Between the anthropological and the porno-erotic: ethnographic notes of an anthropologist-camgirl on platform sex work

Dal’orto, Caroline Coutinho

Abstract

The article seeks to reflect on how the constructions of ethnographic authority and mobility are shaped by the intrinsic complexities of the conditions of existence particular to the field in which we are located. By positioning myself in the field as an anthropologist-camgirl hybrid, I challenge the very celibate construction (Kulick; Willson, 1995KULICK, D.; WILLSON, M. (ed.). Taboo: sex, identity, and erotic subjectivity in anthropological fieldwork. London: Psychology Press, 1995.) of a certain anthropology that preserves the asymmetry between sex, money, research and subjectivity (Lino e Silva, 2014LINO E SILVA, M. Queer sex vignettes from a Brazilian favela: an ethnographic striptease. Ethnography, [s. l.], v. 16, n. 2, p. 223-239, 2014.). This positionality also proposes to criticize the objective and impersonal nature of the trust verification and management structures present in platform companies (Slee, 2019SLEE, T. Uberização: a nova onda do trabalho precarizado. São Paulo: Elefante, 2019.) as well as some feminist readings (Drenten; Gurrieri; Tyler, 2020DRENTEN, J.; GURRIERI, L.; TYLER, M. Sexualized labour in digital culture: Instagram influencers, porn chic and the monetization of attention. Gender, Work & Organization, [s. l.], v. 27, n. 1, p. 41-66, 2020.; Dworkin, 1981DWORKIN, A. Men possessing women. New York: Perigee, 1981.; Pateman, 2016PATEMAN, C. Sexual contract. In: WONG, A. et al. (ed.). The Wiley Blackwell encyclopedia of gender and sexuality studies. [S. l.]: Wiley Blackwell, 2016. Disponível em: Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118663219.wbegss468 . Acesso em: 19 set. 2021.
https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118663219.wb... ; Swain, 2004SWAIN, T. N. Banalizar e naturalizar a prostituição: violência social e histórica. Unimontes Científica, Montes Claros, v. 6, n. 2, p. 23-28, 2004.) that situate sex workers as allies or unconscious victims of (hetero) male sexual desire. It is from these three critical principles that this article situates the particularities and methodological possibilities and their theoretical effects based on the dual positionality of the anthropologist.

Keywords:
ethnographic mobility; anthropologist-camgirl; online sex work; platform companies