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

    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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