Journal Articles

From the Heart: Sex, Money, and the Making of a Gay Community in Senegal

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What are the non-monetary dimensions of selling sex? This article offers a cultural approach to
the question of sexual labors, drawing on field observations and interviews in a community of
gay men in Dakar, Senegal. Removing the notion of sexual labors from the stigmatized zone of
“survival sex,” I explore the affective, extramonetary dimensions of sexual labors. The men in
this study labor not simply to make money. Instead, I argue that against a highly gendered
cultural backdrop, one where male admiration is often written synonymously with money and
gift giving, gay men experience a validation of their self-worth and homoerotic attraction
through sexual labors. The extent to which they derive recognition from sexual labors not only
subverts the gendered heteronormative paradigm, but also is paradoxically conditioned by it.
Beyond sexual labors, however, this article also engages a broader question—how do gay men
forge a positive sense of self amidst a variety of oppressive forces? The answer is not only
through sexual labors, but also through initiation into a gay identity and community, an ethos of
generosity and solidarity, kinship ties, and an ethic of sexual discovery, each taking shape
alongside these labors.

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Detail Information

Series Title

Gender & Society

Call Number

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Publisher

Thousand Oaks, CA : Sage Publications., 2017

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

08912432

Classification

NONE

Content Type

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

Volume 31, Issue 2, April 2017; pp. 245–265

Subject(s)

Sexuality
Heteronormativity
sexuals labors

Specific Detail Info

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Statement of Responsibility

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