Des sexualités dans l’espace public

Abstract

Drawn from our surveys on men cruising for sex and sex work “territories” (Paris, Marseille Toulouse, Barcelona), this article underlines their major instability focusing on the risky vicinity at stake. This time-wise and geographical movement that constantly redefines them does not simply rely on the city’s presumed anonymity, but on multiple and entirely individual actions superimposed together. Night-time, in break with the binding rhythms of the day, obviously extends the scale of spatial and identity “shifts”. But during the day, more secret sexual transactions tend to mimic conventional customs, those appropriate to the space conceived and scheduled for them, those that “make with” multiple interactions with the neighbourhood, especially at peak hours.

Keywords

• cruising
• prostitution
• public space
• sex
• temporality