Research on male sex workers brings alive some of the key concepts developed by theorists on masculinity. For example, this chapter shows the fluidity of sexualities, with men often positioning themselves as top, bottom, or versatile, and as offering services only for men or for both men and women. The notion of hegemonic masculinity is also clarified through research on male sex workers, where we find men who do not identify as gay and explain their sexual performance by taking on certain sexual acts, such as being the person who penetrates but is never penetrated himself. These men maintain their masculinity by avoiding sexual acts that can be defined as “whoredom,” which are only performed by clients and never by them. The diversity of body types, from body builder to a feminine hairless body, also illustrates how body types and sexual hierarchies are played and made real in the male sex worker encounter. Not surprisingly, most tops have physiques that embody masculinity, whereas most bottoms have physiques that emphasizes the feminine.

What is striking about the images in this chapter is that many young male escorts openly display their faces and identities in the public domain. This is a significant development: for one, it indicates that some young men are no longer concerned about hiding their work as escorts or their personal identity. This is especially striking in South American culture, given that masculine norms there have tended to be more proximate to hegemonic notions of masculinity, which have largely rendered the male body invisible in public spaces. Social theorists often have spoken of the male gaze, which describes the tendency for cultural imagery to be displayed and consumed from a male viewpoint and thus to present females as subjects of male appreciation. In the images in this chapter, the male body is an object for consumption by men and women, and putting a face on diverse body types makes it clear that a male sex worker can be anyone in our society.