Deadline: 1 August 2017.
Sex and tourism has arguably been an understudied area of research relative to the central roles that sex plays within tourism experiences. Under the broad umbrella of sex, concepts such as sensual, sexual, love, romance, and erotic have similarly been under-researched within tourism. As a result, much of the complexity and nuanced nature of sex in tourism has arguably yet to be explored in great detail. It has been suggested that this situation is a consequence of social norms and values that continue to mitigate against open discussions of sex, even in a world that is increasingly saturated by public displays of sex. One of the primary foci of the relatively small amount of research on sex and tourism has been on the dark side of the issue; concerning the abuse of individuals and segments of society and focused around commercial sex tourism. While an important area of study it has arguably overshadowed the light side of sex and tourism which is not related to abuse of power and individuals but is, instead, about pleasure and fun; issues which are themselves important and worthy of investigation. Combined, the light and dark side of sex and tourism can speak to issues of disempowerment and empowerment, and social and individual well-being.
Consequently, this edited book aims to provide a forum for the discussion of all aspects of sex within the tourism experience. Potential themes for chapters include, but are not limited to:
- Sex and tourism marketing
- Provisioning for sex within the hospitality sector
- Sexualisation of employees within the tourism industry
- Sexual experimentation within the liminal holiday environment
- Sexual abuse, violence, harassment and tourism
- Empowerment through sex and tourism
- Sex, personal health and well-being, and tourism
- Sexual risk taking in tourism
- Sexual health education in tourism
- Sex, fun, pleasure, enjoyment, and tourism
- Methodological and ethical issues related to conducting research on sex & tourism
- Social and institutional acceptance of sex and tourism researchers
- Sex and tourism beyond the human (i.e., robots and animals)
- Sex and embodiment and/or body image in tourism
- Sex and exoticism and/or eroticism in tourism
- Sex and tourism over the life course
- Gender, sexuality and sex and tourism
Anyone interested in potentially contributing to this edited book should in the first instance submit an abstract of no more than 350 words to Neil Carr (neil.carr@otago.ac.nz) and Liza Berdychevsky (lizabk@illinois.edu) by the August 1st, 2017. Firm interest in this book has already been expressed by Channel View Publications.
Photo credit: Bangkok Sukhumvit Red Light District by vinylmeister on Flickr// CC BY-SA 2.0
