"We Do This Work Together": Stigma Negotiation and Resistance in the Lives of Male Sex Workers Who Perform Sex Work Online in the United States.

Abstract

Male sex workers performing sex work online face a pervasive amount of stigma and discrimination in their everyday lives. They often resort to coping mechanisms such as information control or selective disclosure but also resist stigma through reframing negative narratives about sex workers. Stigma management and the resistance process have significant implications for male sex workers' physical, mental, and sexual health. Using a sex-positive feminist intersectional lens and social identity theory, this study sought to examine how stigma manifests in the lives of male sex workers who perform sex work online and primarily or exclusively service male clients. It also explored the different stigma negotiation and resistance strategies of male sex workers and the impact these techniques have on their mental and sexual health. Using a qualitative model, this study interviewed 22 cisgender male sex workers and asked them questions about their experiences with stigma and their coping mechanisms. Several themes were observed, including engagement with selective disclosure, reframing of sex work as usual and enjoyable, development of community and peer relationships, and use of harm reduction strategies to safeguard themselves from HIV and other STIs. Male sex workers engaged in positive and creative strategies to impede the effects of stigma on their daily lives, and they sought to assert their dignity and value as online sex workers. This "sex work as work" perspective has implications for behavioral and therapeutic interventions as well as public policies affecting the physical and mental health of male sex workers performing online sex work.