Meeting His Needs

Abstract

Based on 13 months of ethnographic field work, this research interrogates male customers' motivations for patronizing strip clubs as well as gendered functions of strippers' labor outside of sexual arousal. More broadly, this research examines the relationship between male customers, masculinity, and female strippers' labor. The author makes the argument that strip clubs provide a “safe space” for male customers to experience emotional intimacy and receive “stripper therapy.” Through their labor, strippers fulfill the emotional needs of male patrons and enable them to express their emotions, often concerning that which compromises their masculinity. The hypersexualized, masculinized environment of the strip club, however, shields customers from the fear of being “insufficiently” masculine or failing to adhere to masculine ideals of stoicism and self-control. Thus, this research highlights the extent to which men rely on strippers' labor to meet the demands of masculinity and cope with the pressure it exerts.