Only abstract. Paper copies of master’s theses are listed in the Helka database (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Electronic copies of master’s theses are either available as open access or only on thesis terminals in the Helsinki University Library.Vain tiivistelmä. Sidottujen gradujen saatavuuden voit tarkistaa Helka-tietokannasta (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Digitaaliset gradut voivat olla luettavissa avoimesti verkossa tai rajoitetusti kirjaston opinnäytekioskeilla.Endast sammandrag. Inbundna avhandlingar kan sökas i Helka-databasen (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Elektroniska kopior av avhandlingar finns antingen öppet på nätet eller endast tillgängliga i bibliotekets avhandlingsterminaler.This thesis analyses the specific moral discourses that popular class female sex workers and their regular clients create in the particular world of prostitution in Managua, Nicargua. My intention was to identify, through ethnographic narratives, what meanings sex workers and clients attach to intimacy and respect and how their street life (calle) and home making (casa) roles merge and interact. The specific kind of morality that emerges in sex workers' and clients' manner of speaking indicates how the limits of morality are fluid, pointing to where the spheres of calle and casa meet, intermingle and create specific meanings. This is not an investigation into deviant behaviour, although the actors are situated in a social world that is characterised as liminal. It is, rather, an ethnography of the particular aimed at dispelling stereotypical images portrayed of sex workers and clients. It attempts to bring a commentary to the ongoing discussion on masculinity and sexuality, where a stress is being placed on the multiplicity and shifting character of roles, and of the centrality of interaction between men and women. The study is based on ethnographical field work (Nov 1998 - Mar 1999) conducted in Managua. The main methodology used was taped life history interviews mainly with sex workers and clients; and, participant observation through site visits to both day time and night time locations. The total number of interviews conducted was 26 (women 18, men 8). Additionally, literary sources on sexuality and masculinity in Latin America were used. In the world of Managua prostitution we find popular class Managuans in their role as clients and sex workers, but we also glimpse their other, home making roles. The so called "ideal" picture of gender relations, and the real situation on the streets and homes of popular class Nicaraguans contradict each other. Men and women are conditioned to believe in romantic love, but in many Nicaraguan homes the reality is economic and emotional deprivation, violence, and abandonment. There is a lack of trust, of safety and of an opportunity for men and women to fulfil the roles of home making. Women and men live with the dream of having a home, a place of safety and love, understanding and communication. Through the game of courtship between sex workers and clients, respect and communication leads to a mutual sense of affection and a particular kind of morality. The safety arising from this interaction provides a means of making a home. In this process we find evidence of how the meaning of morality and masculinity is shifting and transformative
