Title

Exotic dancing and the negotiation of identity - The multiple uses of body technologies

Authors

Authors

J. K. Wesely

Comments

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Abbreviated Journal Title

J. Contemp. Ethnogr.

Keywords

exotic dancing; body technology; identity; body; gender; DEVIANT OCCUPATION; CAREER; DANCER; POWER; Sociology; Urban Studies

Abstract

This study investigates the multiple uses of body technologies by female exotic dancers and the relationship to dancers' negotiations of identity. Using ethnographic methods, primarily in-depth interviews, this article probes the ways that dancers alter their bodies to earn money while also attempting to re-create different meanings through their bodies. In fact, the women use body technologies for multiple purposes but make choices about their bodies in a context that rewards them for only sexualized one-dimensional meanings. Body technologies both hinder and help the attempts these women make to manage subsequent identity complications and are engaged on different levels. This article highlights the ways that body technologies reflect the dancers' struggles concerning body and identity.

Journal Title

Journal of Contemporary Ethnography

Volume

32

Issue/Number

6

Publication Date

1-1-2003

Document Type

Article

Language

English

First Page

643

Last Page

669

WOS Identifier

WOS:000186806700001

ISSN

0891-2416

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