Soliciting sailors: the temporal dynamics of dockside prostitution in Durban and Cape Town

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Periodical article

Title:	Soliciting sailors: the temporal dynamics of dockside prostitution in Durban and Cape Town
Author:	Trotter, Henry
Year:	2009
Periodical:	Journal of Southern African Studies
Volume:	35
Issue:	3
Pages:	699-713
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	prostitution seamen
External link:	https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03057070903101904
Abstract:	Two distinct temporal regimes define sailors' experiences in South Africa: the rapid turnaround cycle of Durban's container ship sector and the slower turnaround cycle of Cape Town's deep sea trawling sector. This article examines the effects of those temporal regimes on dockside prostitution, particularly how sailors' movements influence prostitutes' solicitation strategies, economic calculations, risk management procedures and investments in learning foreign languages. The article makes three sequentially related arguments: that the time sailors spend in port dictates which solicitation techniques prostitutes use; that these techniques determine how culture is transmitted between the two parties; and that the style of cultural transmission affects how prostitutes and their communities receive the sailors' cultures. The article concludes by considering the cultural legacies of these dockside engagements. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]