Research Series: "I guess it’s just a matter of what kind of sex worker archetype you fit into?”: Developing the Independent Persona as a Salient Work Identity" (Online)

This study used semi-structured interviews with legal sex workers in the state of Nevada to investigate how workers managed their stigmatized work identities and statuses as independent contractors. The findings suggest that sex workers create independent personas based on their unique skills, interests, and personality, which hold greater salience and situational relevance than other work identities because of their deep connections to one's social interests. These communicative practices were also strategies for managing stigma as sex workers focused on nonstigmatized personal attributes to craft their occupational and persona identities. Sydney will discuss the implications and contributions of these findings, including that developing personas may help sex workers to more easily manage stigma.

Research Presentation from Sydney Graham, Doctoral Candidate and Graduate Instructor.
https://communication.missouri.edu/people/graham

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