Revealing how sex and contagion have become uneasy yet inseparable bedfellows

In an era defined by pandemics, our perceptions of sexuality are deeply intertwined with fears and fantasies of disease, transmission, and safety. Little Deaths navigates the shifting terrain of sex and sexuality in these perilous times, examining the political and psychological life of the body.  

Using the AIDS crisis as a reference point, the book draws necessary comparisons to and distinctions from the COVID-19 pandemic. From tracing emergent technologies that make intimacy possible under quarantine, to unpacking the phenomenon of “pandemic asexuality,” to understanding party culture as collective rebellion against social gathering restrictions, these essays all pose the essential question: what does it mean to have a sex life in the middle of a global health crisis?

Little Deaths ponders the future of sex where risk is ever-present, yet the search for pleasure persists. In the end, Little Deaths argues that there are some risks worth taking, risks that are more life-affirming than deadly—risks that just might save us in the end.