By examining queer scripts, it is evident that the viewer is challenged to rethink dominant discourses regarding sex, gender identities, and sexualities. Through the use of queer scripts, such as advertisements, the viewer is encouraged to open up their restrictive eye and reevaluate their internalized perceptions (Steele, 2005). In 2011, Stepping Stone Nova Scotia created a series of advertisements as a means of advocating on behalf of sex workers throughout the province. The intent behind these advertisements were to humanize sex workers by shocking the viewer into re-thinking their perceptions of the occupation.
There is a moral standard that sex work is on the wrong side of the discursive construct (Adams, 1997). The dominant discourse surrounding sex work is that it is deviant and has a stigma attached (Steele, 2005). Typically sex work is stereotyped as dominated by at-risk women who are being forced to please a predatory and dominant male. This ideology projects the image of the victimized woman and the exploitative man. It neglects to identify that there are …show more content…
While the individual who is partaking in the sex work may appear to fall within the centre, they are still outside in the margins (Adams, 1997). This is due to their negatively perceived occupation. Stepping Stone Nova Scotia plays with this idea by portraying three white middle class able-bodied individuals as the faces of their campaign. The juxtaposition of stigmatized words such as hooker and tramp, with the “normal” white faces of the speaker encourages the viewer to question society’s acceptance of using these discriminatory terms. The tag line at the bottom of the advertisements identifies sex workers as mothers, brothers and daughters. By humanizing the individuals perceived as deviant, it becomes more difficult to project these negative perceptions onto sex
There is a moral standard that sex work is on the wrong side of the discursive construct (Adams, 1997). The dominant discourse surrounding sex work is that it is deviant and has a stigma attached (Steele, 2005). Typically sex work is stereotyped as dominated by at-risk women who are being forced to please a predatory and dominant male. This ideology projects the image of the victimized woman and the exploitative man. It neglects to identify that there are …show more content…
While the individual who is partaking in the sex work may appear to fall within the centre, they are still outside in the margins (Adams, 1997). This is due to their negatively perceived occupation. Stepping Stone Nova Scotia plays with this idea by portraying three white middle class able-bodied individuals as the faces of their campaign. The juxtaposition of stigmatized words such as hooker and tramp, with the “normal” white faces of the speaker encourages the viewer to question society’s acceptance of using these discriminatory terms. The tag line at the bottom of the advertisements identifies sex workers as mothers, brothers and daughters. By humanizing the individuals perceived as deviant, it becomes more difficult to project these negative perceptions onto sex