Producing Vancouver's (hetero)normative nightscape

Abstract

The article argues, through an examination of Vancouver's entertainment district as an actively produced 'civilizing' space dominated by private enterprise, that it is important to understand the 'mainstream' as a grounded site which produces, maintains and reiterates the moral contours of heterosexuality (among other things) within the city. Nightclubs in particular, experienced as spaces of hypermasculinity and hyperfemininity, offer a prime example of how the union of governmentality, surveillance and private enterprise work together in the maintenance and regulation of social conformity. Drawing upon an ethnographic study from 2005 to 2006, I explore the entertainment district and highlight young adults' perceptions of its nightlife economy and how space, hegemonic sexuality and nightlife collide.

Gay and lesbian emotional geographies of clubbing: reflections from Paris and Turin

“…Questions concerning the commercial nature of the venues, the risks within the scene, and the evident practices of discrimination based on class and ethnicity have not been directly addressed here (see Valentine and Skelton, 2003;Boyd, 2010). By focusing on emotions, this article proposes that, in two different cities and in the absence of stable recreational territorialities, repeating islands emerge that offer a potential for gay and lesbian emotional performances and a peculiar spatial formation that hybridizes gay, lesbian and heterosexual spaces in the city.…”

“…The nocturnal time-space may be relevant in terms of its provision of freedom of behavior and emotions, as well as its function as a type of exception from the rest of the emotional heteronormative urban space (cf. Valentine and Skelton, 2003;Boyd, 2010;Brown and Bakshi, 2011). In this sense, gay and lesbian clubs are commonly intended as islands in the heteronormative landscape.…”

“…Many researchers have considered the different perceptions of fun, amusement, annoyance and fear in the eyes of different audiences (e.g., Hutton, 2006;Boyd, 2010). For example, given the abundance of heteronormative settings in the performance of night-clubbing, the straight 'scene' may be perceived as not fun, or even violent, in the eyes of sexually marginalized subjects (Moran et al, 2003;Casey, 2004;Matejskova, 2007;cf.…”

“…Blanch, 2012). Various authors emphasize how the experience of clubbing in spaces perceived as protected, safe, and loose may be quite relaxing and pleasurable (Hutton, 2006;Boyd, 2010); at the same time, such spaces may have drawbacks, such as the pressure to conform to dominant identities and dress codes, diffused consumption of alcohol and drugs, and exclusion from clubs for marginalized or poor subjects (Valentine and Skelton, 2003;Hutton, 2006).…”

Queer Geographies

“…Others have highlighted the class privileges that align with homonormative gay men and lesbian spaces and identities. The confluence of poor, working-class, and heterosexual has also been considered in Vancouver (Boyd 2010); Butte, Montana (Dando 2009);and Nepal (Richardson, Poudel, and Laurie 2009).…”