Recent from talks
Sexuality and space
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Sexuality and space
Sexuality and space is a field of study within human geography. The phrase encompasses all relationships and interactions between human sexuality, space and place, themes studied within cultural geography, i.e., environmental and architectural psychology, urban sociology, gender studies, queer studies, socio-legal studies, planning, housing studies and criminology.
Specific topics which fall into this area are the geographies of LGBT residence, public sex environments, sites of queer resistance, global sexualities, sex tourism, the geographies of prostitution and adult entertainment, use of sexualised locations in the arts, and sexual citizenship. The field is now well represented within academic curricula at the university level, and is beginning to make its influence felt on secondary level education (in both the US and the UK).
The work of sociologists has long been concerned with the relationship between urbanization and sexuality, especially in the form of visible clusters or neighborhoods typified by specific sexual moralities or practices. Identification of 'vice areas' and, latterly, 'gay villages', has been a stock in the trade of urban sociology since at least the time of the Chicago School.
The origins of the term "Sexuality and Space" can be traced back to the early 1990s where usage of the phrase was popularized by two publications. In 1990 what may be described as 'Gay Geography' was presented to a wider audience when an article by Larry Knopp was published in the Geographical Magazine to some controversy. In 1992 Beatriz Colomina's Sexuality and Space (Princeton Papers on Architecture) was released; in which the term is used to elaborate on the symbolism of towers and other structures as Phallic icons. The paper goes on to discuss the sexual psychology of color and other design elements. A review of the papers was released by Elizabeth Wilson in Harvard Design Magazine, Winter/Spring 1997.
Within contemporary geography, studies of sexuality are primarily social and cultural in orientation, though there is also notable engagement with political and economic geography, particularly in work on the rise of queer autonomous spaces, economies and alternative (queer) capitalisms. Much work is informed by politics intended to oppose homophobia and heterosexism, inform sexual health, and promote more inclusive forms of sexual citizenship. Methodologically, much work has been qualitative in orientation, rejecting traditional 'straight' methodologies, yet quantitative methods and GIS have also been utilized to good effect. Work remains predominantly focused on the metropolitan centres of the urban West, but there have been notable studies that focus on rural sexualities and sexualities in the global South.
Although 'minority' sexuality remains a topic that hardly gets a mention in school geography,[citation needed] it has become an accepted part of many university geography departments and is often taught as part of courses on Social and Cultural Geography. Arguably, the most influential book-publication to position sexuality as an accepted part of geography was Mapping Desire, an edited collection by David Bell and Gill Valentine. Bell and Valentine provide a critical review of the history of geographical works on sexuality and set an agenda for further research. They are especially critical of the earliest sexual geographies written during the 1970s and 1980s in the UK and North America. In contrast to the 'dots on maps' approach of the 1970s and 1980s, Mapping Desire represents an attempt to map the geographies of homosexuality, transsexuality, bisexuality, sadomasochism and butch-femme lesbian identities. This represented an important landmark in geographers' engagement with, and development of, queer theory. Subsequent research has developed this work, with an increasing focus on transnational LGBT activism; the intersections of nationhood and sexuality and questions of LGBT citizenship and sexual politics at scales from the body to the global.
Ever since the rise of attention to geographies of LGBT in the late 1970s and 1980s, more research has been focused on the relationship between place, space and sexuality. New phenomena and issues are being explored; for example, in Dereka Rushbrook's research, he points out that some of the secondary cities in the US like Portland, Oregon, and Austin, Texas, had seen the gay village in their cities as something that represents the modernness and diversity of their cites; furthermore, transsexual and third gender, so called the Kathoey in Thailand are worldwide famous for their dance performances and considered a must-see while visiting Thailand.
On the other side, the potential consumption of the LGBTQ+ group and cities are starting[when?] to target the group which creates the phenomenon called pink tourism or LGBTQ+ tourism where providing safe yet non-discriminate services and facilities like pubs and saunas which target LGBTQ+ people. Even more, the increasing legalization of same sex marriage in some Western countries has had a significant impact on tourism and movement, despite the possibility of same sex marriage having limited legal power in their home countries.
