The gay lifestyle ‐ spaces for a subculture of consumption

Abstract

Presents a study of designated gay service environments. Conceptually, the study draws together ideas and frameworks from the consumption literature and from the study of service environments. Analyses issues surrounding gay cultural socialization and its effect on consumption patterns and expression through service environments. The study of the interplay between gay subculture and servicescapes is grounded in qualitative and observational data through field work conducted in the Manchester “gay village”. Findings indicate that communitas, individualism and diversity are key facets of the subculture, with bars being used as individual expressions of identity, moods and emotions. Other influences on consumption patterns include interpersonal interaction with friends, the hetero‐ and homosexual cultural interface, and the ambience of the service environment. Discusses implications for the service marketer, such as the application of marketing models to the creation of servicescapes which reflect and suit the subcultures they are designed for; and raises issues for marketing methodology by noting the value of consumption‐based research in creating a picture of the “gay” lifestyle.

Corpos consumidos: cultura de consumo gay carioca

“…Esse clima de maior liberdade, o surgimento dos primeiros grupos gays, de villages e empreendimentos comerciais direcionados para o público gay nessa época refl etiam uma maior visibilidade e liberdade desses grupos. Estes emigravam para os grandes centros urbanos, como Nova York, Toronto, Los Angeles e Rio de Janeiro, ou, pelo menos, essas cidades passaram a ser destinos turísticos e de trocas culturais entre os grupos (ERIBON, 2007;HASLOP;HILL;SCHIMIDT, 1998;KATES, 1998).…”

Between two worlds: an ethnographic study of gay consumer culture in Rio de Janeiro

“…In this atmosphere of freedom, the first gay groups, villages and commercial endeavors for gays emerged, giving these groups even greater visibility and freedom. They moved into big urban centers like San Francisco, New York, Toronto, Los Angeles and Rio de Janeiro, and these cities became tourist destinations or places for cultural exchange between these groups (Eribon, 2008;Haslop, Hill, & Schimidt, 1998;Kates, 1998).…”

“…While the informants first described themselves with words depicting an image tied to a reality that was not their own, afterward they saw themselves as new individuals, introspectively recognizing themselves and seeing themselves in their peers' eyes. The gay identity only exists when affiliation within the world occurs (Cass, 1984;Haslop et al, 1998). Clearly informants wear clothes not only to show their homosexual identity, but also to create a symbolic boundary between the gay and heterosexual worlds.…”

Consuming Chavs: The Ambiguous Politics of Gay Chavinism

“…Conceptualizing the former as subcultural, this scholarship identifies the values, practices, self-images and feelings that gay men iv apparently share, and the role of brands and other facets of consumer culture in their reproduction. Consumption is seen to play an integral role in the coming-out experiences of many gay men, and in subsequent processes of socialization into the gay scene, such that these consumption rituals are said in part to create their sexual identities (Freitas et al, 1996;Haslop et al, 1998;Kates, 2002Kates, , 2003Kates, , 2004Keating and McLoughlin, 2005;Klawitter, 2002).…”