Sexuality and space

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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.

Contents

Specific topics which fall into this area are the geographies of LGBT residence, public sex environments, sites of queer resistance, global sexualities, sex tourism, [1] the geographies of prostitution and adult entertainment, use of sexualised locations in the arts, [2] [3] and sexual citizenship. [4] 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). [5] [6]

Origins and development

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. [7] 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. [8] A review of the papers was released by Elizabeth Wilson in Harvard Design Magazine, Winter/Spring 1997. [9]

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.

Geographies of LGBT

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. [10] 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; [11] 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.

As Robert Aldrich said in the article "Homosexuality and the City: An Historical Overview", [12] there is an inseparable relationship between land and people, where people are constantly shaping the landscape. For example, one of the schools in Thailand offered to build a third gender bathroom so transsexual students can avoid being forced to choose between the male or female bathroom. [13] The relationship between sexuality and space is not independent of other areas of geography; often, there are other aspects associated with those issues and phenomena like cultural geography and political geography. In terms of cultural geography, bars have played a large role in connecting the land to the LGBTQ community, but also separating those communities. Separatism in the lesbian and male gay communities is a theory of why these communities separated and how bars played a role in that separation. [14] Bars and queer spaces have a connection to each other. In 2012, further concern was made toward the LGBT community and retirement home in British Columbia, Canada. The Vancouver man "Alex Sangha is determined to make sure elderly LGBT people have a comfortable place to spend their twilight years" [15] by building retirement homes for LGBT community where Montreal, Quebec, Canada, has already had one operating as well as a few in the United States.

Heterosexual geographies

Research on Sexualities and Space has widened over time to encompass studies not just of LGBT populations but also the geographies and spaces of heterosexualities. This has included, inter alia, consideration of the impacts of sexuality on the visibilities of commercial sex; the design and consumption of housing; spaces of sex education; the sexualisation of leisure and retail spaces; landscapes of sex tourism; spaces of love, caring and intimacy. This has brought geographies of sexuality into dialogue with gender geography by showing that sexual norms reproduce particular ideas of masculinity and femininity. [16]

Spiritual spaces of LGBTQI

Members of non-heterosexual communities may lose the ability to worship or practice religion within the most widespread religious organizations because they are not accepted as a consequence of their sexuality. Therefore, other spiritual spaces are created, known in many cases as "Queer spiritual spaces", that can vary from sacred buildings or locations that can be "queered" to natural environments or cultural practices in themselves. This kind of behavior leads to the general population believing that LGBTQI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex) communities are largely atheist or agnostic, but instead some are just adopting non-Abrahamic faiths with pre-Christian traditions and customs, that are based on aspirational encouragement and personal well-being. [17]

The other option to creating these Queer spiritual spaces is taking part in the "queering" of religions, a movement which allows people to still practice their traditional religions but within a space that is tolerant of their sexual choices. This forms a new way of cultural engagement and opens up religious groups to people who would otherwise be outcasts. [18] This option is becoming more and more popular and therefore queer churches have become an alternative for the LGBTQI communities around the world.

Alternate religions/spiritual organizations have been created as well, such as the Lesbian stem of Separatist feminism that managed to give a voice to a portion of the community that was ostracized, and also had the power to give a foundation or reasoning for the differences they encountered with heterosexual society. [19]

Geographies of sex commerce

Research on the location of vice and prostitution have long been associated with the study of sexuality and space. Pioneering – if controversial – in this area was Symanski's (1988) Immoral Landscape; [20] subsequent studies have considered the socio-legal regulation of spaces of prostitution, adult entertainment, sex shops and hostess bars, and sought to place such issues in a wider theoretical context relating to the reproduction of heteronormality. [21] Much work, however, ignores male sex work and forms of intersex and trans-work, whilst other work continues to focus solely on the relationship between locations of sex working and the distribution of sexual infection, including HIV. Studies such as Risk Assessment of Long-Haul Truck Drivers by the University of Alabama at Birmingham, active since April 2007, [22] may also be related to this field of study as the statistics gathered will represent sampling of sexual behaviour in a controlled population of a subgroup. [23] [24]

