Negotiating Femininities in the Neoliberal Night-Time Economy

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-viii

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Emily Nicholls

   Pages 1-37

3. Carefree or Controlled? Understanding the Night-Time Economy

   • Emily Nicholls

   Pages 39-80

4. ‘It’s Girl Time’: Girliness and Friendships

   • Emily Nicholls

   Pages 81-122

5. ‘Rowdy…? That’s the Whole Point of Going on a Night Out’: Time Out, Transgression and Control

   • Emily Nicholls

   Pages 123-167

6. ‘What Else About Her Is Fake?’: ‘Emphasised’ Femininity, Authenticity and Appearance

   • Emily Nicholls

   Pages 169-205

7. ‘People Don’t See You if You’re a Woman and You’re Not Really Dressed Up’: Visibility and Risk

   • Emily Nicholls

   Pages 207-252

8. Conclusion

   • Emily Nicholls

   Pages 253-278

9. Back Matter

   Pages 279-308

   PDF

This book explores the ways in which young women negotiate gendered and classed identities in nightlife venues. With a particular focus on the under-researched phenomenon of the ‘girls’ night out’, this text explores tensions around what it means to be ‘girly’ in bars, pubs and clubs, examining throughout the ways in which being a ‘girly girl’ is simultaneously desired and derided in a postfeminist context. Drawing on research conducted in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, this original and comprehensive book explores the value and meaning of the ‘girls’ night out’ for young women, and its instrumental role in the negotiation of friendships and femininities. Nicholls covers a range of themes, including alcohol consumption, dress, and risk management, providing engaging and timely insights into women’s leisure as a site for the negotiation of gendered identities.

Negotiating Femininities in the Neoliberal Night-Time Economy will be of interest to students and scholars across the social sciences with an interest in gender, class and the Night-Time Economy.

• Night Time Economy
• post-feminism
• women
• alcohol consumption
• sociology
• gender
• cultural studies
• leisure
• social geography
• gender and sexuality

“Nicholls graphically brings to life the tensions and contradictions young women face on a night out. However, this book is much more than a definitive study of the infamous ‘girls night out’. Nicholls makes a significant contribution to feminist thinking, urban sociology, and nightlife and alcohol studies, by providing a nuanced, sensitive, and comprehensive treatment of gendered and classed experiences of the neo-liberal night-time economy.” (Robert Hollands, Newcastle University, UK)

“With this book, Nicholls serves up a richly detailed exploration of the pleasures and pains of negotiating femininity in the Night Time Economy. This fascinating sociological examination of the intersections of class, gender and sexuality on the ‘Girls’ Night Out’ is expertly set against the social and spatial terrain of Newcastle-Upon-Type, a party city where the contested boundaries of sociability, identity and belonging are transgressed and remade on a nightly basis.” (Thomas Thurnell-Read, Loughborough University, UK)

“Nicholls explores how young women negotiate the complexities and contradictions of contemporary femininity and still manage to have a good time. The book makes an important contribution to understanding the complex terrain of ‘girliness’ for young women managing tensions around heterosexual femininity, friendship and leisure in the UK.  It is also a valuable addition to research about gender and intoxication, focusing on the important collective cultural practice of the ‘girls’ night out’.” (Christine Griffin, University of Bath, UK)

• University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, United Kingdom

  Emily Nicholls

Emily Nicholls is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Portsmouth, UK.

Policies and ethics