2003/12/01 by Suzanne Leclerc‐Madlala · 2 citations
Social Sciences · Psychology · #Sex work and related issues #African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues #Gender Roles and Identity Studies #Transactional sex #Agency (philosophy) #Modernity #Transactional leadership #Gender studies #Power (physics) #Globalization #Human sexuality #Sociology #Subsistence agriculture #Late modernity #Order (exchange) #Social psychology #Psychology #Political science #Business #History #Social science #Demography #Law
paper · doi:10.1080/02533950308628681
openalex publication_date 2003/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
This paper explores meanings and understandings of sexual exchange for material gain in an urban township of Durban, South Africa. The analysis argues against the tendency to assume too readily that all forms of sexual exchange are oriented towards subsistence, and not consumption. This paper also argues that sexual exchange is the means used by women in this study to pursue images and ideals largely created by the media and globalisation. It is revealed that transactional sex is perceived as ‘normal’ leading many women to accept men's multiple partners and to put themselves as risk of contracting HIV/AIDS (despite having knowledge of the pandemic). Finally, the paper highlights women's power and agency whereby women are asserting themselves in order to exploit sexual relationships in the interests of new ‘needs’ – the commodities of modernity