Sexualities

This essay considers the study of cities and sexuality in urban anthropology and such allied fields as social history and geography. The relevant research focuses on forms of sexuality associated with deviance: commercial sex (prostitution) and gay, lesbian, or queer topics. It uses San Francisco as an illustrative case study and reviews interdisciplinary literature on heterosexual commercial sex, gay publics, and sexually identified cities in the global South. Key threads in research on contemporary urban sexuality are gender, intersectionality, race, and liberalism. The review incorporates foundational texts from the 1970s, arguing for greater attention to urban infrastructure in studies of sexuality.

Duke Scholars

Author Ara Wilson Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies