Public City/Public Sex: Homosexuality, Prostitution, and Urban Culture in Nineteenth-Century Paris

264 Pages·2019·15.36 MB·English

by  Andrew Israel Ross

PUBLIC CITY / PUBLIC SEX
In the series Sexuality Studies, edited by Janice Irvine and Regina Kunzel
ALSO IN THIS SERIES:
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Andrew Israel Ross
PUBLIC CITY / PUBLIC SEX
Homosexuality, Prostitution, and Urban Culture
in Nineteenth-Century Paris
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Philadelphia • Rome • Tokyo
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122
tupress.temple.edu
Copyright © 2019 by Temple University—Of The Commonwealth System
of Higher Education
All rights reserved
Published 2019
Portions of Chapters 2, 3, and 6 were reprinted from the following sources:
Chapter 2: Andrew Israel Ross, “Dirty Desire: The Uses and Misuses of Public Urinals in
Nineteenth-Century Paris,” Berkeley Journal of Sociology 53 (2009): 62–88.
Chapter 3: Andrew Israel Ross, “Sex in the Archives: Homosexuality, Prostitution, and the
Archives de la Préfecture de Police de Paris,” French Historical Studies 40, no. 2 (2017):
267–290. Copyright 2017, the Society of French Historical Studies. All rights reserved.
Republished by permission of the copyright holder and the present publisher, Duke
University Press, www.dukeupress.edu.
Chapter 6: Andrew Israel Ross, “Serving Sex: Playing with Prostitution in the Brasseries à
femmes of Late Nineteenth-Century Paris,” Journal of the History of Sexuality 24, no. 2
(2015): 288–313. Copyright © 2015 by the University of Texas Press. All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ross, Andrew Israel, 1983– author.
Title: Public city/public sex : homosexuality, prostitution, and urban
culture in nineteenth-century Paris / Andrew Israel Ross.
Description: Philadelphia : Temple University Press, 2019. | Series: 
Sexuality studies | Includes bibliographical references and index. | 
Identifiers: LCCN 2018054722 (print) | LCCN 2019001918 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781439914908 (E-book) | ISBN 9781439914885 (cloth : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781439914892 (pbk : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Male homosexuality—France—Paris—History—19th century. | 
Prostitution—France—Paris—History—19th century. | Public sex—France—
Paris—History—19th century. | City and town life—France—Paris—History—
19th century. | City planning—France—Paris—History—19th century. |
Social control—France—Paris—History—19th century. | Paris (France)—
Social conditions—19th century. | Paris (France)—Social policy.
Classification: LCC HQ76.2.F82 (ebook) | LCC HQ76.2.F82 R67 2019 (print) | 
DDC 306.76/620944361—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018054722
The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American National
Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ANSI Z39.48-1992
Printed in the United States of America
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
In memory of Erin Berman

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
PART I
1 Regulation, the Maison de Tolérance, and the Signs of Sex 27
2 Public Hygiene, Public Sex, and Public Urinals 61
PART II
3 On Prostitutes and Pederasts 95
4 Constructing a Public Sexual Culture 125
PART III
5 Public Sphere/Public Sex 157
6 Selling the Pleasures of Paris 183
Conclusion 213
Bibliography 221
Index 243

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
write these acknowledgments at a moment of professional transition, hav-
I
ing just moved to a new city to begin the fall semester at a new institution.
I therefore find it especially gratifying to think back now on all the people
who helped make this book possible.
I have benefited from constant mentorship. Steven Hause introduced
me to the city of Paris and to French history. It is thanks to him and his
work that I developed into a historian of sexuality in the first place. Dena
Goodman’s seminar on cultural history helped crystallize my own approach.
David Caron graciously agreed to serve on my dissertation committee and
provided immensely useful comments that made this a better book. Éric
Fassin graciously sponsored me as I applied for research funding and in-
vited me to attend his sexuality studies seminar in Paris. Michael Sibalis
oriented me to the archives. Without his pathbreaking work, my own would
not have been possible. He also introduced me to Régis Revenin, who gra-
ciously shared some of his own research notes with me. Malika Rahal was
my landlord and roommate in Paris, and she helped me find my bearings
there as well. Kathleen Canning and Scott Spector shaped this project both
formally and informally; their continued assistance and encouragement have
been essential to my success. Finally, Joshua Cole has been central to my de-
velopment as a scholar. As mentor, colleague, and friend, Josh has provided
the advice, critique, and conversation necessary to complete this book. It
is impossible to express how much his faith in me and my work has meant
over the years.