Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
she felt objectified by the other women in the space. “I don't like being looked at like
that.I'mnotthereforsomeone else's enjoyment, ah,I'mtherebecause Iwanttobethere
kind of thing, and then the bathroom was like a whole other world.”
It is important to note that the bathrooms in this club are located beyond the dance
floor and can only be accessed by walking through this small, crowded space. Interest-
ingly, although she describes Jacks as “very aggressive kind of macho place” she does
this with reference to both male and female patrons whom she portrays as unfriendly
rather than potentially violent. She also constructs this experience with reference to the
displeasure of “being looked at” and being treated as though she is “there for someone
else's enjoyment.” It is the specter of unwanted or unpleasant objectification rather than
violence that haunts the movement of female clubbers through the crowded space. Wo-
men in the club are the objects of (potentially) aggressive male desire, and as such need
to take care of themselves. They do this by following basic rules for female clubbers,
including: don't go out alone, never leave your drink unattended, and stick close to your
group of friends. As Jane explained, if her boyfriend and his friends went off some-
where, “I was always left with one person, and we had to stay in that area, so I was
very controlled.” These practices give an indication of the ways in which the sexualized
and aggressive vibe may manifest in an extremely negative manner for female clubbers.
Theexistenceofinformalrulesgivesevidenceofthedangersfemaleclubbersmayface,
which take the form of unwelcome attention and, more seriously, drugging and rape.
Conclusion: Affective Geographies of Privilege
This chapter has introduced the concept of the vibe as an analytic resource for studying
geographiesofprivilege.Thevibeofaplaceisatoncespatialandexperiential.Itiscon-
stituted by social interactions that produce places, and it connects people to each other
and to place, governing the engagement of individual participants with the social situ-
ation. As such, circuits of power that flow though places—and the effects of power in
terms of privilege, marginalization, oppression, etc.—become apparent in the vibe as it
animates bodies, channeling conduct along trajectories that collectively bring privilege
into being.
In drawing attention to the vibe, we have attempted to show the existence of a whole
terrain of privilege that has been outside the scrutiny of the discursive approach to place
identity. The discursive approach provided a useful corrective to the apolitical focus of
much psychological research on individual experiences of place belonging and attach-
ment.Placeidentityresearchforegroundedthecollective,shared,andideologicalnature
ofthesefeelingsandemotions,andthewaytheywereconstructedanddeployedtoserve
groups' interests. This work shifted the focus from subjectivity to talk, but in so doing,
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