Teaching the sex industry: content analysis of sex work and pornography in U.S. introductory women's studies textbooks

Abstract

Sex work and pornography are important topics of study within U.S. feminism and Women's Studies. This study uses ten Introduction to Women's Studies textbooks that are currently being used in U.S. classrooms to analyze the coverage of sex work and pornography within them. Textbooks were coded based on the presentation of multiple feminist debates on these issues and the integration of these issues into the text. The way these topics are being discussed is critiqued and analyzed for their implications on teaching the sex industry within the feminist classroom. This study highlights the lack of coverage among the textbooks in the sample, the marginalization of pornography and sex work from other contexts of media and labor, and provides recommendations for future textbooks and educators.