Abstract
This study examined how Israeli men who pay women for sex (MPWS) construct and sustain a moral identity within the social context that often portrays them as deviants, perpetrators, and abusers, thereby challenging their ability to maintain a respectful and dignified image. Twenty-three Israeli MPWS participated in in-depth semi-structured interviews, which were then analyzed using constructivist grounded theory method. Using the theoretical framework moral reflexivity, we conceptualize three central dynamics of constructing and sustaining a moral identity in the context of paying for sex: Maintaining an intact moral self by resisting the moral conflict; presenting a reflexive agonizing moral self; and constructing a moral self through identity fragmentation. The findings reveal that these facets of the moral reflexivity process can overlap, coexist, and circulate in a messy manner, thus promoting an ecological understanding of how morality is shaped by various societal forces, rather than discovering what a moral identity is. We therefore call for a morally sensitive approach in studies in the field of MPWS and sex work. Such an approach encourages researchers to be aware of moral issues, moral questions, and moral processes, and to treat morality as a socially context-dependent trait that is highly relevant to the study of the sex industry.