Criticisms and conflicts

There have been several critiques of the field, and conflicts within the discipline. Studies of sexuality and space has been criticized for universalizing a Western-centric position that has minimal relevance beyond the urbanized Western world. These ideas of sexuality constitute a new homonormativity, which typically privileges white, middle-class males, to the exclusion of trans people, the lower class, and people of colour. Institutions meant to create non-heteronormative spaces, such as the Gay Games, are only accessible to those who are able to afford registration fees, airfare and training, and remain predominantly white. [25] Gender differences are also erased in adopting a "queer" identity. Some assert that by foregoing the gendered term "lesbian" for "queer", women are left unrecognized by such a universalizing signifier – like when women are incorporated under "mankind". [26] Thus, while progress is made on challenging heteronormativity, queer studies have been criticized for potentially reinforcing other forms of marginalization.

Early work on lesbian and gay geographies throughout the 1990s was done by academics working in American universities, and focused almost exclusively on the lives of those in the global North. This is problematic as the queer identity is sometimes used as a global, all-encompassing identity for the LGBT community, thus imposing Western notions of sexuality on all other cultures. Such ideas include unchallenged assumptions as to the nature of "gay rights", and what proper liberation looks like. As a result, certain cultures are labelled "forward" or "backward" based on a Western conception of the queer identity, and the cultural nuances and diversity of other sexualities are left unrecognized. [27]

Conflicts within studies of sexuality and space also exist. One such conflict is between "assimilationist" and "liberationist" perspectives on LGBT spaces. Toronto's gay village is a site of such conflict. Assimilationists are against the creation of a "gay ghetto" in Toronto, advocating instead for the integration of LGBT people into suburbs, to show that they are just like everybody else. Liberationists see the gay village as too commercial to develop the radical, activist community they see as necessary for LGBT rights. As such, Toronto's gay village is not simply a homogenous space for sexual dissidents, but is an unfixed and contested space. [28]

Organizations

Within the discipline of geography, initial scepticism and even opposition to research on sexuality has given way to recognition that geographies of sexuality offer an important perspective on the relationship between people and place (albeit that some continue to regard the area as of marginal importance). The following academic organizations are devoted to the study of sexuality and space.

Introductory readings and key texts

Related Research Articles

<i>Queer</i> Umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or not cisgender

Queer is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or are not cisgender. Originally meaning 'strange' or 'peculiar', queer came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the late 1980s, queer activists, such as the members of Queer Nation, began to reclaim the word as a deliberately provocative and politically radical alternative to the more assimilationist branches of the LGBT community.

<i>LGBT</i> Initialism for "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender"

LGBT is an initialism that stands for "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender". It may refer to anyone who is non-heterosexual or non-cisgender, instead of exclusively to people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. A popular variant, LGBTQ, adds the letter Q for those who identify as queer or are questioning their sexual or gender identity. Another popular variation, LGBTQ+, adds a plus sign in order to represent other identities not perceived to be included in LGBTQ. Many further variations of the acronym exist, such as LGBT+, LGBTQIA+, and 2SLGBTQ+. The LGBT label is not universally agreed to by everyone that it is generally intended to include. In use since the late 1980s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for marginalized sexualities and gender identities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexuality and gender identity-based cultures</span> Variety of communities and subcultures

Sexuality and gender identity-based cultures are subcultures and communities composed of people who have shared experiences, backgrounds, or interests due to common sexual or gender identities. Among the first to argue that members of sexual minorities can also constitute cultural minorities were Adolf Brand, Magnus Hirschfeld, and Leontine Sagan in Germany. These pioneers were later followed by the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT community</span> Community and culture of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people

The LGBT community is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals united by a common culture and social movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individuality, and sexuality. LGBT activists and sociologists see LGBT community-building as a counterweight to heterosexism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, sexualism, and conformist pressures that exist in the larger society. The term pride or sometimes gay pride expresses the LGBT community's identity and collective strength; pride parades provide both a prime example of the use and a demonstration of the general meaning of the term. The LGBT community is diverse in political affiliation. Not all people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender consider themselves part of the LGBT community.

