For my project, I am going to study the queer nightlife scene in Providence. As a culturally diverse city that serves as a nightlife hub for the state of Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts, and with its high concentration of college and university students, Providence serves as a locus of interaction between individuals and groups that occupy distinct racial, socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic, age, and (most centrally in my research) sexual subject positions.
This semester I will attempt to document how the presence of clubs and venues that cater to queer communities influence these patterns of interaction. The presence of an organized queer nocturnal economy, mediated through clubs like Dark Lady, Mirabar, and the Eagle, bring together a cross-section of individuals and link them to a network constructed by social and often sexual experiences unavailable elsewhere in the city. I will track how variations in sexual orientation play out on the often sexually charged atmosphere of the dance club, and try to notice how tropes of desirability trace racial, economic, and aesthetic dimensions of the participants in this subculture, and take note of the gendered quality of this scene.
Who goes to these clubs, and how far do they come to experience a queer social/sexual atmosphere (and to what end?) How does the presence of Brown, RISD, Johnson & Wales and other colleges and universities inform the queering of Providence nightlife? How are bodies judged, rethought, and adorned within spaces set aside for queer expression and sexualization? And how do gender, race, and weight issues intersect with queer identities to make this scene especially complex?
I intend to analyze these trends from the perspective of a participant in Providence nightlife. I will experience the club aesthetic firsthand this semester, and analyze my subject position as a white gay male to figure out how my subject positions embed me into queer-clubland. I look forward to going about this project. READY.SET.GOOO <3
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