(Homosexual) Male Sex Work: Sociological Representations, Social Realities and New Normalizations

Homosexual male sex work is undoubtedly a complex phenomenon, underestimated and overlooked not just in scientific research,2 but also in social policy. The social realities of sex work, as well as the sex workers themselves, are often pigeonholed and confused with various other phenomena (including child abuse; paedophilia; human trafficking and exploitation; drug use and addiction, etc.), which, though they may sometimes be involved, have swayed the focus of research. The present chapter will discuss main sociological perspectives on male sex work.