ABSTRACT
Given the number of participants, the research cannot and does not make claims of universality or representability; instead, the focus is on in-depth accounts of personal experiences with sex shopping. Undertaking research about sex shopping necessitated some consideration of how to protect participants from the potential embarrassment of discussing this intimate topic. That these shopping trips built upon the experience of two women going sex shopping together, and that this interaction felt comfortable and 'ordinary', at least for me and the seven participants, is testament to the way that contemporary sex shops are read as legitimate spaces for feminine consumption. This introduction also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book catalogue a number of historical moments, from the late 1960s to the 1980s, in which connections between sexual emancipation and sexual commodity consumption were suggested and developed.
