Nightwork : sexuality, pleasure, and corporate masculinity in a Tokyo hostess club
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Nightwork : sexuality, pleasure, and corporate masculinity in a Tokyo hostess club
University of Chicago Press, 1994
- : hbk
- : pbk
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Note
Bibliography: p. 205-209
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
-
: hbk ISBN 9780226014852
Description
In "Nightwork", Anne Allison opens a window onto Japanese corporate culture and gender identities. Allison performed the ritualized tasks of a hostess in one of Tokyo's many "hostess clubs": pouring drinks, lighting cigarettes, and making flattering or titillating conversation with the businessmen who came there on company expense accounts. Her book critically examines how such establishments create bonds among white-collar men and forge a masculine identity that suits the needs of their corporations. Allison describes in detail a typical company outing to such a club - what the men do, how they interact with the hostesses, the role the hostess is expected to play, and the extent to which all of this involves "play" rather than "work." Unlike previous books on Japanese nightlife, Allison's ethnography of one specific hostess club (here referred to as "Bijo") views the general phenomenon from the eyes of a woman, hostess, and feminist anthropologist. Observing that clubs like "Bijo" further a kind of masculinity dependent on the gestures and labours of women, Allison seeks to uncover connections between such behaviour and other social, economic, sexual and gendered relations.
She argues that Japanese corporate nightlife enables and institutionalizes a particular form of ritualized male dominance: in paying for this entertainment, Japanese corporations not only give their male workers a self-image as phallic man, but also develop relationships to work that are unconditional and unbreakable. This is a book that should appeal to anyone interested in gender roles or in contemporary Japanese society.
- Volume
-
: pbk ISBN 9780226014876
Description
In "Nightwork", Anne Allison opens a window onto Japanese corporate culture and gender identities. Allison performed the ritualized tasks of a hostess in one of Tokyo's many "hostess clubs": pouring drinks, lighting cigarettes, and making flattering or titillating conversation with the businessmen who came there on company expense accounts. Her book critically examines how such establishments create bonds among white-collar men and forge a masculine identity that suits the needs of their corporations. Allison describes in detail a typical company-outing to such a club - what the men do, how they interact with the hostesses, the role the hostess is expected to play, and the extent to which all of this involves "play" rather than "work." Unlike previous books on Japanese nightlife, Allison's ethnography of one specific hostess club (here referred to as "Bijo") views the general phenomenon from the eyes of a woman, hostess and feminist anthropologist. Observing that clubs like "Bijo" further a kind of masculinity dependent on the gestures and labours of women, Allison seeks to uncover connections between such behaviour and other social, economic, sexual and gendered relations.
She argues that Japanese corporate nightlife enables and institutionalizes a particular form of ritualized male dominance: in paying for this entertainment, Japanese corporations not only give their male workers a self-image as phallic man, but also develop relationships to work that are unconditional and unbreakable. This is a book that should appeal to anyone interested in gender roles or in contemporary Japanese society.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments Prelude Introduction Pt. 1: Ethnography of a Hostess Club Ch. 1: A Type of Place Ch. 2: A Type of Routine Ch. 3: A Type of Woman Pt. 2: Mapping the Nightlife within Cultural Categories Introduction Ch. 4: Social Place and Identity Ch. 5: The Meaning and Place of Work: The Sarariiman Ch. 6: Family and Home Ch. 7: Structure of Japanese Play Ch. 8: Male Play with Money, Women, and Sex Pt. 3: Male Rituals and Masculinity Introduction Ch. 9: Male Bonding Ch. 10: The Mizu Shobai Woman: Constructing Dirtiness and Sex Ch. 11: Impotence as a Sign and Symbol of the Sarariiman References Index
by "Nielsen BookData"
