Sex workers throughout the world share a uniquely maligned mystique that simultaneously positions them as sexually desirable and socially repulsive. In order to better understand how these processes function cross-culturally, this special issue of Wagadu features thirteen original articles that focus upon the everyday lives of sex workers, very broadly defined as those who exchange intimacy for something of value. This special issue fills a significant gap in the literature by examining how individual biography intersects with structural position to condition certain categories of individuals to believe that their self-esteem, material worth, and possibilities for life improvement are invested in their bodies and sexual labor. Such beliefs inevitably combine with sex workers' knowledge of their marginal, conflicted social status to inform many of their decision-making strategies. Drawing upon research conducted in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Mexico, Thailand, Uganda, the United States, and the United Kingdom by scholars, sex workers and activists, work featured in this special issue illustrates the processes by which sex workers are able to see themselves as agents and entrepreneurs despite pervasive social messages to the contrary.