Squirming in the Dark: Playful Occupations for Sex Workers in the 1870 Census

By Holly Marquess Archives of Desire, Sexual Labour

Uncovering the playful occupations listed for sex workers in the 1870 census.

Love for Sale: Representing Prostitution in Imperial Russia

By Colleen Lucey Author Interviews, Modern Europe, Sexual Labour

How was prostitution represented in Imperial Russia?

Wolfenden’s Women: Prostitution in Post-war Britain

By Julia Laite Author Interviews, Sexual Labour, United Kingdom

How was prostitution presented in the Wolfenden Report?

Prostitution and Subjectivity in Late Medieval Germany

By Jamie Page Author Interviews, Medieval, Sexual Labour

What was life like for the women who worked in medieval brothels?

The Brothel of Pompeii

By Sarah Levin-Richardson Ancient World, Author Interviews

Pompeii’s brothel is the only verifiable brothel from Greco-Roman antiquity.

Indian Sex Life: Sexuality and the Colonial Origins of Social Thought

By Durba Mitra Asian Sexualities, Author Interviews, Empire and Colonialism, Sexual Labour

How ideas of deviant female sexuality became foundational to modern social thought in colonial India.

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

By Andrew Ross Author Interviews, LGBTQ, Modern Europe, Sexual Labour

Women who sold sex and men who sought sex with other men shaped the emergence of modern Paris.