News Release

New study finds clients want real love from sex workers

Peer-Reviewed Publication

SAGE

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2012) — While it is commonly believed that men who pay for sex are attempting to avoid emotional commitment, a new study finds that men who become regular clients of sex workers often develop feelings of romance and love. This study is published in a recent edition of Men and Masculinities, a SAGE journal.

"In recent years, we have come to see a gradual normalization of independent escort prostitution, where sexual encounters have come to resemble quasi-dating relationships," stated study author Christine Milrod. "Our study shows that regular clients of a particular sex provider often come to experience feelings of deep affection, which can progress into an authentic love story."

In this new study, Milrod and co-author Ronald Weitzer analyzed 2,442 postings on an online discussion board from a sex provider review site where more than a million clients of sex workers read and post about their experiences. Approximately one-third included a discussion about emotional intimacy between sex workers and their clients, many of whom expressed a desire to grow their relationships beyond the physical level in the form of sharing private feelings and mutual love.

"These relationships follow a conventionally romantic script that normalizes the liaison and destigmatizes both provider and client," stated Milrod. "The study shows that this kind of normalization may manifest itself in a merger of finances, families and finally monogamous partnerships – the provider is no longer just a supplier of the girlfriend experience, but a real-life romantic partner."

###

The article "The Intimacy Prism: Emotion Management among the Clients of Escorts" in Men and Masculinities is available free for a limited time at: http://jmm.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/07/05/1097184X12452148.full.pdf+html

Men and Masculinities (M&M) offers high-quality, interdisciplinary research in the emerging field of men and masculinities studies. M&M presents peer-reviewed empirical and theoretical scholarship grounded in the most current theoretical perspectives within gender studies, including feminism, queer theory and multiculturalism. Using diverse methodologies, M&M's articles explore the evolving roles and perceptions of men across society. http://jmm.sagepub.com/

Impact Factor: 0.815

Ranked: 67 out of 137 in Sociology

Source: 2011 Journal Citation Reports® (Thomson Reuters, 2012)

SAGE is a leading international publisher of journals, books, and electronic media for academic, educational, and professional markets. Since 1965, SAGE has helped inform and educate a global community of scholars, practitioners, researchers, and students spanning a wide range of subject areas including business, humanities, social sciences, and science, technology, and medicine. An independent company, SAGE has principal offices in Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC. www.sagepublications.com


Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.