Tearoom Trade Laud Humphreys Summary

By laud humphreys fair use this is a summary article by humphreys which appeared in a sociology reader sociology full circle edited by william feigelman ny.

Tearoom trade laud humphreys summary.

In tearoom trade 1970 1975 laud humphreys writes about the homosexual relations that took place in various tearooms i e public bathrooms in an unidentified american city during the mid to late 1960s. Impersonal sex in public places is a 1970 book by laud humphreys humphreys book is based on his 1968 ph d. Without disclosing his role as a sociology researcher humphreys played the role of watchqueen that is he looked out for intruders while men performed. Perhaps not surprisingly given the topic the research was highly controversial however this was not just due to its sensitive subject matter.

A study of homosexual encounters in public places the study is an analysis of male male sexual behavior in public toilets. 259 277 this was and still is a controversial participant observation by him in the early 70 s due both to its subject matter deviance and its. Dissertation tearoom trade 1970 an ethnographic study of anonymous male male sexual encounters in public toilets a practice known as tea rooming in u s. Gay slang and cottaging in british english.

Dissertation which was entitled tearoom trade. In 1970 laud humphreys then a washington university phd student wrote his infamous thesis tearoom trade which was a study of homosexual behaviour between men in public toilets in a u s. Humphreys s study produced very important results. Without telling people that he was studying them laud humphreys 1975 observed hundreds of homosexual acts among men in st.

The tearoom sex study. The men involved in this tearoom trade as it is called came from all walks of life and many were married and living otherwise straight lives. By pretending to be a simple voyeur humphreys explains that he systematically observed these activities and even recorded the license plate numbers of a sample of tearoom. Impersonal sex in public places.

Impersonal sex in public places 1970 is commonly presented in many sociological methods texts as an example of covert and deceptive research methods that endangered subjects without their consent lenza 2004 p. Buck child 10 11 06 reading summary. Humphreys is best known for his published ph d. The tearoom trade study from 1965 to 1968 laud humphreys an ordained episcopalian minister conducted dissertation research on men who have impersonal sex with men humphreys 1970.

Impersonal sex in public places laud humphreys 1970 laud humphreys a sociologist recognized that the public and the law enforcement authorities hold highly simplistic stereotyped beliefs about men who commit impersonal sexual acts with one another in public restrooms.