It's Just a Fantasy for a Couple of Hours: Ethnography of a Nude Male Show Bar

Abstract

The current ethnographic study was conducted in a nude male show bar in a small New England city. The social interaction of the dancers, patrons, and club staff was studied through participant-observation over the period of 5 months. In addition, 7 formal interviews were conducted with key setting informants. Social behavior and interaction that occurred in the setting are examined through four major themes: the interaction sbetween sex and money, ambiguity of sexuality, what constitutes deviance in a deviant setting and major forms of rule violation, and the occurrence of risky sexual behavior in the club setting.