Paper short abstract:

This paper uses data from the First Pan India Survey of Sex Workers to reflect upon what sex workers perceive of themselves and their bodies. It probes into their understanding of attractiveness through material display (appearance), and display of intent/availability (body language) as they solicit for clients.

Paper long abstract:

The 'sex worker' is a stereotype in popular imagery; provocatively dressed, with oodles of make-up and an accompanying flashiness that sets her apart as the antithesis of the 'good' woman. In this paper, we invert the gaze to explore what sex workers think of themselves. What do sex workers perceive of their own bodies and appearance, as they display themselves for the public gaze and sieve for clients in the process? To what extent does the popular imagery influence her own attempts to recreate herself in the market?

In contemporary settings of sex work, whether in brothels or on streets, hierarchies among the women are purely income-based, rather than skill or culture based (as was the case with the tawaif or the devadasi). Instead of being a participant in the cultural milieu, a sex worker today is a borrower of mass culture whether it is from popular commercial films or television - media which shape her appearance and influence her identities. With this larger narrative in the background, how do sex workers build their identity as explicit objects of desire? In this paper, we draw upon the responses from the First Pan India Survey of Sex Workers to probe into the construction of their appearances. It seeks to address how a sex worker conceptualizes attractiveness - through material display (of clothes and make-up that would make a client desire her over others), display of intent and availability (body language, eye-contact) while masking her ulterior anxieties and fear of the unknown.