Wednesday 11 April 2012 at 09:30 - 11:30


MEDIA, CULTURE AND CONSUMPTION CONFERENCE AUDITORIUM 1 Hubbard, P.


University of Kent Sexualisation, Nuisance and Safety: Sexual Entertainment and Gendered Fears


Striptease in commercial settings has been the subject of considerable debate following the emergence of highly- visible ‘lap dancing’ clubs in Britain in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Widely accused of promoting forms of criminality and nuisance in the communities where they are located, local campaigns of opposition against clubs have centred on the figure of the unruly male customer as a sexual threat, invoking notions of 'dread risk' in the process. Noting the risks and dangers of lap dance venues have never been quantified or subject to legal scrutiny, I conclude that local attempts to regulate lap-dance venues in the interests of ‘community safety’ have invoked images of sexual vulnerability and aggression which are inherently gendered, and based on stereotypes of sexual consumption which do not reflect the diversity of forms of sexual entertainment. As such, I argue that the regulation of lap dance clubs encouraged by campaigns of opposition is producing a society in which male consumers of adult entertainment are effectively pathologised and stripped of rights to view sexually stimulating performance on the basis of the crimes they might commit. The paper concludes by asking whether this attempt to curb the sexualisation of our communities will produce anti-sexist cities or will merely perpetuate existing gendered stereotypes of sexual aggression and passivity.


Sanders, T., Hardy, K. Production and Consumption of Labour in Lap Dancing


This paper looks beyond the commodification of erotic labour debates to examine the question as to why lap dancing clubs have proliferated and found a permanent place in the night-time economy in the United Kingdom. Using empirically based arguments drawn from qualitative and quantitative research findings from the largest study into the lap dancing industry in the UK to date, we challenge the common assumption that 'demand' is responsible for the rise in erotic dance. Instead, we argue that the proliferation of erotic dance is largely due to the internal economic structures of the industry. First, we argue that owners profit from individual dancers through an exploitative system of fees and fines, rendering a lap dancing business a low cost investment with high returns and little risk to club owners. Second, we note that the last decade has a seen diversification of the industry accompanied by deskilling and devaluing of the job. These changes in standards can be described as a 'race to the bottom' as dancers undercut each other to make some income above the heavy overheads, which in turn reduces standards further. Ironically, we demonstrate these negative changes have lead to the industry's expansion as the supply of dancers increases because of the perceived advantages of the flexible, cash-in-hand employment. This evidence leads to the conclusion that the lap dancing industry is supply - rather than demand – driven, yet apparently contradictorily the labour processes and working conditions for the majority of women, despite appearing favourable, are economically exploitative.


Colosi, R. University of Lincoln Titillating the Heteronormative: Understanding Customer Motivation in a Lap-dancing Club Setting


Existing research from the US suggests that the relationship between customers and lap-dancers is complex (Egan, 2006; Frank, 2002); findings from a recent UK based British Academy study about lap-dancing club customers supports this claim. The customers who took part in this study emphasised the ‘fun’ element of attending lap-dancing clubs, which were frequently said to provide ‘playful’ entertainment. Beyond this, the findings suggest that there are other main reasons for lap-dancing club attendance. The first relates to sexual titillation, as it was widely indicated that lap-dancing clubs are used by customers to gain some form of sexual arousal. The second motivation identified relates to a process of heterosexualization, whereby male clients visit lap-dancing clubs to reaffirm and assert a heteronormative masculine identity. The final motivational factor, which is somewhat connected to processes of heterosexualization, relates to male bonding- this was evident amongst male customers who attended lap-dancing clubs in groups. This paper will draw on the findings from this ethnographic study in order to highlight patterns of attendance and customer motivation in a UK context.


University of Leeds


61


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