The feminist discussion on prostitution has become a polarized debate. Leaving aside the prostitution as violence / prostitution as labor dichotomy, this article addresses the views of women who engage in commercial sex from their everyday life in that practice. Drawing on interviews and observations conducted in three cities of Argentina, the views of women who do and do not belong to organizations, and in various forms of commercial sex, are described and analyzed. The native meanings associated to "work" are considered in line with the tensions in its articulation with commercial sex, on the one hand, and with conceptions of sexuality, on the other. The article finally argues for the need to rethink the singular characteristics acquired by the discourses of these women in their local context, which the more usual viewpoints overlook.
prostitution; work; sexuality; body; instrumentality
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