The first of this year’s MediaCom Seminar Series hosted by the School of
Media, Communication and Sociology at the University of Leicester will take
place on *Wednesday 19 October* with *Professor Teela Sanders* from the
Department of Criminology at the University of Leicester.
The seminar will take place *4:00-5:30pm* *on* *Wednesday 19 October
in* *Bankfield
House Seminar Room *– all welcome.
School of Media, Communication and Sociology
University of Leicester
Bankfield House
132 New Walk
Leicester
LE1 7JA
*Professor Teela Sanders (University of Leicester)*
*Webcams, Fantasy Chat and Escorting: Sexual Commerce in the Digital Age*
The majority of commercial sex in the Western world is either mediated or
performed through the Internet and digital technologies. This paper is an
exploratory discussion of the nature and characteristics of this shift,
pulling out some of the broader questions around how sexual commerce has
adapted and responded to the digital age. Exploring concepts such as
‘digital labour’ with empirical findings from a Wellcome Trust project with
Internet Based Sex Workers, this paper will set the scene for where
sociological inquiry needs to focus its attentions. Finally, the paper will
flesh out a current ESRC project in situ *Beyond the Gaze: Working
Practice, Safety and Regulation on Internet base Sex work *(
*http://beyond-the-gaze.com/* <http://beyond-the-gaze.com/>) which examines
the new and emerging markets where ‘work’ is defined across the digital and
real time divide.
*Dr Melanie Kennedy*
*Lecturer in Media and Communication*
School of Media, Communication and Sociology
University of Leicester
Bankfield House
132 New Walk
Leicester
LE1 7JA
Tel: 0116 223 1624
https://leicester.academia.edu/MelanieKennedy
Book Reviews Editor for *Celebrity Studies* (Routledge)
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