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Cruising for sex or cruising is walking or driving about a locality, called a cruising ground, in search of a sex partner, usually of the anonymous, casual, one-time variety.[1][2] The term is also used when technology is used to find casual sex, such as using an Internet site or a telephone service.[3][4]
According to historian and author Tim Blanning, the term cruising originates from the Dutch equivalent kruisen.[5]
In a specifically sexual context, the term "cruising" originally emerged as an argot "code word" in gay slang, by which those "in the know" would understand the speaker's unstated sexual intent, whereas most heterosexuals, on hearing the same word in the same context, would normally misread the speaker's intended meaning in the word's more common nonsexual sense. This served (and in some contexts, still serves) as a protective sociolinguistic mechanism for gay men to recognize each other, and avoid being recognized by those who may wish to do them harm in broader societies noted for their homophobia.
In the latter half of the twentieth century, decriminalization of homosexual behaviour increasingly became the norm in English-speaking countries. The protective barrier once provided by the term "cruising" as a "code word" has therefore largely broken down and, arguably, become increasingly irrelevant. Thus the specifically sexual meaning of the term has passed into common usage to include the sexual behavior of heterosexual persons, as well.[citation needed]
Public health officials have noted that cruising locations are frequented by men who have sex with men, but do not identify with being homosexual or bisexual, who are closeted, married, or in relationships with women, do not date men or frequent gay bars, clubs or websites, or have otherwise no other way of meeting men for sex.[6]
The cruising places are often considered meeting places for men who are otherwise living more conventional lifestyles. For instance, it was noted in Laud Humphreys' 1970 study about anonymous gay sex meeting places that most men who visited those places were at least seeming heterosexuals who had families.[7]
In the United States, the term "cruising" was used predominantly to denote exclusively homosexual behavior, but in Australia and the United Kingdom it is used by both homosexuals and heterosexuals to describe their own behavior, as witnessed in the common male heterosexual derivative phrase "cruising for chicks".[8][9][10]
In the United States, cruising often takes place in gay bars, adult video arcades often through gloryholes, adult movie theaters, public toilets, parks, saunas, gyms or gay bathhouses. Engaging in such activities in public places like parks has led to participants being charged with indecent exposure.
In Poland, the term pikieta (plural: pikiety; translated as "picket" or "piquet") is used to describe a similar practice. Origination around the turn of the 19th century, pickets were especially popular during the Polish People's Republic period, when homosexuality was more taboo and few people decided to be open about their sexuality. In Warsaw, one of the most prominent locations for pickets was the northern frontage of Three Crosses Square. In the early 21st century, pickets became less popular due to the development of a network of premises for sexual minorities, such as bars, discos and saunas, as well as communication via the Internet.[11][12][13]
Cruising for sex is alluded to in songs such as "Cruisin' the Streets" by the Boys Town Gang[14] as well as "I'm a Cruiser" by the Village People, on the album titled Cruisin'.
In 1980, director William Friedkin made the film Cruising, starring Al Pacino. The film introduced many audiences to homosexual activities and the linguistic codes used for them, but gay rights groups perceived a negative depiction of the gay community in the film and protested its production.[15]
Cruising features prominently in the storylines of Joe Pitt and Louis Ironson in Tony Kushner's 1991 play about the AIDS crisis in New York City, Angels in America, as well as its 2003 miniseries adaptation by HBO. The miniseries specifically depicts the popular cruising location of The Ramble alongside other locations in Central Park.
The opening scene of the first episode of the HBO series Looking involves the main character Patrick (Jonathan Groff) cruising in a park, mainly out of curiosity of whether the activity is still in practice or not.[16]
Cruising for sex was explored in Cruising Pavilion, a 2018 art installation associated with the Venice Biennale of Architecture.[17]
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