Party Boys : Identity, Community, and the Circuit
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PARTY BOYS: IDENTITY, COMMUNITY, AND THE CIRCUIT Russell Westhaver MA, University of Saskatchewan 1997 BA, University of Saskatchewan 1992 DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Department of Sociology and Anthropology O Russell Westhaver 2003 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY October 2003 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name: Russell Westhaver Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Title of Thesis: Party Boys: Identity, Community, and the Circuit Examining Committee: Chair: of Sociology and Criminology Dr. Dara Culhane Member Associate Professor of Anthropology Simon ~ra- €dcindy Patton . Internal/External Examiner Associate Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies and anada Research Chair in Community, Culture and Health Si 4n&ser University $. Steven Seidman ernal Examiner 4Professor of Sociology State University of New York, Albany Date Approved: 8 October 2003 PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENCE I hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the right to lend my thesis, project or extended essay (the title of which is shown below) to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Title of Thesis/Project/Extended Essay Party Boys: Identity, Community, and the Circuit Author: (signature) Russell Westhaver (name) 8 October 2003 (date) This dissertation explores how gender, desire, and the body are understood and practiced by gay men as they construct a sense of self and community in the context of "circuit partiesu-very large gay men's dance parties held annually across North America. Analytically, "the circuit" can be understood as an economy of pleasure in which normative notions of masculinity, drug use, the pursuit of sexual encounters, and concerns about community are at the centre of its exchanges. The work of Judith Butler, Pierre Bourdieu, and Axel Honneth form the theoretical backdrop of this project while ethnographic observations of the circuit experience and in-depth interviews with circuit attendees were conducted to solicit subjects' thoughts about the circuit In addition to offering a critical response to question of how the circuit experience informs identification and practices, this project also offers a critique and re- evaluation of some of the ways the relationship between identification, practice, agency, and social structure is conceptualized. In much of the social sciences, practice and identification are understood in terms of the interplay between social structure and individual agency. I draw on Judith Butler and Pierre Bourdieu because both challenge and complicate this conceptualization of practice and identification by bringing the body and embodiment into the agency-structure-practice debate. The circuit experience represents an excellent crucible through which to think about the body's relationship to practice and identification insofar as the circuit is primarily experienced through bodily terms rather than cognitive or intellectual terms. Prolonged dancing, the use of recreational drugs, the pursuit of sexual encounters, and the pleasures associated with sociality create a context where visceral bodily pleasures are foregrounded over other modes of experience. I use this aspect of the circuit experience to raise questions about the way Butler and Bourdieu use the body in their analysis and interrogation of conventional conceptualizations of practice. I close by turning to the work of Honneth to bring bodily experience into the agencylstructure debate, arguing identification and practice might be more productively understood as a struggle for social recognition played across and mediated through the body and bodily pleasure. Dedication For Sean-who was there at the beginning. For Joe-who was there at the end. Dr. Dany Lacombe (La Dominatrix) I'm indebted to you for your patience, innumerable readings, comments, and questions- but most of all to the chats in your kitchen, where I began to feel less like a student and more like a peer. I could not have asked for a more ideal working relationship-you had the sense to leave me alone to muddle through this project and the grace to read (and reread) my nascent thoughts, stuttering dead ends, and half-baked notions quickly and with care. Any mistakes, errors, or omissions are entirely mine. The wisdom is yours. Dr. Dara Culhane (La Patronne) For the many small discussions about this thing called ethnography and your nearly palpable conviction that I was writing something worthwhile. I suspect that I'll be muttering through the world as an ethnographer for some time to come. Thanks for nudging me in the right directions. But mostly I'd like to thank you for your gentle nature, lovely laugh-and the kiss. Dr. Steven Seidman Dr. Cindy Patton Thank you for taking the time to act as my external examiners and presenting me with some challenging questions. I suspect I will be unpacking your comments for the next long while. The Six Pack (in all its incarnations) For ignoring the absurdity of my analytical efforts, for asking me to remember to forget, and for sharing your thoughts, musings, and reflections about this thing called dance. I squirreled them away on note cards and napkins, where they grew into my own sweeping gestures about what it means to be a gay man dancing. The Pseudonyms I'm truly indebted to all the men who chose to share their thoughts about the circuit with me. Without your voices this project would be no more than an expression of my own myopia. Any credit this project garners is due to your interest and thoughts. The responsibility for any problems is entirely mine. Canadian Strategy on HIVIAIDS, Health Canada I am indebted to the generous funding provided by Health Canada. This support gave me much to think about when it comes to the relationship between the state, bureaucracy, and gay men's health-as well as helping to complicate notions like "community" and "research". This opportunity has done a great deal to help chart out some of the contours and trajectory of my future research interests. Mrs. Mickey Naisby Thank you for looking after the many many mundane moments in the administration of a doctoral candidate. But more importantly, thank you for offering me a box of Kleenex and telling me "Everything's going to be fine." Dr. Lesley Biggs For rooting for an underdog. Your hand is in my writing more than know-a presence that I suspect will shame my scholarly efforts for a long time to come. Thank you for helping to start the fire of these funny passions called writing and research. Dr. Ann Travers For the scholarly advice. But mostly for the friendship. And the KFC. Dr. Robert Gray For the poetry. It came in handy. vii Tabh of contents .. Approval ............................................................................................................................11 ... Abstract ............................................................................................................................111 Dedication.......................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgements ..........................................................................................................vi ... Table of Contents........................................................................................................... vl11 Prelude When the Circuit Comes to Town ............................................................................... 1 Circuit as Fieldsite ..........................................................................................................4 The Circuit and Social Science .....................................................................................7 The Body. Idioms of Pleasure. Practice. and Identification ..................................... 10 On Being an Insider and Method .............................................................................12 On the Implications of an Uneasy Identification ......................................................17 (Re)Conceptualising the Circuit Experience ........................................................18 A Look Ahead: Chapter Overview ...............................................................................21 Chapter 1 44Honeythat's why you do this with friends." ............................................................ 33 New Year's Eve. 1997 (1) .............................................................................................34 Writing into Community ..........................................................................................37 New Year's Eve. 1997 (11) ...........................................................................................38 Writing the Body ......................................................................................................42 Taking Embodiment Seriously .....................................................................................45 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................53