Sex, Space and Scripts: Negotiating Homoeroticism in History

Abstract

There is now a rich literature on the ways sexuality is geographically situated, mediated and constituted. There is rather less on how sexual interactions are scripted within space and time. Drawing from symbolic interactionist literature on sexual scripts, this article investigates how some men negotiated sexual encounters in New Zealand during the nineteenth century, within particular spaces (streets, gardens, hotels and others) and in relation to a range of ideas about sex, masculinity, propriety and intimacy. These examples show how language, symbols and social interactions combine in the reflexive construction of sexualities in time and space. To acknowledge and critically explore these relationships, this article suggests, is to add another layer to existing approaches to sexuality and space.