouper en deux grandes catégories de motivations. Certains clients sont en quête de variété et recherchent d'abord et avant tout l'excitation sexuelle ou la satisfaction d'un fantasme; ils tendront ainsi à voir une travailleuse du sexe différente à chaque rencontre.…”