From nightlife conventions to daytime hidden agendas: dynamics of urban sexual territories in the South of France.
This article focuses on the space-time dynamics of sexual encounters in city neighborhoods associated with sex work and cruising. The data were collected as part of a multisite, longitudinal ethnographic study conducted in major cities of southern France. The results suggest that there is a continuous interaction between these sexualized public spaces and urban planning. Urban planners, however, are not the only actors shaping the location and the use of the space. Participants create a dialectical movement from night normative worlds to occult practices interwoven with daytime activities. They also create subtle social rules governing actors and their practices.
Gaissad
Laurent
L
CIRUS-CERS, Maison de la Recherche, Universite de Toulouse le Mirail, 5 Allee Antonio Machado, 31 058 Toulouse Cedex, France. gaissad@univ-tlse2.fr
D002958:City Planning; D004779:Environment Design; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011477:Sex Work; D012931:Social Environment; D013997:Time Factors; D014505:Urban Population; D014507:Urbanization