Oct 29, 2017 | 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM | Main Loft

Geoffrey Morrow

Creative Inequality: Appropriating Difference for Publication

The purpose of this paper is to identify relationships between class and inequality in the publishing industry. With the recent burst of female narratives like “Girls” by Emma Cline; “The Girl on the Train” by Paula Hopkins; and a resurgence of Margret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” it would appear that female perspectives are proliferating in the contemporary novel, but this paper argues that these narratives homogenize female experience in an upper middle class perspective. This paper uses intersectional discourse and the Foucauldian concept of power as a producing force to argue that the contemporary novel appropriates the experiences of the lower class by upper class writers. An important role in this experience is the creative writing workshop. Because these programs exist in university settings it’s the upper classes that benefit from the resources in these programs. This paper also examines the consolidation of the major Canadian publishers by multi-national corporations and their role as “gatekeepers” in the publishing industry. This paper concludes that the publishing industry, while seemingly publishing more marginalized narratives, are actually reinforcing the same power imbalances that exploits the experiences of the lower classes to the benefit of the upper classes.

Moshoula Capous-Desyllas, PhD

Oppression or Empowerment?: Understanding the lived experiences of sex workers in Southern California from a social justice lens

Much of the research on sex workers examines prostitution and the intersections of violence, mental health, drug and alcohol use, or HIV/AIDS, with a limited number of needs assessment studies. Currently, there are no research studies that explore the lived experiences of sex workers from an intersectional perspective, with a focus on work-life balance and relationships to people and institutions. The purpose of this qualitative research study is to highlight the strengths and challenges of work-life balance among individuals working in various aspects of the sex industry in Southern California and the ways in which sex workers navigate various institutions. This research is informed by Kimberle Crenshaw’s (1993) intersectionality theory, which is used as a theoretical framework for taking into account the various ways that social identities intersect to inform people’s multi-layered and diverse experiences in the sex industry and their experiences of power, privilege and oppression. This presentation will present the findings from in-depth qualitative interviews with 20 diverse sex workers (women, men and trans-identified). These findings will illustrate the ways in which sex workers navigate their work life, their personal life, their decision-making process for disclosing their work to friends, family and intimate partners, the challenges they face in their personal relationships, and the ways in which they negotiate tensions they experience. This research will also explore experiences of oppression and well as empowerment from a social justice lens that takes into account their intersecting identities. Using a life time-line approach, I will also examine the ways in which sex workers’ connections to various institutions (education, prison, social services, healthcare, etc.) over time inform and shape their ability to prioritize between their work (career and ambition) and their lifestyle (health, pleasure, leisure, relationships and spiritual development). A feminist theoretical lens will inform implications for practice, policy and research.