Their own way of having power: Female Adolescent Prostitutes’ Strategies of Resistance in Cape Town, South Africa

Adolescents engage in prostitution across the cultural record, and yet their decisions and actions negate what is widely seen as appropriate or desirable behavior for children who in contemporary Western society are viewed as vulnerable, innocent, and dependent “becomings”(Lee 2001, 5). In order to conceptualize this anomaly, adolescent prostitutes are either described as “powerless victims” or “irrational delinquents” acting in conflict with social norms. There is little conceptual clarity or theoretical analysis of the choices these adolescents make and the manner in which they intentionally use their sexuality to fulfill their preferences and meet their needs. This chapter argues that