Sex Influencers: An Ethnographic Study of Transgender Pornography Workers

Abstract

What does transgender pornography work involve? This ethnographic study of trans porn workers in Los Angeles and Las Vegas details their everyday work practices and the broader economic and technological changes that they have had to navigate. In doing so, it shows how trans porn workers have adopted a range of online influencer practices and technologies. Drawing on the profession of the influencer, this thesis argues that trans porn workers today are essentially online influencers, or 'sex influencers.'

To contextualise contemporary trans porn work this thesis provides an extensive history of trans pornography. It then shows how the work of trans porn workers has dramatically changed in recent decades. Studio work no longer earns most porn workers a sufficient income. To make ends meet, workers today engage in a variety of different forms of sex work in what I term the 'erotic gig economy.' To thrive in this economy successful trans porn workers must embody a range of enterprising virtues as well as technical and administrative skills, which I characterise via the term 'porntropreneurship.' These virtues and skills reinforce privileges that run, among other factors, along the lines of class, race, and ability.

Much work in the erotic gig economy is mediated via online platforms. The emergence of online platforms has transformed the nature and geography of trans porn work. Importantly, it has also brought about new forms of online discrimination which unfairly target trans porn workers. This thesis provides three key examples of online platforms which illustrate the contemporary nature of trans porn work. It looks at webcamming, OnlyFans, and social media.

Finally, this thesis looks at branding. Branding is a self-promotion practice that involves various ongoing strategies of self-presentation with the goal of creating a public identity. Good branding speaks to consumer fantasies, and trans porn workers engage in various strategies of 'authenticity' to create an intimate relationship between themselves and their consumers. Despite what the term suggests, 'authentic' branding requires careful ongoing management and calculated intimate sharing. Importantly, it ties trans porn workers into a powerful industry beauty hierarchy which reproduces cisnormative, ableist, and racialized (i.e., white) beauty standards.