Jacqueline Boles

The social organization of transvestite prostitution and AIDS

This paper reports on the social organization of 53 transvestite prostitutes in Atlanta (GA), U.S.A. The central focus of the paper is on the relationship between social organization, social networks, and HIV risk behaviors in three geographic areas. In one of the areas the HIV infection rate was significantly higher than in the other two areas (81.1% vs 62.5% and 12.5%). Transvestites from the high prevalence area are strongly committed to transvestism and, consequently, are socially isolated. They report the lowest income, engaged in passive anal sex, have a history of syphilis and report inconsistent condom use with paying sex partners. Transvestite prostitutes in the other two areas are less committed to transvestism and more integrated into non-transvestite networks. In the area with the lowest HIV rate the transvestites are integrated into the non-transvestite male prostitute social organization so are discouraged from engaging in receptive anal sex, especially without condoms. The differences in HIV seroprevalence as well as related behavioral differences are linked to social organization among the transvestite prostitutes and to their participation in risky sex such as receptive anal intercourse.

Sexual Identity and HIV: The Male Prostitute

We examined the relationships among sexual self‐identity, sexual and drug use behaviors, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among a sample of 224 male street prostitutes. Structured interviews were administered, and blood samples were collected and tested for HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B. The sample included 17.9% homosexual, 46.4% heterosexual, and 35.7% bisexually identified men. Congruence between the prostitutes’ non‐paid sexual behavior and their sexual self‐identification were closest for the heterosexual and homosexual identified men. The significant demographic and occupational differences between the prostitutes in each sexual self‐identity category included education, history of physical abuse, homelessness, and geographical mobility. Based on self‐identification, the rate of HIV infection was 50% for the homosexuals, 36.5% for the bisexuals, and 18.5% for the heterosexuals. The differences in HIV infection rates between the men of each sexual self‐identity category were signific...

HIV seroprevalence and risk factors among clients of female and male prostitutes

OBJECTIVES To document the HIV and STD infection rates among clients of female (CFP) and clients of male prostitutes (CMP) and to identify the risk factors for HIV among CFP and CMP. METHODS Structured interviews were conducted with 82 CMP and 69 CFP in 1990 and 1991 in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. Blood samples were tested for HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B. RESULTS The HIV-positive rate was 36.6% among CMP and 2.9% among CFP. Syphilis seromarkers were found in 15.9% of CMP and 10.1% of CFP; hepatitis B seromarkers were identified in 58.0% of CMP and 24.6% of CFP. Key risk factors for HIV among CMP included serologic history of syphilis, serologic history of hepatitis B, receptive anal sex with a male prostitute, ever injecting drugs, ever using crack cocaine, and little education. CFP had no significant risk factors for HIV in the logistic analysis. CONCLUSIONS Several studies have focused on risk factors for HIV among female and male prostitutes; however, research on their clients has been limited. Although HIV infection rates among CFP are relatively low, their infection rate for syphilis and hepatitis warrants serious health education efforts. Even more critical are harm-reduction programs targeting CMP. Generic health and HIV risk reduction messages on heterosexual transmission might be insufficient.

Exploring the links between gambling, problem gambling, and self‐esteem

Despite the recent rapid expansion of legal gambling, little is known about gamblers or problem gamblers in the United States. In this article, we seek to extend our understanding of gambling in the United States by reviewing the major theoretical approaches to problem gambling and tracing the development of the major instrument used to measure problem gambling. Using a probability sample of 1,551 Georgia citizens interviewed in 1994, we present a descriptive analysis of demographic and social psychological characteristics of nongamblers, non‐problem gamblers, and problem gamblers in the general population. Although nongamblers were most likely to be older White women with modest education and income, problem gamblers were most likely to be young, non‐White males. Logistic regression is used to identify factors that distinguish between these three groups and to explore the relationship between problem gambling and low self‐esteem as well as the relationship between non‐problem gambling and high self‐estee...

The Choice of Stripping for a Living: An Empirical and Theoretical Explanation

Examination of the relevant theoretical and research literature suggests two distinct, and even contrasting, approaches have been used in the study of occupational choice processes. Katz and Martin (1962) have used the term adventitious to refer to the approach which views occupational decision-making as essentially accidental, nonrational, spontaneous, and based on situational contingencies. In the adventitious approach, pressures external to work effect a fortuitiously derived occupational choice. The second approach, stressed in the works of Ginzberg et al. (1951) and Blau et al. (1956), conceives of occupational selection as the end product of a more or less series of previously made rational decisions. Proponents of the purposive approach believe occupational choice to be a compromise between reward preferences and opportunities to enter specific occupational positions. In sum, whereas rational considerations

Pilgrim apparition work: Symbolization and crowd interaction when the Virgin Mary appeared in Georgia

Research on religious apparitions tends to focus on characteristics of the participants, needs of the believers, functions of the events, and biographies of the leaders. In contrast, this article focuses on group interaction and participant interpretations. The authors analyze what took place, and what pilgrims thought and felt, during a recurring apparition of the Virgin Mary during the 1990s on a farm near the U.S. town of Conyers, Georgia. Analysis draws on sixty hours of observation, nineteen semistructured interviews with pilgrims visiting the site, conversational interviews, and local and national press coverage. They examine the nature and significance of pilgrim apparition work, identifying three forms: sojourn work, seer work, and sign work. They conclude that by engaging in these “guided doings,” pilgrims apply and adapt wider apparition meanings to particular miracles and, in the process, sustain both the validity and normalcy of the miracle taking place.

Ladies: South by Northwest

The lady represented the ideal image for most nineteenth‐century American women, even those who pioneered the American frontier. The Southern lady, however, has always been considered the particular embodiment of that image. Since the advent of womens liberation and the large‐scale movement of women into the labor force, one might well question the salience of the lady as role model for contemporary women. Do modern women still want to be ladies? Using the constructed type of the lady role, this study examines the salience of the lady image for selected samples of women from the South and the Pacific Northwest. Our respondents indicated the extent of their agreement with our constructed type and also the extent to which they held the temperamental and behavioral traits of the constructed type. In general, the women in our samples supported the constructed type. Also the women in both regions felt that they lived up to the role expectations of the lady; however, the Northwest women felt that they met more...

False pretense and deviant exploitation: Fortunetelling as a con

This paper presents a dramaturgical analysis of the backstage manipulations carried out by practitioners of the deviant occupation known as fortunetelling. It is generally believed that con games require a dishonest victim, although many practitioners manipulate their impressions with clients who are seeking a service rather than a profit. The group of fortunetellers included in this study are nonbelievers and hence fundamentally misrepresent themselves to their clients. Drawing upon depth interviews with 21 non‐Gypsy fortunetellers, including two key informants, six backstage routines are analyzed. Each routine in the fortunetellers performance presents the client with a frontstage definition of the activity designed to sell more and more “psychic services.” The implications of the dramaturgical analysis of con games are discussed.

Legal and Extra-Legal Methods of Controlling Female Prostitution: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

From a cross cultural perspective this paper describes some of the legal and extra-legal strategies used to cope with a variety of practical problems associated with commercial prostitution, i.e., police-payoffs, venereal disease, pimping. Those strategies which appear to be most effective are identified with a view toward suggesting how some of these could be implemented.

From mistress to hooker: 40 years of cartoon humor in men's magazines

This paper explores mass media humor and its relationship to the changing nature of male sexual mores and prostitution. All cartoons in the two leading mens magazines,Esquire andPlayboy, with prostituion as the topic were subjected to a content analysis. The change in content of these cartoons over the 40 year period covered is described.