Review by Choice Review
Maher does a superior job at challenging current conceptions of women's position and behavior in the street-level drug economy through a detailed ethnographical account of female crack users in a low-income area of New York City. She demonstrates that, contrary to popular opinion, female crack users exchange sex for crack reluctantly, and unlike their male counterparts, these female crack users generally resort to violence only if provoked. Even more important, however, Maher clearly and continually explains that the social forces restricting women's experiences--especially those of minority women--in the formal economy are also at play in the informal drug market economy. Consequently, the women in Maher's study--again, especially the minority women--are as marginalized in the drug economy as other women are in the formal economy. Maher concludes by relating her findings to the major theories of women's criminal and drug behavior and by synthesizing these findings into a more comprehensive explanation of the social, economic, and cultural factors that influence female crack users' behavior. Sexed Work is an excellent examination of an often misunderstood and overlooked group and is informative for people from many disciplines. All levels. L. Wolfer; University of Scranton
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
