The Production of Identity and the Negotiation of Intimacy in a `Gentleman's Club'

Abstract

This paper problematizes the concept of `true' intimacy by examining a particular commodified relationship - that between a female dancer and her regular male customers in a heterosexual strip club in the US. Participant observation is used to describe and examine the relationships developed between dancers and their `regular customers' and the mutual manufacture of identities and intimacy which is involved in these relationships. First, it is argued that an illusion of intimacy is produced within the strip club to make an interaction between a dancer and her regular seem more `real' and desirable. Next, it is shown how even such a commodified relationship can generate a high degree of emotional involvement, using the concept of `emotional labor' (Hochschild, 1983) to help break down the barriers between real and manufactured intimacy. Finally, there is a discussion on how an intimate experience draws upon private self-representations that are both real and imaginary, and upon sexual self-identities that are ideologically informed, in an attempt to show how interpersonal intimate relationships are structured within a fantasy-reality which complicates utilitarian notions of emotional engagement.

Dance and Sexuality: Many Moves

“…(Egan, Frank, & Johnson, 2006, p. 32; see also Bartlett, 2004;Sloan, Bell, & Strickling, 1998;Snowden, 1994;Wesely, 2002Wesely, , 2003aWesely, , 2003b. Some autoethnographers also use participant observation to explore other dance participants' motivations (Boden, 2007;Egan, 2006aEgan, , 2006bFrank, 1998Frank, , 2002Ronai, 1992).…”

Male Sexual Scripts

“…Sex workers often prefer to have regular clients because it reduces the risk of a problematic transaction triggered by aggression, rule breaking or nonpayment. However, as Frank (1998) has highlighted for erotic dancers, sex workers invest more emotional labour in regulars as the relationship must be sustained and the client 'satisfied' on many different levels.…”

Exploring the Motivations and Fantasies of Strip Club Customers in Relation to Legal Regulations

“…Some of these men wanted to develop ongoing "friendships" with the dancers, for example, and in such a situation a dancer might find that sharing intimate details about her life (real or fictionalized) was necessary to create a desirable interaction. My point here is to emphasize that interactions in strip clubs transpire in an environment where the 10 Elsewhere, I have discussed the issue of sincerity and authenticity in dancer/customer relationships in more detail (see Frank, 1998Frank, , 2002a. Discussions of authenticity were important to the customers and their relationships with the dancers were continually interrogated for signs of genuine interaction and involvement.…”