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Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Vol. 35, No. 6, 611-644 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0891241605285444

Flaunting and Empowerment

Thinking about Circuit Parties, the Body, and Power

Russell Westhaver

Saint Mary's University

For most gay men in major urban centers in North America, "circuit parties" are at least a passing point of reference, and most will have something to say about these all-night dance parties, characterized by drug use, sexual pursuits, and normative notions of masculinity. Proponents understand the circuit as a site of empowerment; critics see the circuit as a site of danger. Rather than focus on the truth content of these claims, this article, based on a larger ethnographic study of circuit parties, draws on the work of Pierre Bourdieu and Alan Radley to offer an account of the sense of empowerment some attendees experience as they participate in circuit parties. In doing this, this article not only offers an explanation of this empowerment but also interrogates Bourdieu's treatment of the body to propose an immanent understanding of the body's power.

Key Words: the body • Bourdieu • circuit parties • gay men • power


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