Hub AI
Sexuality and space AI simulator
(@Sexuality and space_simulator)
Sexuality and space
Sexuality and space is a field of study within human geography. The phrase encompasses all relationships and interactions between human sexuality, space and place, themes studied within cultural geography, i.e., environmental and architectural psychology, urban sociology, gender studies, queer studies, socio-legal studies, planning, housing studies and criminology.
Specific topics which fall into this area are the geographies of LGBT residence, public sex environments, sites of queer resistance, global sexualities, sex tourism, the geographies of prostitution and adult entertainment, use of sexualised locations in the arts, and sexual citizenship. The field is now well represented within academic curricula at the university level, and is beginning to make its influence felt on secondary level education (in both the US and the UK).
The work of sociologists has long been concerned with the relationship between urbanization and sexuality, especially in the form of visible clusters or neighborhoods typified by specific sexual moralities or practices. Identification of 'vice areas' and, latterly, 'gay villages', has been a stock in the trade of urban sociology since at least the time of the Chicago School.
The origins of the term "Sexuality and Space" can be traced back to the early 1990s where usage of the phrase was popularized by two publications. In 1990 what may be described as 'Gay Geography' was presented to a wider audience when an article by Larry Knopp was published in the Geographical Magazine to some controversy. In 1992 Beatriz Colomina's Sexuality and Space (Princeton Papers on Architecture) was released; in which the term is used to elaborate on the symbolism of towers and other structures as Phallic icons. The paper goes on to discuss the sexual psychology of color and other design elements. A review of the papers was released by Elizabeth Wilson in Harvard Design Magazine, Winter/Spring 1997.
Within contemporary geography, studies of sexuality are primarily social and cultural in orientation, though there is also notable engagement with political and economic geography, particularly in work on the rise of queer autonomous spaces, economies and alternative (queer) capitalisms. Much work is informed by politics intended to oppose homophobia and heterosexism, inform sexual health, and promote more inclusive forms of sexual citizenship. Methodologically, much work has been qualitative in orientation, rejecting traditional 'straight' methodologies, yet quantitative methods and GIS have also been utilized to good effect. Work remains predominantly focused on the metropolitan centres of the urban West, but there have been notable studies that focus on rural sexualities and sexualities in the global South.
Although 'minority' sexuality remains a topic that hardly gets a mention in school geography,[citation needed] it has become an accepted part of many university geography departments and is often taught as part of courses on Social and Cultural Geography. Arguably, the most influential book-publication to position sexuality as an accepted part of geography was Mapping Desire, an edited collection by David Bell and Gill Valentine. Bell and Valentine provide a critical review of the history of geographical works on sexuality and set an agenda for further research. They are especially critical of the earliest sexual geographies written during the 1970s and 1980s in the UK and North America. In contrast to the 'dots on maps' approach of the 1970s and 1980s, Mapping Desire represents an attempt to map the geographies of homosexuality, transsexuality, bisexuality, sadomasochism and butch-femme lesbian identities. This represented an important landmark in geographers' engagement with, and development of, queer theory. Subsequent research has developed this work, with an increasing focus on transnational LGBT activism; the intersections of nationhood and sexuality and questions of LGBT citizenship and sexual politics at scales from the body to the global.
Ever since the rise of attention to geographies of LGBT in the late 1970s and 1980s, more research has been focused on the relationship between place, space and sexuality. New phenomena and issues are being explored; for example, in Dereka Rushbrook's research, he points out that some of the secondary cities in the US like Portland, Oregon, and Austin, Texas, had seen the gay village in their cities as something that represents the modernness and diversity of their cites; furthermore, transsexual and third gender, so called the Kathoey in Thailand are worldwide famous for their dance performances and considered a must-see while visiting Thailand.
On the other side, the potential consumption of the LGBTQ+ group and cities are starting[when?] to target the group which creates the phenomenon called pink tourism or LGBTQ+ tourism where providing safe yet non-discriminate services and facilities like pubs and saunas which target LGBTQ+ people. Even more, the increasing legalization of same sex marriage in some Western countries has had a significant impact on tourism and movement, despite the possibility of same sex marriage having limited legal power in their home countries.
Recent media