Reinforcing Gender Roles at the Male Strip Show: A Qualitative Analysis of Men who Dance for Women (MDW)

Abstract

While stripping has been an attractive topic among sociologists for several decades, much of the existing research concentrates on women who dance for men (WDM) and men who dance for men (MDM). In this study, I use qualitative methods to understand the experiences of men who dance for women (MDW). I spent 18 months at a strip club that I call “Dandelion's,” and conducted 22 in-depth interviews with male strippers. Specifically, I explore how the male strip show reproduces traditional, stereotypical gender roles in two main ways: dancers’ physical interactions with customers, and their hypermasculine presentations of self.

Acknowledgments

Support for this study was provided by a Student Research Grant Award from the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction at Indiana University.

A special thanks to Peter Adler, William A. Corsaro, Jason A. Rosow, and Martin S. Weinberg for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article.

Notes

¹Of course, it is likely that because steroids are a controlled substance, a larger number of respondents used them, but only seven were willing to admit it.

²Levitra is a legal substance prescribed by medical professionals to treat erectile dysfunction.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Maren T. Scull

MAREN T. SCULL is a graduate student at Indiana University, and a lecturer at the University of Colorado Denver. Her research interests include sexualities, deviance, social psychology, gender, and qualitative methods.