An introduction to the geographies of sex and sexualities

Sexuality has been present, but obliquely addressed, in human geography for a long time. Whenever geographers discussed demographic transition models, population dynamics or fertility rates, for example, they were, at least implicitly, discussing human sexuality. Such approaches tend to assume, prioritize and only attend to aspects of heterosexual coupledom, parenthood and family arrangements. As in most of the topics we study, as geographers we have learned to be wary of assuming that these normative forms of family and coupledom are universal and do not vary between places or across spatial scales. By contrast, geographies of sexualities scholarship considers the different ways in which human sexualities vary geographically. [Opening paragraph]