Nightclub Service, Aesthetic Labor, and Objectification: Examining the Experiences of Workers in Nightlife

• In Event: 40820 - Section on Sociology of Sex and Gender Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 15: Sex and Sex Work

Abstract

Nightlife settings have been the focus of sociological inquiry for decades, with existing studies primarily focused on consumers. However, the focus on workers’ experiences has been largely overlooked. This study draws on existing literature about elite nightlife, aesthetic labor, and workplace objectification to examine workers’ experiences in elite nightclubs, including getting hired and interacting with managers and consumers. Based on interviews with elite nightclub workers in New York City and Los Angeles, our findings support earlier claims that the elite nightclub reflects a site for aesthetic labor, but from the perspective of paid workers including bartenders, servers, and hosts. Specifically, women workers encounter strict appearance expectations during the hiring process and throughout their employment with the clubs. Workers face consequences for not meeting appearance expectations such as being removed from the schedule. During their shifts, workers endured sexual harassment, verbal abuse, and stalking from consumers inside the club, while facing pressures to make sales. Our study clarifies the role of appearance expectations in facilitating aesthetic labor and consumer-worker interactions in shaping workplace objectification. Our study extends existing theory on aesthetic labor and workplace precarity by focusing on workers in elite nightlife.

Authors

• Sara Yamadi, North Carolina State University

• Virginia Riel, North Carolina State University