Sex in Public is a prize-winning sociologist’s radical vision of the social power of erotic life.
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In This Spotlight On Sex in Public
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About Sex in Public
Whether we are contending with shame, healing from trauma, or experimenting in the bedroom, there is a common tendency to cast anything sexual as a problem best solved in private. Fears of judgment fuel an air of oppression around something that should be liberating. According to feminist sociologist Angela Jones, we must reject this solitary vision of desire to claim the pleasure fundamental to our freedom.
Sex in Public offers a revolutionary new paradigm for understanding sexuality. Sex is never strictly personal, but relentlessly social, shaped by power relations, and possessing outsized power of its own. To make this case, Jones charts the inner and interrelated workings of our desires, behaviors, identities, relationships, and communities.
Guiding readers through field-leading sociology, sexual science, and the voices of sexual rule-breakers worldwide, Jones pinpoints the repressive forces that distort eroticism’s power, but also reveals our means of breaking free. Championing a rebellious spirit that uplifts bodily autonomy, justice, and care, Sex in Public makes a tantalizing promise: better sex lives and empowerment await, if only we dare to know our sexualities fully, reimagining society as we do.
Praise for Sex in Public
“I can’t wait to see what sociologist Dr. Angela Jones has to say about how we can take the private shame and taboo away from sexuality and transform it into an empowering foundation for societal change.”—Ms. Magazine, The Most Anticipated Feminist Books of 2026
[Sex in Public is] “A fascinating and grounded exploration of the subversive sex lives of ‘erotic rule breakers’…The book comes alive when Jones details, with remarkable openness and vulnerability, their own experiences and experiments in sexual subcultures…Readers will appreciate this sharp reconsideration of how to approach eroticism with more agency, consent, and intention.”—Publishers Weekly
“Sex in Public cogently dispels the myth that certain expressions of sexuality are ‘correct’ and ‘normal,’ while others are ‘incorrect’ or ‘abnormal.’ Drawing from the sociological literature, interviews with people across diverse sexual identities and communities, and their own personal experiences, Angela Jones makes a powerful case that sex is multidimensional, ever-shifting, and deeply social.”—Julia Serano, author of Whipping Girl
“An exquisite blend of research-based insights and real-world examples about the unpredictable realm of sexual behavior, Sex in Public is a juicy read! Never coy, Angela Jones confronts what is both deliciously creative and stiflingly constrained about sex. They show us that it is precisely the act of trying to understand those repressive forces that frees our sexual imaginations, making sex a vital pathway toward a better collective future.”—Jane Ward, author of The Tragedy of Heterosexuality
“Sex in Public dares to explore sexual sociology without defanging the erotic. Angela Jones writes fearlessly about their own sexual subcultures while remaining curious about the lives and identities of others. Rigorously deep, gleefully vulgar, accessibly welcoming. A new classic!”—Tina Horn, author of Why Are People Into That?
“Angela Jones has offered a timely Black feminist primer on erotic empowerment. Jones rightly insists that empowerment isn’t just about individual autonomy, it’s about actively crafting a social world that prioritizes sex education, sexual literacy, joy, and a fierce commitment to dismantling intersecting structures of domination. Fearless, candid, and bold, Sex in Public is necessary reading for anyone interested in imagining a different kind of world, one that approaches eroticism and freedom as fundamentally linked.”—Jennifer C. Nash, author of Black Feminism Reimagined
About Angela Jones, Author of Sex in Public
Angela Jones is a professor of women, gender, and sexuality studies at Stony Brook University. Their work focuses on gender, sexuality, race, feminist theory, sex work, and African American political thought and protest. Jones has written or edited ten books, including Sex Work Today, Black Lives Matter, Camming, and Sex in Public. They live in New York.
You can connect with Angela Jones on their publisher’s website, and on Instagram.
Source: Publisher
Publisher: Seal Press | Hachette Book Group
ISBN Hardcover 9781541605435
Pub Date: June 16, 2026
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