Queering the Porn Theatre: Sexual Spaces in New York City, 1967-1980

The direction of this doctoral project is informed by two recent shifts in the field of cultural studies, consisting of the methodological aims of the New Cinema History in expanding existing knowledge of film distribution and exhibition histories (Maltby 2011), and the growth of adult film history as a new avenue of inquiry (Church and Schaefer 2018). Using a historical reception studies approach adopted by Janet Staiger (1992) and Barbara Klinger (1994), this study will utilise periodicals, trade journals, city planning records, and documentation from organisations such as the Motion Picture Association of America and the Adult Film Association of America to trace discursive struggles between tastemakers such as the New York Times, New York's mayoral office and city planning committees, and the diverse populations of Times Square during the 1960s and 1970s. This material will be sourced from, for example, the New York City Municipal Archives, the Popular Culture Archive at Bowling Green State University, and the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University.