The Queering of the Brothel Space through Personal Adornment

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Deviations: Archaeologies of Sexuality Beyond the Heteronormative", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Sex workers exist outside of the heteronormative expectations of society by not conforming to the traditional structure of relationships such as monogamy and non-deviant sexual practices. This deviation from societal norms can manifest in the way they present themselves and behave, such as types of clothing used to portray a certain fantasy of the client and engaging in sexual practices that have been labeled as deviant. This paper explores how personal adornment exists in the space of 19th- and early-20th-century sex work, incorporating theories of embodiment and presentation of self, specifically focusing on the Central City sex district in Colorado. This analysis will be conducted via a theoretical approach to the topic utilizing elements of Queer Theory. Research will include the analysis of artifacts excavated by the Central City Archaeology Project Field School seasons of 2023 and 2024.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025   •
• Deviations: Archaeologies of Sexuality Beyond the Heteronormative

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow