Queering the Terrain

Homosexuality was once considered to be the
forgotten half of the sexuality equation in
theories of geography. To date geographical
explorations of sexuality have been concerned with
gay and lesbian sexuality, thereby obscuring
heterosexuality. Lauren Costello examines the
complex processes whereby homosexuality is
constituted as deviant and heterosexuality is
unproblematically constructed as a normative
expression of desire. Using a diverse set of
empirical case studies, including the Australian
Defence Force bans on sexuality and treatment of
women; State laws criminalising homosexuality and;
the spatial regulation of public spaces, the author
provides innovative and original theories to open up
the possibility of seeing sexuality outside of a
binary structure. Dr Costello offers new
perspectives that reposition heterosexuality as no
longer secure and normative and recasts traditional
understandings of sexuality. The author has
produced an engaging and scholarly monograph
relevant to those concerned with producing
discourses of space and place or narratives of sex,
gender and sexuality that destabilise privileged
notions of desire.

Autorentext
Lauren Costello BA (Wollongong), BA (Hons.) (Newcastle) and PhD (Monash) is a lecturer in the School of Geography and Environmental Science at Monash University, Melbourne Australia. Her research interests include the geography of sexuality, investigations into the geographies of fertility; and the meaning of sex, gender and sexuality.

Klappentext
Homosexuality was once considered to be the forgotten half of the sexuality equation in theories of geography. To date geographical explorations of sexuality have been concerned with gay and lesbian sexuality, thereby obscuring heterosexuality. Lauren Costello examines the complex processes whereby homosexuality is constituted as deviant and heterosexuality is unproblematically constructed as a normative expression of desire. Using a diverse set of empirical case studies, including the Australian Defence Force bans on sexuality and treatment of women; State laws criminalising homosexuality and; the spatial regulation of public spaces, the author provides innovative and original theories to open up the possibility of seeing sexuality outside of a binary structure. Dr Costello offers new perspectives that reposition heterosexuality as no longer secure and normative and recasts traditional understandings of sexuality. The author has produced an engaging and scholarly monograph relevant to those concerned with producing discourses of space and place or narratives of sex, gender and sexuality that destabilise privileged notions of desire.