Compensated Dating

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Cassini Sai Kwan Chu

   Pages 1-18

3. Theoretical and Methodological Issues in Researching Compensated Dating

   • Cassini Sai Kwan Chu

   Pages 19-46

4. The Brothers—Part I: Men Who Buy Compensated Dating

   • Cassini Sai Kwan Chu

   Pages 47-75

5. The Brothers—Part II: Why Compensated Dating?

   • Cassini Sai Kwan Chu

   Pages 77-103

6. The Brothers—Part III: Becoming and Being a Brother

   • Cassini Sai Kwan Chu

   Pages 105-125

7. Why Do Girls Engage in CD?

   • Cassini Sai Kwan Chu

   Pages 127-151

8. More than Bounded Authenticity

   • Cassini Sai Kwan Chu

   Pages 153-185

9. Conclusion

   • Cassini Sai Kwan Chu

   Pages 187-198

10. Back Matter

    Pages 199-218

    PDF

This book considers a burgeoning social phenomenon, compensated dating in Hong Kong, that facilitates direct commercial sex exchange between consenting females from their mid-teens through the late 20s and males from their early 20s to mid-adulthood. Informed by the transformation of intimacy, the breakdown of institutional constraints, the emergence of a new female sexual autonomy and the advancement of information technology, this book moves beyond stereotypes of sex work to look at the complexities of compensated dating. The phenomenon of compensated dating is distinctive from most other sex trades in that it involves intense emotional interactions and often extends beyond the commercial boundary. Given the dynamic, flexible and ambiguous nature of compensated dating, it has become more of a space for sexual explorations and less of a rigid model of commercial sex, at least in the eye of the participants. This book walks through how men become involved in compensated dating and alsosheds lights on how gender relations are negotiated, with important implications on what it means to be a man and a woman in contemporary Hong Kong society. It also speaks to the broader transformations of some of the key social structures and elements, particularly gender and sexualities, in the era of late modernity.

• Compensated Dating
• Taboo Sex
• Deviant Behavior and Dating
• Traditional Prostitution
• Direct Commercial Sex Exchange
• Female Sexual Autonomy
• Sex and Advancement of Information Technology
• Traditional Moral Codes in Asia
• gender and sexuality
• gender, sexuality and law

“Cassini Chu has written a landmark book on ‘compensated dating’ in Hong Kong, a hidden youth issue of child sexual exploitation that is difficult to investigate and a difficult social problem to address in Asia. She has managed to get rare access to practitioners of "CD" while researching this under-reported issue and as a result, Chu has been able to produce an important book that is valuable to law enforcement, educators, policymakers, social workers and anyone interested in learning more about this devastating clandestine crime. I highly recommend this book.” (Sylvia Yu Friedman, award-winning journalist and author of Silenced No More: Voices of ‘Comfort Women’)

“This is a must read for those interested in the complexities of modern intimacy, particularly as they play out on and off line. A highly engaging read as Dr. Chu draws from rich and original sources of data - from cyber ethnography to in-depth interviews to analyse how strangers in the city navigate to develop and exchange short and long lasting intimacy... .” (Karen Joe Laidler, Professor/Deputy Head, Department of Sociology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)

• University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong, Hong Kong

  Cassini Sai Kwan Chu

Cassini Sai Kwan Chu received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Hong Kong. She has been involved in research related to commercial sex and her interests lie particularly in the study of gender, sexuality and sex work in modern times. She explores how the changes of the commercial sex industry, from clients and providers’ perspectives, reflect the transformation of intimacy and sexuality in late modernity.

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