Sex and Stigma Stories of Everyday Life in Nevada's Legal Brothels Dr Sarah BlytheNevada is the only state in the US where full-service sex work is legal, but how much do most of us really know about the brothel ecosystem? This week we talk to Dr. Sarah Blythe, co-author of Sex and Stigma: Stories of Everyday Life in Nevada’s Legal Brothels, a book that highlights stories of brothel employees. We talk about what her research uncovered–the positives of consensual sex work in Nevada and it’s juxtaposition with outdated rules and laws that encourage unfair labor practices, discrimination, and perpetuate stigma about sex work. We discuss lockdown policies & curfews, the hypocritical nature of towns that rely on brothel revenue but treat sex workers like second class citizens, and the importance of co-authoring this research with a graduate student who is also a legal courtesan.

Guest Bio

Dr. Sarah Blithe is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno.  She is an expert in organizational communication and specializes in gender, work-life balance, policy inequalities, and management learning. Dr. Blithe is the author of Sex and Stigma: Stories of Everyday Life in Nevada’s Legal Brothels, with Anna Wiederhold Wolfe and Breanna Mohr. She has won multiple awards for her research and teaching. Dr. Blithe earned her Ph.D. in Organizational Communication at the University of Colorado Boulder and an M.A. in International and Intercultural Business Communication at the University of Denver.  

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