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The Defiant Potential of Sex Workers’ Humour

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Sex Work, Labour and Relations

Part of the book series: Palgrave Advances in Sex Work Studies ((PASWS))

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Abstract

The humour of sex workers has not received much attention in academic literature. In this chapter, I seek to understand what the humour of a trans sex worker community in Turkey can tell us about their struggle against the violent and marginalising conditions of their lives. Drawing on ethnographic research, I find that studying the transgressive humour of sex workers is crucial to understanding their politics. In particular, the humour in this context can alone work as a means of defiance. At the same time, humour mingles with the visible or organised rebellions of this group, thereby characterising and transforming their public resistance. The chapter suggests that humour and laughter are vital to the struggle of queer sex workers. As opposed to the dominant understanding of “politics” as organised and deliberate commitments, the case of trans sex workers suggests that humour can also serve a “political” end. It is, therefore, important to consider defiant humour in the study of resistance for an accurate representation of the struggles of these communities.

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Acknowledgements

I am grateful to the postgraduate conference, co-organised by the Sex Work Research Hub and the Irish Sex Work Research Network, which led me to write this chapter. Also, Prof. Teela Sanders for her generous and critical reading of the earlier draft. I am particularly indebted to my interlocutors who welcomed me in their spaces.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. European University Institute, Florence, Italy

    Ezgi Güler

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  1. Ezgi Güler
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Correspondence to Ezgi Güler .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Criminology, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK

    Teela Sanders

  2. Department of Applied Social Studies, Maynooth University, Maynooth, Kildare, Ireland

    Kathryn McGarry

  3. Department of Sociology, Maynooth University, Maynooth, Kildare, Ireland

    Paul Ryan

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Güler, E. (2022). The Defiant Potential of Sex Workers’ Humour. In: Sanders, T., McGarry, K., Ryan, P. (eds) Sex Work, Labour and Relations. Palgrave Advances in Sex Work Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04605-6_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04605-6_10

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-04604-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-04605-6

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