New York hustlers

About this book

This book focuses on the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, but also looks back to the earlier decades of the century, and maps the world of those known as 'trade' - ostensibly straight men who would engage in homosexual sex - and hustlers - those who were paid for it. It was a milieu that was central to the sexual histories of several generations of twentieth-century American men and also influenced American literary and visual culture; the 'trade aesthetic' informed the work of a variety of artists, filmmakers and writers. This sexual culture, although compelling in itself, also allows for the exploration of some key aspects of modern sexual history. For the hustlers and trade exhibit a remarkably flexible sexuality, traversing the worlds of male homosexuality and heterosexuality in ways that challenge many assumptions about sexual identity. The history of the sexuality (and masculinity) of the hustlers and their associates in postwar New York also rethinks notions both of heterosexuality and homosexuality. -- from Back Cover.