Prostitutes defy the imperative of enmity.
Dialogue between sex workers is central to the political and daily organization of these women
The phrase “whores don’t have friends,” as a kind of rule to be followed, perpetuates what psychologist Adriely Clarindo-Cattani called the “imperative of enmity” in sex work. This saying served as a starting point for her doctoral research, which initially sought to verify how friendships between prostitutes are formed and maintained. Based on an ethnographic study conducted in nightclubs considered to be upscale, brothels and street prostitution zones in two Brazilian and two Portuguese cities, the researcher identified the peculiarities of friendships forged in this type of activity, as well as their pedagogical role in professional training and their importance in ensuring survival in the midst of daily work.
The study was conducted in the Postgraduate Program in Social Anthropology at Unicamp and is also associated with the Center for Gender Studies – Pagu, a space linked to the Coordination of Interdisciplinary Research Centers and Centers (Cocen) at the University. Anthropologist Adriana Piscitelli, a researcher at Pagu and a professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences (IFCH), was in charge of supervising the doctorate. Support from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), through a sandwich doctorate scholarship, made it possible to conduct the ethnographic study in Portugal.
Clarindo-Cattani, now a PhD in social anthropology, conducted her research in four cities: Lisbon and Braga, in Portugal, and Belém (PA) and Campinas (SP), in Brazil. To reach the people she interviewed, she relied on recommendations from researchers, professors and sex workers. Her entry into all the places she visited – street prostitution spots, brothels and nightclubs considered to be upscale – was made possible thanks to the mediation of the interviewees themselves. In certain situations, she recalls, she had to interrupt her observation activity and leave the space, at the request of prostitutes who saw her as potential competition.
For Piscitelli, the research, by choosing friendship as a focus, contributes to broadening the reflection, in academic literature, on the emotional relationships of these workers. “Especially in anthropology, studies on sex work, when centered on emotions, deal with romantic relationships, whether established with clients or not. What Adriely brings that is new is to show how friendship, despite the imperative of enmity, is central to the organization of the daily life and also to the political organization of prostitutes”, evaluates the advisor. “In methodological terms, one of the riches of the research is to contemplate different empirical focuses. In Lisbon, for example, 15 years ago there were still brothels operating, but that all ended.”
Disunity of the category
Although it can appear in different forms, the concept of the imperative of enmity, coined by Clarindo-Cattani, refers to a recurring view. When propagated by owners or employees of establishments where these professionals work, it aims to sow disunity within the class, that is, to plant distrust among these women. And this is done so that they do not establish relationships and are prevented from claiming their right to meals, time off, overtime, etc. “Not all nightclubs provide meals or have a declared work schedule. In many, women are fined if they miss a day and may even be out of work for a few days.”
Among street prostitutes, the imperative appears in different situations. “In Belém, there is the phrase 'only whores, only thieves', indicating that the whore and the thief should be solitary because they would be part of groups of people living in marginal areas, in relation to legal institutions”, she highlights. In Portugal, Clarindo-Cattani was able to notice this in the way that many of the interviewees established their friendships: through advice, above all. “And also in the practices of mutual care and in relationships more focused on achieving specific goals. It is not that there were no feelings between them, but feelings were not a priority condition for the relationship to happen.”
Friendship in adversity
The field research began in a luxury nightclub in Campinas, where the workers prefer to be called escorts or girls. In the capital of Pará, Clarindo-Cattani interviewed professionals from different generations, members of the Group of Women Prostitutes of the State of Pará (Gempac). In the next stop, Portugal, the researcher stayed for three months.
“In Braga, I was taken by the leader of the Portuguese Sex Workers Movement to a brothel [the name used in the European country], a place where prostitution is not necessarily practiced, but where there are sex workers who socialize with clients and are paid based on the drinks they consume,” she says. In all the places where she conducted her observations, the psychologist sought to focus on the way in which prostitutes interacted with each other on a day-to-day basis.
Her ethnographic study revealed that the characteristics of friendships established between prostitutes varied according to the location and the needs of each group. However, cases of those who had mutual care as a common practice, as well as relationships forged based on a specific objective, were more common. “This friendship is not a feeling, but a relationship. Sex workers recognize their economic, racial and generational differences. In all contexts, I was able to observe how differences are not canceled out or set aside in order to establish a relationship,” the researcher assesses.
The possibility of friendships being born even in the midst of resistance, disputes and negotiations, according to Clarindo-Cattani, differentiates the relationships investigated in the study from the Western concept of friendship, defined based on feelings and affinities. In this sense, the researcher concluded that conflict begins to present itself as an opportunity, losing its negative connotation. “Conflict is productive because it allows negotiation. If you don’t negotiate, in sex work or in a situation in which you may be in a more vulnerable position, you lose. You can put yourself at risk.”
Pedagogical function
Learning to be a prostitute is an informal process, mainly conducted by other sex workers. During her research, Clarindo-Cattani discovered that the relationships studied had a pedagogical function and contributed to the formation of those who entered sex work. The more experienced friend, the researcher points out, will teach that a prostitute cannot be naive or foolish. It is up to this person to warn, for example, about the need to be alert and suspicious.
“In the training processes, it was the ‘whore’, as a synonym for prostitute, who appeared in the dialogues – before the ‘girl’ or the ‘escort’ – because she is the one who arrives first, at the time of negotiation. Therefore, before being a high-class escort, you need to be a good whore. Not only to know how to negotiate with the client, but to understand in advance whether or not he poses a risk. To understand whether or not this coworker can be, to some extent, trustworthy. The whore is also the one who goes into conflict. Something that a high-class escort, in theory, cannot do, because there is a sanitization of the figure of the whore”, concludes Clarindo-Cattani.
