Sociala konstruktioner av sexköp och kvinnor i prostitution i offentliga internetforum : En kritisk diskursanalys av forumdiskussioner

Sammanfattning

The purpose of this study is to examine how sex purchasing is discursively constructed and discussed in public online forums. The purpose was also to examine which attitudes and perceptions regarding sex purchasing and women in prostitution are expressed in these discussions. The empirical material consists of publicly available posts collected from the online forums Flashback.org and Sextjejer.com.The study is based on a qualitative approach using critical discourse analysis inspired by Norman Fairclough. The analysis is also interpreted through the concepts of subject positions, interpellation, and Fredrickson and Roberts’ objectification theory.The results show that sex purchasing is constructed as a normalized and legitimate form of consumption through language associated with services, customer satisfaction, reviews, and transactions. Women in prostitution are positioned as sexual and emotional services whose value is assessed based on men’s expectations and experiences. The findings also demonstrate how responsibility for the negative consequences of prostitution is frequently shifted from buyers to women themselves. Furthermore, the forums function as social communities where users reinforce shared attitudes and legitimize sex purchasing through common language and mutual confirmation.The study concludes that online forums contribute to the normalization of sex purchasing and the reproduction of objectification and gendered power relations in digital environments.