Heteronormativity is the concept that heterosexuality is the preferred or normal mode of sexual orientation. It assumes the gender binary and that sexual and marital relations are most fitting between people of opposite sex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Non-heterosexual</span> Sexual orientation other than heterosexual

Non-heterosexual is a word for a sexual orientation or sexual identity that is not heterosexual. The term helps define the "concept of what is the norm and how a particular group is different from that norm". Non-heterosexual is used in feminist and gender studies fields as well as general academic literature to help differentiate between sexual identities chosen, prescribed and simply assumed, with varying understanding of implications of those sexual identities. The term is similar to queer, though less politically charged and more clinical; queer generally refers to being non-normative and non-heterosexual. Some view the term as being contentious and pejorative as it "labels people against the perceived norm of heterosexuality, thus reinforcing heteronormativity". Still, others say non-heterosexual is the only term useful to maintaining coherence in research and suggest it "highlights a shortcoming in our language around sexual identity"; for instance, its use can enable bisexual erasure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT culture</span> Common culture shared by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people

LGBT culture is a culture shared by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals. It is sometimes referred to as queer culture, while the term gay culture may be used to mean either "LGBT culture" or homosexual culture specifically.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Questioning (sexuality and gender)</span> Process of self-exploration

The questioning of one's sexual orientation, sexual identity, gender, or all three is a process of exploration by people who may be unsure, still exploring, or concerned about applying a social label to themselves for various reasons. The letter "Q" is sometimes added to the end of the acronym LGBT ; the "Q" can refer to either queer or questioning.

This article focuses on Japanese definitions of gender and sexuality, Japanese reactions to queer life, the clash between traditional and contemporary ideas, and the cultural restraints of being queer in Japan. The Western term “queer,” an umbrella term for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender represents a change in thought pertaining to gender and sexuality in contemporary Japan.

LGBT linguistics is the study of language as used by members of LGBT communities. Related or synonymous terms include lavender linguistics, advanced by William Leap in the 1990s, which "encompass[es] a wide range of everyday language practices" in LGBT communities, and queer linguistics, which refers to the linguistic analysis concerning the effect of heteronormativity on expressing sexual identity through language. The former term derives from the longtime association of the color lavender with LGBT communities. "Language", in this context, may refer to any aspect of spoken or written linguistic practices, including speech patterns and pronunciation, use of certain vocabulary, and, in a few cases, an elaborate alternative lexicon such as Polari.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queer heterosexuality</span> Heterosexual practice or identity controversially labelled queer

Queer heterosexuality is heterosexual practice or identity that is also controversially called queer. "Queer heterosexuality" is argued to consist of heterosexual, cisgender, and allosexual persons who show nontraditional gender expressions, or who adopt gender roles that differ from the hegemonic masculinity and femininity of their particular culture.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Stryker</span> American professor, historian, author, and filmmaker

Susan O'Neal Stryker is an American professor, historian, author, filmmaker, and theorist whose work focuses on gender and human sexuality. She is a professor of Gender and Women's Studies, former director of the Institute for LGBT Studies, and founder of the Transgender Studies Initiative at the University of Arizona, and is currently on leave while holding an appointment as Barbara Lee Distinguished Chair in Women's Leadership at Mills College. Stryker serves on the Advisory Council of METI and the Advisory Board of the Digital Transgender Archive. Stryker, who is a transgender woman, is the author of several books about LGBT history and culture. She is a leading scholar of transgender history.

Despite the history of colonisation and the resulting process of Westernisation since 1842, Hong Kong still embodies many aspects of Chinese traditional values towards sexuality. It is traditionally believed that heterosexuality is the nature, coherent, and privileged sexuality. Popular media marginalises and discriminates against LGBT members of Hong Kong in an attempt to maintain "traditional lifestyles".

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LGBT erasure refers to the tendency to remove lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, asexual and queer groups or people intentionally or unintentionally from record, or to dismiss or downplay their significance. This erasure can be found in a number of written and oral texts, including popular and scholarly texts.

