Sex Work in Contemporary Russia: A Cultural Perspective

Sex Work in Russia explores the figure of the female sex worker from the early twentieth century to the present day, examining her significance as a symbolic representative of social and moral instability, economic volatility, political, social, and ideological revolutions, and changing concepts of gender, sexuality, and the nation itself.

Format: Hardback
Length: 292 pages
Publication date: 15 March 2023
Publisher: Lexington Books

Sex Work in Russia is a comprehensive exploration of the female sex worker's role in Russian society from the early twentieth century to the present day. It offers a wide-ranging and nuanced discussion of the significance of this archetypal female figure, who appears frequently in literature, film, and other cultural productions. Emily Schuckman Matthews examines the ways in which the fictional sex worker and her real-life counterpart have become symbolic representatives of social and moral instability, economic volatility, political, social, and ideological revolutions, and changing concepts of gender, sexuality, and the nation itself. The book focuses on the movement of the female sex worker from a marginal foil to a hero in her own right, and even finds a voice of her own in recent years. Works featuring this alluring and complex figure reveal critical insights into the changing position of women and other marginalized people in a volatile Russia.

Weight: 567g
Dimension: 237 x 157 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781666915945