Sex in Public: The Transformative Social Power of Our Erotic Lives
Angela Jones
Jun 2026 · Hachette UK
Ebook
304
Pages
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infoThis book will become available on June 16, 2026. You will not be charged until it is released.
About this ebook
A prize-winning sociologist’s radical vision of the social power of erotic life
Recent years have seen moral panics over pronouns, polycules, pride parades, and anything trans and queer. What all these controversies have in common is a tendency to cast sex as a problem best solved in private. According to feminist sociologist Angela Jones, we must reject this solitary vision of desire if we are to liberate our sex lives and society at large.
Sex in Public offers a revolutionary new paradigm for understanding sexuality in society. Sex is never strictly personal, Jones shows, but rather inherently social, shaped by power relations and possessing outsized power of its own. To make this case, Jones charts the inner workings of our erotic desires, behaviors, identities, relationships, and communities, and the linkages among them. Grounded in field-leading sociology, decades of sexual science, and the voices of sexual rule-breakers worldwide, Sex in Public pinpoints the repressive forces that distort eroticism, but also reveals our means of breaking free. Better sex is possible, through erotic power that uplifts bodily autonomy, social justice, and shared pleasure. Sex in Public is an invitation to know our sexualities fully, reimagining society as we do.
Recent years have seen moral panics over pronouns, polycules, pride parades, and anything trans and queer. What all these controversies have in common is a tendency to cast sex as a problem best solved in private. According to feminist sociologist Angela Jones, we must reject this solitary vision of desire if we are to liberate our sex lives and society at large.
Sex in Public offers a revolutionary new paradigm for understanding sexuality in society. Sex is never strictly personal, Jones shows, but rather inherently social, shaped by power relations and possessing outsized power of its own. To make this case, Jones charts the inner workings of our erotic desires, behaviors, identities, relationships, and communities, and the linkages among them. Grounded in field-leading sociology, decades of sexual science, and the voices of sexual rule-breakers worldwide, Sex in Public pinpoints the repressive forces that distort eroticism, but also reveals our means of breaking free. Better sex is possible, through erotic power that uplifts bodily autonomy, social justice, and shared pleasure. Sex in Public is an invitation to know our sexualities fully, reimagining society as we do.
About the author
Angela Jones is a professor of women, gender, and sexuality studies at Stony Brook University. Their work focuses on gender, sexuality, feminist theory, sex work, and African American political thought and protest. Jones has written or edited ten books, including Black Lives Matter: A Reference Book and Camming. They live in Suffolk County, New York.
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