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References

  1. ↑ Constructing tourism landscapes – gender, sexuality and space by Pritchard A. & Morgan N. J. Tourism Geographies, Volume 2, Number 2, 1 May 2000, pp. 115-139(25)
  2. ↑ "Syllabus Poetics: Sexuality and Space in 17th - 19th Century American Literature, University at Buffalo". Archived from the original on 2017-04-17. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
  3. ↑ Space and Modern (Homo)sexuality in Tsai Ming Liang's Films by Lyn Van Swol
  4. ↑ Sexuality and Space, Course Syllabus Towson University Archived 2008-02-03 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ Knopp, Lawrence (Fall 2005). "Syllabus GEOG 4349 - Gender, Space, and Culture".
  6. ↑ Sexuality, Space, and City life, a lecture by Michael N. Solem, The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Archived 2005-11-26 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ [Knopp, L. (1990) Social consequences of homosexuality. Geographical Magazine, May 20–25.]
  8. ↑ Sexuality & Space (Princeton Papers on Architecture) by Beatriz Colomina, Princeton Architectural Press; 4th ed. edition (July 1, 1996)
  9. ↑ Sexuality and Space Review by Elizabeth Wilson, Harvard Design Magazine, Winter/Spring 1997
  10. ↑ Bell, D. & Valentine G. (eds) (1995) Mapping desire: geographies of sexualities. London: Routledge.
  11. ↑ Rushbrook, D (2002). "Cities, Queer Space, and the Cosmopolitan Tourist" GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 8(1-2):183-206
  12. ↑ Collins A. Eds (2006) Cities of Pleasure :Sex and the Urban Socialscape London, Rotledge
  13. ↑ BBC News :Thai school offers transsexual toilet http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7529227.stm
  14. ↑ Dinshaw, Carolyn (2006). "The History of GLQ, Volume 1: LGBTQ Studies, Censorship, and Other Transnational Problems". GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies. 12: 5–26. doi:10.1215/10642684-12-1-5. S2CID   144681805.
  15. ↑ CBC News: LGBT retirement home mooted for B.C. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/09/02/bc-lgbt-retirement-home.html
  16. ↑ [Hubbard, P. (2008) "Here, there, everywhere: the ubiquitous geographies of heteronormativity" Geography Compass]. Further developments in this respect concern the sexualisation of global business and the globalization of commodified female sexualities which privilege particular notions of subservience and domination.
  17. ↑ Browne, Munt and Yip (2010). Queer Spiritual Spaces : Sexuality and Sacred Places. Farnham, Surrey, GBR: Ashgate Publishing Group. p. 319. ISBN   9781409404774.
  18. ↑ Boisvert and Johnson (2012). Queer Religion. Praeger. p. 599. ISBN   978-0313353598.
  19. ↑ Browne, Munt and Yip (2010). Queer Spiritual Spaces : Sexuality and Sacred Places. Farnham, Surrey, GBR: Ashgate Publishing Group. p. 319. ISBN   9781409404774.
  20. ↑ Symanski, R. (1981) Immoral Landscape: female prostitution in the urban West Toronto: Butterworths
  21. ↑ Hubbard, P. (1999) Sex and the city: geographies of prostitution in the Urban West (Chichester; Ashgate)
  22. ↑ Clinicaltrial.gov
  23. ↑ Josie Glausiusz "Hookers & Haulers - research indicates truck drivers are spreading HIV - Brief Article". Discover. May 2000.
  24. ↑ Social Geographies: From Difference to Action by Ruth Panelli, pg.113-117, 2004 ISBN   0-7619-6894-6
  25. ↑ Waitt G (2005) The Sydney 2002 Gay Games and querying Australian national space. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space. 23: 435-452.
  26. ↑ Browne, K. "Queer Theroy/Queer Geographies." International Encyclopedia of Human Geography. Rob Kitchin and Nigel Thrift, Eds. 2009.
  27. ↑ Browne, K. "Queer Theroy/Queer Geographies." International Encyclopedia of Human Geography. Rob Kitchin and Nigel Thrift, Eds. 2009.
  28. ↑ Oswin N (2008) Critical geographies and the uses of sexuality: Deconstructing queer space. Progress in Human Geography 32: 89–103.
  29. ↑ Sexuality and Space Speciality Group of the AAG, University of Leeds official website Archived 2009-04-15 at the Wayback Machine
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