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Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the experiences of female sex workers in the Dublin sexual services market, during the Celtic Tiger as they sell a range of sexual and emotional services as part of their economic enterprises.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores the experiences of female sex workers in the Dublin sexual services market, during the aegis of the Celtic Tiger when sex, like other consumables saw an insatiable increase in demand. Indeed, far from looking like an "exotic" enterprise, the sex industry, especially in the "Independent escort" sector of the market, resembles many other branches of the service industry in the formal economy, in dealing with the effects of globalization by finding new and innovate means of accessing potential markets, as part of their economic strategy. Sex workers learn to extract the highest possible price for their services, and develop skills to access their potential markets, selling a broad range of both sexual and emotional services.

Part of their economic strategy involves selling a range of emotional experiences to clients as part of their contractual agreement. These vary in emotional intensity and levels of intimacy, and are often referred to on escorts WebPages through terms such as GFE (Girl Friend Experience) or PSE (Porn Star Experience). PSE and GFE are explicitly advertised as a commodity that can be bought, and is sold as part of what (Sanders, 2005) terms a "manufactured identity." Many women refer to this aspect of their jobs as "acting" and describe how they adopt a range of strategies to maintain boundaries between their "working" and "private" lives, especially as these boundaries become blurred and their relationships with regular clients more intimate.