Sex in Public: The Transformative Social Power of Our Erotic Lives

A prize-winning sociologist's radical vision of the social power of erotic life. 

"Fearless, candid, and bold, Sex in Public is necessary reading for anyone interested in imagining a different kind of world." --Jennifer C. Nash, author of Black Feminism Reimagined

Whether we are contending with shame, healing from trauma, or experimenting in the bedroom, there is a common tendency to cast anything sexual as a problem best solved in private. Fears of judgment fuel an air of oppression around something that should be liberating. According to feminist sociologist Angela Jones, we must reject this solitary vision of desire to claim the pleasure fundamental to our freedom.

Sex in Public offers a revolutionary new paradigm for understanding sexuality. Sex is never strictly personal, but relentlessly social, shaped by power relations, and possessing outsized power of its own. To make this case, Jones charts the inner and interrelated workings of our desires, behaviors, identities, relationships, and communities.

Guiding readers through field-leading sociology, sexual science, and the voices of sexual rule-breakers worldwide, Jones pinpoints the repressive forces that distort eroticism's power, but also reveals our means of breaking free. Championing a rebellious spirit that uplifts bodily autonomy, justice, and care, Sex in Public makes a tantalizing promise: better sex lives and empowerment await, if only we dare to know our sexualities fully, reimagining society as we do.

Angela Jones is a professor of women, gender, and sexuality studies at Stony Brook University. Their work focuses on gender, sexuality, race, feminist theory, sex work, and African American political thought and protest. Jones has written or edited ten books, including Sex Work Today, Black Lives Matter, and Camming. They live in New York.