(Il)legal Subjects? Contested Identities of Canadian Indoor Sex Workers

Women’s participation in the sex trade industry has always been a subject of contention, with conflicting representations. In this paper, I present the finding of in-depth, face-to-face interviews with ten independent in-call and/or out-call sex workers in Canada. Through these interviews, I seek to understand the distinctive names and meanings attributed to the identities of sex workers. Driving on divergent analytical concepts such as legal consciousness, respectability, self-creation and the intersection between gender, race, class and sexuality I chart participants’ perceptions and interpretations of the classifications inscribed to them by legal, political, and the civil society. Moving beyond existing languages and discourses that are particularly used to define, name and characterize women’s involvement in the sex industry, in this paper I highlight the fluidity and complexities of personal, social and political identities of the ten sex workers. Key Words: Sex Work, Women, Law, Gender inequality, Resistance