The Geography of Sexuality Sexuality as an Element of Culture

Sexuality A set of practices and identities that a given culture considers related to each other and to those things it considers sexual acts and desires. What is the geography of sexuality? Geography as a discipline has been reticent about recognizing that sexuality is foundational to the making of social and spatial orders (cf. class, race, or gender). Initial work on geographies of sexuality was therefore restricted to consideration of “zones of vice” and studies of prostitution (a key theme in the Chicago School’s urban ethnographies). The increased visibility of lesbian and gay life in a range of Western cities (notably San Francisco, New York, Amsterdam, Berlin, and Paris) saw pioneering studies emerge in the 1980s which began to highlight the importance of particular neighborhoods in the social, economic, and political life of those whose lives fell outside the heterosexual “norm.” Simply put, the geography of sexuality encompasses the relationship and interactions between human sexuality, space and place; this includes the spatial distribution of prostitution (1), sex trafficking (2) and the spatial constraints of homosexuality (3)

The Geography of Sexuality: Prostitution “Sex work”, as it is commonly called, is spatially differentiated based upon the target clientele as well as systems of surveillance. Female sex workers who service an upper income clientele generally perform their work in the homes, hotels and other private areas of upper and middle class societies (brothels). Female sex workers serving a lower class clientele tend to operate within more public settings (“streetwalking”, “red-light districts”)

Kinds of Prostitution 1) Street Prostitution 2) Escort or Call-out 3) Sex Tourism and Sex Trafficking

Legalities/Examples of Global Prostitution Europe (Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland) Prostitutes are unionized professionals Brothels are legal Prostitutes must be 18 yrs of age Sweden-prostitution legal, pimping is not Norway-prostitution is illegal, client commits crime Middle East (Turkey) Prostitution through gov’t-regulated brothels is legal

Legalities of Prostitution United States Prostitution is illegal (except for Nevada, Rhode Island) Drugs, violence and pimps often associated with American prostitution Washington D.C.-Street Prostitution where mortality rate is 40X higher than national average. 75% of street prostitutes are victims of incest. Latin America (Costa Rica, Brazil) - Prostitution is legal, pimping is not Japan - certain prostitution is legal Bangladesh - prostitutes earn approximately $4/hr, prostitution is legal, problem of sex trafficking minors (approx. 30,000 child prostitutes in Bangladesh). Many girls under the age of 12. Eighteen red-light districts in country. Australia (Sydney, Melbourne) - Five Star Brothels-legalized prostitution in an attempt to regulate industry; clients are inspected for STDs and are then instructed to shower. Prostitutes can have sex with as many as 10 clients per shift and earn approximately $170,000/year.

The Geography of Sexuality: Sex Trafficking Trafficking of humans exists in three ways… Prostitution, forced labor, or for human organs. Some facts regarding sex trafficking and prostitution… 80 % of all trafficked persons are used and abused as sex slaves (demand and profit) 98% are women and girls (500,000 women each year around the world), 95% are abused during trafficking 2 million children have been subjected to prostitution in the global commercial sex trade 15,000 women trafficked into the U.S. each year (2010)-brothels, strip clubs, fake massage parlors $15.6 billion in revenue made in industrialized countries (46% of all sex trafficking revenues)-Why? 52% of traffickers are men Only 1 person convicted for every 800 people trafficked worldwide Sex Trafficking in Atlanta Traffickers/pimps make an average of $32,000/week $290 million/year made in Atlanta off sex trafficking Atlanta is a major hub due to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (largest)

Sex Trafficking Tiers

Sex Tourism vs. Sex Trafficking Not all sex tourism involves sex trafficking. Sex tourism is defined as arranged trips for the sold purpose of having sex with residents. Sex Tourism Hot Spots-Thailand, Asia, Europe, U.S. military bases, major sporting events

The Geography of Sexuality: Homosexuality Gays and lesbians are reshaping the geography of many states and sub-states. Two ways in which they are doing so… 1) gay and lesbian consumerism (Pink Spending) 2) understanding homosexuality

Pink Spending Open expression of sexual preference in consumption. Use of the word pink is in reference to the pink triangle that Hitler required homosexuals to wear in Nazi concentration camps. Consumer support by gays and other consumers of openly gay businesses has led to the establishment of identifiably “gay” spaces (shopping districts and neighborhoods). Gay Spaces have… Enabled gay communities in many core countries to gain significant political power (queer theory) Allowed gays to unify against the dominant ideology regarding sexuality (heteronormative)

Understanding Homosexuality In contrast to heterosexuality, homosexuality is represented in social and cultural practices that go against the “heteronormative”. The central theoretical position of identifying sexual identities comes from the purpose of gender. Gender is now being looked at not as something we are , but something we do (how we portray our body to others)

Geography and Sexuality: A Map of Same Sex Couples

Cities in America with Same Sex Couples

Gay Rights around the World

Legalized Gay Marriage Netherlands-first to legalize; Massachusetts-first to legalize in U.S.; rights guaranteed by the 14th Amendment