Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Dancers, as a subgroup of the general population, have strict notions about the ideal body. In general, dancers’ bodies are perfected to have a strong yet lean appearance. For a dancer, body image is formed based on the extreme standards of this subculture. If unable to meet these additional requirements, dancers can be at a higher risk for body dissatisfaction and possible disordered eating. This paper will report on the conversations among dancers that perpetuate body ideals.
These “fat-talk” conversations relay dieting, weight, and appearance ideals, and individuals will degrade themselves during these conversations in order to fit in with the group. Studies have not examined the extent of these conversations (e.g., occurrence and severity) in dancers despite their heightened vulnerability to body dissatisfaction. Because dancers are subjected to idealizing a stringent body size in addition to environmental factors that make them readily aware of their bodies (e.g., tight clothing and mirrors), it is hypothesized that dancers will indicate that they will engage in more critical fat talk than their non-dance peers in non-dance related conversations. This frequency and severity of fat talk will be related to higher body dissatisfaction. Correspondingly, dancers will have higher body dissatisfaction than their non-dance peers.
Female students from the dance and psychology departments of San Diego State University will be recruited for this study. The participants will complete several self-report measures that will serve as assessments of the phenomena under investigation or as distractor questionnaires: fat-talk scenarios, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Body Esteem Scale, and a demographic questionnaire. Differences between dancers and non-dancers in fat talk and body dissatisfaction will be examined. It is expected that data collection for this study will be concluded by the end of February 2008.
This research will provide understanding into the frequency and critical nature of fat talk and body dissatisfaction in dancers and their non-dance peers. The information gained can be utilized to increase awareness of the harmful consequences of engaging in fat talk and to apply appropriate prevention and intervention strategies for dancers and other groups at risk for body dissatisfaction.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper explores how exotic dancers negotiate the presence of female customers in strip clubs, which are conceived of as explicitly male spaces. We conducted ethnographic research at four strip clubs in southern California, employing an active participant researcher role. Drawing on Goffman’s (1959) dramaturgical analysis, particularly his use of “front stage” performance, we observed three main interactional processes through which dancers contend with the participation of female customers in club activities: passing over, sidestaging, and tailoring. We find that women in strip clubs are unable to fully adopt the role of customer because gender remains a master status. The techniques that dancers use in dealing with female customers, combined with the organizational design of the club, prevent women from participating in strip club activities in a way comparable to that of male customers.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Exotic dancers manage the stigmatized perception of sex work in mainstream society, as well as a host of dangerous and demeaning experiences when they work in the sex industry. This combination comprises what I conceptualize as the “toll” of sex work – the cumulating experiences of rejection, abuse, discrimination, environmental hazards and societal stigma sex workers face both within and without the sex industry. Laboring under this toll, what strategies do exotic dancers rely on to manage unpredictable customer responses? Among the most common, and least researched techniques dancers reported using to protect themselves from external sources of abuse and internal loss of self-esteem involves establishing two types of boundaries. The first type, which I classify as “psycho-spacial,” defines their relationship to the customers. Dancers set psycho-spacial boundaries to personally determine the amount of sexual and emotional contact they are willing to have with customers to prevent workplace exploitation and manage the toll of sex work. The second boundary, which I dub “othering,” enables performers to establish a mental distance from both other performers and an idealized version of themselves.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Canadian sex workers are positioned within a particular and complex web of discursive, moral, criminal and administrative regulations. These workers, like their colleagues around the world, do not passively acquiesce but actively engage in resistance as they contest the relations of power that would oppress them. This paper draws on a series of research projects with erotic dancers to explore the multifaceted and sometimes contradictory tactics and strategies employed by dancers to challenge the state, clients and management. The research highlights the importance of recognizing the agency of these workers and acknowledging their successes while critically attending to the political, social and individual implications of their tactics.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Although white fashion magazines such as Elle may use similar ethnic representations, this paper examines how Latina Magazine's fashion lay-outs depict imagery that is coded as distinctively Latina. Within the fashion mainstream, Latina Magazine problematizes those stereotyped accoutrements of Latina femininity (such as hoop earrings) by re-presenting them in a resistive context that is grounded in demographic locations marked as Latino/a, evocative of a material history.