TEASE AND SYMPATHY: Exotic Dancers and Their World

Abstract

This paper is the result of an exercise in ethnographic investigation. Data was collected in fieldwork in a local northend strip bar. To lend support to my analysis I have used as comparison the institution of geisha in modern Japan. The bar is located in the north end of downtown Hamilton. This section of the city comprises several Mediterranean ethnic neighbourhoods along with light manufacturing and a thriving ethnic retail area. The county detention centre and the city's largest hospital are located nearby. It is a large building with oversized signs advertising 'EXOTIC DANCERS', and 'FRENCH TABLE DANCERS'. One can enter through the front door, the lesser- used entrance, or the back door which opens on a parking lot. When you enter through the back door, you are in a short, darkened hallway (a liminal area of transition from the normal ... ) and have to go through another door to enter the bar ( ... to the exotic). The room is large and is generally darkened, with strategic lighting. To the right is a large T.V. screen continuously showing sports broadcasts. Further to the right is a raised section of the room with a number of pool tables. To the left of the door is the back of the stage which protrudes about a third of the way into the room. At the front of the room is a heating table for hot food service, and the bar. On the left hand wall there is a sign lit in red lights with the names of the girls as they appear in their stage routines. In the remaining space are about seventy tables, each with three or four chairs.