Women of easy living? Time, pleasure and suffering in the work of prostitutes

Abstract

This study aims to analyze how temporal perceptions influence pleasure and suffering in the work of prostitutes in Belo Horizonte (MG). A descriptive and qualitative case study was carried out. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 professionals from places known as "battle hotels" and analyzed using content analysis. The interviewed prostitutes associated time as a resource, and this was linked to experiences of pleasure and suffering, in the sense that the effective management of time generated money which was the main source of pleasure from their work. The working time of the prostitutes was also a source of suffering because they normalized or accepted discomfort from their work and the consequences that it entailed.