Making it Work (Social Problems and Social Issues) [Paperback]

Valerie Jenness (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0202304647 | ISBN-13: 978-0202304649 | Publication Date: December 31, 1993

As its double-edged title suggests, Making It Work examines the "oldest profession" as just that: a service industry with professional sex workers. This reframing of prostitution is done by chronicling the evolution of COYOTE, the leading organization of the contemporary prostitutes' rights movement.

In reconstructing prostitution as a social problem, this volume speaks more broadly to the notion of deviance, and how so-called deviants can act to frame the debates that affect their lives.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 150 pages
• Publisher: Aldine Transaction (December 31, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0202304647
• ISBN-13: 978-0202304649
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,379,006 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for feminist scholars!, January 22, 2000

By 

cactus writer (Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Making it Work (Social Problems and Social Issues) (Paperback)

Jenness provides an in-depth look at the prostitutes' rights movement by taking both a social movement and a deviance approach. Jenness structures her work around seeing prostitution as a social problem - a social problem different organizations have tried to lay claim to for the past 200 years. Her main focus is on COYOTE, the movement's most active and visible actor since 1973, but she also spends considerable time on other influences, from the 19th century social purists to the women's movement today. In a wonderfully unbiased and detached manner, Jenness presents the conflicts that have arisen in both the prostitutes' rights movement and the women's movement over this issue. Should prostitution be eliminated or recognized as a profession? Are prostitutes to be pitied or respected as artisans?

I give this book four stars because of its content and thorough research. Jenness' writing style can be difficult, so I recommend three or four sittings to complete the book.