Walking the beat and doing business: Exploring spaces of male sex work and public sex

Atkins, Michael and Laing, Mary (2012) Walking the beat and doing business: Exploring spaces of male sex work and public sex. Sexualities, 15 (5-6). pp. 622-643. ISSN 1363-4607

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Abstract

This article draws on two research projects to explore how spaces of public male sex work come into being through commercial and public sexual practices. Utilizing a blended methodology of ethnography, participant observation, interview materials, map making and photography, the article explores an area known for commercial and non-commercial sexual encounters between men in a city in the UK. It makes conceptual arguments about the material and discursive significance of walking in the making, and continued existence of ‘red light district’ spaces. Specifically, we will look at how men engaged in sex work (those described to be ‘doing business’) and other men seeking non-commercial sexual liaisons recognize the potential for sexual encounters in the space through environmental and embodied signifiers. We also discuss how patterns of walking and waiting mediated by this reading of the environment contribute to the emergence and persistence of a ‘beat’ space.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	city, cruising, male sex work, public sex, the beat, walking
Subjects:	L300 Sociology L400 Social Policy
Department:	Faculties > Arts, Design and Social Sciences > Social Sciences
Depositing User:	Ellen Cole
Date Deposited:	13 Dec 2012 15:31
Last Modified:	10 Oct 2019 22:30
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/10792

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