Abstract
Massage as a camouflage for prostitution using the online dating application is one of the rarely explored topics. This qualitative study, in the form of a narrative, presents a comprehensive story of the lives and situational experiences, vulnerabilities, and resiliencies of five freelance male sex masseurs. Using a narrative approach involves inquiry directed at narratives of human experience or inquiry that produces data in a narrative (Creswell, 2013). This study highlights the participants’ motivation and exposure to engage as a sex massage therapist. The study revealed that participants had varying reasons for entering this kind of career; the common denominator in offering extra service was that they came from poor families, were abused victims, and had low academic performance. The love for their families, easy money above all, a personal choice motivates them to engage in sex massage. For most participants, part of their motivation is the economic benefit, which bolsters the position of an economic necessity to alleviate their financial conditions. Further, their current personal circumstances, specifically the lack of job opportunities due to their educational attainment, limit their choices of profession.
Keywords: extra service, prostitution, narrative inquiry, sex massage, male masseur, online sex work
*This paper is presented at the 4th International Conference on Multidisciplinary Industry and Academic Research (ICMIAR) 2023
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