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      #Blesser: A critical evaluation of conceptual antecedents and the allure of a transactional relationship

      research-article
      Author(s): ,
      Publication date (Print and electronic):
      Journal: Acta Academica
      Publisher: University of the Free State
      Keywords: blessee, blesser, relationships, South Africa, sugar daddy, transactional sex

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          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Blessed relationships (BRs) bring together technology, sexuality, and economics within a consumerist environment. Academic literature has used 'blesser' and 'sugar daddy' interchangeably, and online reports have explained how BRs, as a new South African cultural option of structuring relationships, differ from sugar relationships because they represent a new product on offer in relationship shopping. This essay critically evaluates academic and selected online sources to understand the allure and controversy of BRs. Research focuses predominantly on 'controversial' frames of health and moral risks. However, labels, such as 'blesser' and 'sugar daddy' discursively construct different sexual domains. After reviewing literature and online information, the essay presents a nomenclature of transactional relationships that considers the agential and discursive subtleties of BRs. Implications and research recommendations for the structuring of relationships, given newer options for lifestyle, companionship, and sexuality, which BRs have made publicly visible, conclude the essay.

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          The Materiality of Everyday Sex: Thinking beyond 'prostitution'

          Mark Hunter (2002)
          Article 0 comments Cited 91 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
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            More than just talk: the framing of transactional sex and its implications for vulnerability to HIV in Lesotho, Madagascar and South Africa

            Kirsten Stoebenau, Stephanie Nixon, Clara Rubincam … (2011)
            Background 'Transactional sex' was regarded by the mid-1990s as an important determinant of HIV transmission, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Little attention has been paid to what the terms used to denote transactional sex suggest about how it is understood. This study provides a nuanced set of descriptions of the meaning of transactional sex in three settings. Furthermore, we discuss how discourses around transactional sex suggest linkages to processes of globalization and hold implications for vulnerability to HIV. Methods The analysis in this article is based on three case studies conducted as part of a multi-country research project that investigated linkages between economic globalization and HIV. In this analysis, we contextualize and contrast the 'talk' about transactional sex through the following research methods in three study sites: descriptions revealed through semi-structured interviews with garment workers in Lesotho; focus groups with young women and men in Antananarivo, Madagascar; and focus groups and in-depth interviews with young women and men in Mbekweni, South Africa. Results Participants' talk about transactional sex reveals two themes: (1) 'The politics of differentiation' reflects how participants used language to demarcate identities, and distance themselves from contextually-based marginalized identities; and (2) 'Gender, agency and power' describes how participants frame gendered-power within the context of transactional sex practices, and reflects on the limitations to women's power as sexual agents in these exchanges. Talk about transactional sex in our study settings supports the assertion that emerging transactional sexual practices are linked with processes of globalization tied to consumerism. Conclusions By focusing on 'talk' about transactional sex, we locate definitions of transactional sex, and how terms used to describe transactional sex are morally framed for people within their local context. We take advantage of an opportunity to comparatively explore such talk across three different study sites, and contribute to a better understanding of both emerging sexual practices and their implications for HIV vulnerability. Our work underlines that transactional sex needs to be reflected as it is perceived: something very different from, but of at least equal concern to, formal sex work in the efforts to curb HIV transmission.
            Article 0 comments Cited 30 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
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              Young people's relationships with sugar daddies and sugar mummies: what do we know and what do we need to know?

              B Kuate Defo (2004)
              This paper critically synthesises available research that examines young people's relationships with sugar daddies and mummies. It considers definitional, measurement and analytical issues involved in assessing these relationships, their magnitude, patterns, determinants and consequences. The review compares and contrasts the experiences of young people in a variety of settings in developing countries versus developed countries, and identifies key associated factors perpetuating those relationships. The implications of this endeavour for data needs and future research and intervention studies targeted at promoting young people's health and well being are discussed within the contexts of globalisation and localisation and recommendations for dealing with these experiences.
              Article 0 comments Cited 18 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Prevan Moodley: Role: ND
                Sumayya Ebrahim: Role: ND
                Journal
                Journal ID (publisher-id): aa
                Title: Acta Academica
                Abbreviated Title: Acta acad. (Bloemfontein, Online)
                Publisher: University of the Free State (Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa )
                ISSN (Print): 0587-2405
                ISSN (Electronic): 2415-0479
                Publication date (Print and electronic): 2019
                Volume: 51
                Issue: 2
                Pages: 21-40
                Affiliations
                [02] orgnameUniversity of Johannesburg orgdiv1Department of Psychology Republic of South Africa
                [01] orgnameUniversity of Johannesburg orgdiv1Department of Psychology Republic of South Africa pmoodley@ 123456uj.ac.za
                Article
                Publisher ID: S2415-04792019000200002 Publisher ID: S2415-0479(19)05100200002
                DOI: 10.18820/24150479/aa51i2.2
                SO-VID: aa3847de-6ec2-4d23-98cf-bb94256e9e5b
                License:

                This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

                History
                Date accepted : 17 July 2019
                Date received : 25 April 2018
                Page count
                Figures: 0, Tables: 0, Equations: 0, References: 33, Pages: 20
                Product

                SciELO South Africa

                Categories
                Subject: Articles

                Keywords: blesser,blessee,transactional sex,sugar daddy,South Africa,relationships
                Data availability:
                Keywords: blesser, blessee, transactional sex, sugar daddy, South Africa, relationships

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