Prostitutes defy the imperative of enmity.
Dialogue between sex workers is central to the political and daily organization of these women
The phrase “whores don’t have friends,” as a kind of rule to be followed, perpetuates what psychologist Adriely Clarindo-Cattani called the “imperative of enmity” in sex work. This saying served as a starting point for her doctoral research, which initially sought to verify how friendships between prostitutes are formed and maintained. Based on an ethnographic study conducted in nightclubs considered to be upscale, brothels and street prostitution zones in two Brazilian and two Portuguese cities, the researcher identified the peculiarities of friendships forged in this type of activity, as well as their pedagogical role in professional training and their importance in ensuring survival in the midst of daily work.
The study was conducted in the Postgraduate Program in Social Anthropology at Unicamp and is also associated with the Center for Gender Studies – Pagu, a space linked to the Coordination of Interdisciplinary Research Centers and Centers (Cocen) at the University. Anthropologist Adriana Piscitelli, a researcher at Pagu and a professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences (IFCH), was in charge of supervising the doctorate. Support from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), through a sandwich doctorate scholarship, made it possible to conduct the ethnographic study in Portugal.
Clarindo-Cattani, now a PhD in social anthropology, conducted her research in four cities: Lisbon and Braga, in Portugal, and Belém (PA) and Campinas (SP), in Brazil. To reach the people she interviewed, she relied on recommendations from researchers, professors and sex workers. Her entry into all the places she visited – street prostitution spots, brothels and nightclubs considered to be upscale – was made possible thanks to the mediation of the interviewees themselves. In certain situations, she recalls, she had to interrupt her observation activity and leave the space, at the request of prostitutes who saw her as potential competition.
For Piscitelli, the research, by choosing friendship as a focus, contributes to broadening the reflection, in academic literature, on the emotional relationships of these workers. “Especially in anthropology, studies on sex work, when centered on emotions, deal with romantic relationships, whether established with clients or not. What Adriely brings that is new is to show how friendship, despite the imperative of enmity, is central to the organization of the daily life and also to the political organization of prostitutes”, evaluates the advisor. “In methodological terms, one of the riches of the research is to contemplate different empirical focuses. In Lisbon, for example, 15 years ago there were still brothels operating, but that all ended.”
Disunity of the category
Although it can appear in different forms, the concept of the imperative of enmity, coined by Clarindo-Cattani, refers to a recurring view. When propagated by owners or employees of establishments where these professionals work, it aims to sow disunity within the class, that is, to plant distrust among these women. And this is done so that they do not establish relationships and are prevented from claiming their right to meals, time off, overtime, etc. “Not all nightclubs provide meals or have a declared work schedule. In many, women are fined if they miss a day and may even be out of work for a few days.”
Among street prostitutes, the imperative appears in different situations. “In Belém, there is the phrase 'only whores, only thieves', indicating that the whore and the thief should be solitary because they would be part of groups of people living in marginal areas, in relation to legal institutions”, she highlights. In Portugal, Clarindo-Cattani was able to notice this in the way that many of the interviewees established their friendships: through advice, above all. “And also in the practices of mutual care and in relationships more focused on achieving specific goals. It is not that there were no feelings between them, but feelings were not a priority condition for the relationship to happen.”
Friendship in adversity
The field research began in a luxury nightclub in Campinas, where the workers prefer to be called escorts or girls. In the capital of Pará, Clarindo-Cattani interviewed professionals from different generations, members of the Group of Women Prostitutes of the State of Pará (Gempac). In the next stop, Portugal, the researcher stayed for three months.
“In Braga, I was taken by the leader of the Portuguese Sex Workers Movement to a brothel [the name used in the European country], a place where prostitution is not necessarily practiced, but where there are sex workers who socialize with clients and are paid based on the drinks they consume,” she says. In all the places where she conducted her observations, the psychologist sought to focus on the way in which prostitutes interacted with each other on a day-to-day basis.
Her ethnographic study revealed that the characteristics of friendships established between prostitutes varied according to the location and the needs of each group. However, cases of those who had mutual care as a common practice, as well as relationships forged based on a specific objective, were more common. “This friendship is not a feeling, but a relationship. Sex workers recognize their economic, racial and generational differences. In all contexts, I was able to observe how differences are not canceled out or set aside in order to establish a relationship,” the researcher assesses.
The possibility of friendships being born even in the midst of resistance, disputes and negotiations, according to Clarindo-Cattani, differentiates the relationships investigated in the study from the Western concept of friendship, defined based on feelings and affinities. In this sense, the researcher concluded that conflict begins to present itself as an opportunity, losing its negative connotation. “Conflict is productive because it allows negotiation. If you don’t negotiate, in sex work or in a situation in which you may be in a more vulnerable position, you lose. You can put yourself at risk.”
Pedagogical function
Learning to be a prostitute is an informal process, mainly conducted by other sex workers. During her research, Clarindo-Cattani discovered that the relationships studied had a pedagogical function and contributed to the formation of those who entered sex work. The more experienced friend, the researcher points out, will teach that a prostitute cannot be naive or foolish. It is up to this person to warn, for example, about the need to be alert and suspicious.
“In the training processes, it was the ‘whore’, as a synonym for prostitute, who appeared in the dialogues – before the ‘girl’ or the ‘escort’ – because she is the one who arrives first, at the time of negotiation. Therefore, before being a high-class escort, you need to be a good whore. Not only to know how to negotiate with the client, but to understand in advance whether or not he poses a risk. To understand whether or not this coworker can be, to some extent, trustworthy. The whore is also the one who goes into conflict. Something that a high-class escort, in theory, cannot do, because there is a sanitization of the figure of the whore”, concludes Clarindo-Cattani.