Dance Hall Days : Intimacy and Leisure Among Working-Class Immigrants in the United States / Randy McBee.
McBee, Randy, author.
2000
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Title
Dance Hall Days : Intimacy and Leisure Among Working-Class Immigrants in the United States / Randy McBee.
Author
McBee, Randy, author.
ISBN
9780814759929
DOI
https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814759929.001.0001
Published
New York, NY : : New York University Press, [2000]
Copyright
©2000
Language
English
Language Note
In English.
Description
1 online resource
Item Number
10.18574/nyu/9780814759929.001.0001 doi
Dewey Decimal Classification
305.800973
Summary
The rise of commercialized leisure coincided with the arrival of millions of immigrants to America's cities. Conflict was inevitable as older generations attempted to preserve their traditions, values, and ethnic identities, while the young sought out the cheap amusements and sexual freedom which the urban landscape offered. At immigrant picnics, social clubs, and urban dance halls, Randy McBee discovers distinct and highly contested gender lines, proving that the battle between the ages was also one between the sexes. Free from their parents and their strict rules governing sexual conduct, working women took advantage of their time in dance halls to challenge conventional gender norms. They routinely passed certain men over for dances, refused escorts home, and embraced the sensual and physical side of dance to further accentuate their superior skills and ability on the dance floor. Most men felt threatened by women's displays of empowerment and took steps to thwart the changes taking place. Accustomed to street corners, poolrooms, saloons, and other all-male get-togethers, working men tried to transform the dance hall into something that resembled these familiar hangouts. McBee also finds that men frequently abandoned the commercial dance hall for their own clubs, set up in the basements of tenement flats. In these hangouts, working men established rules governing intimacy and leisure that allowed them to regulate the behavior of the women who attended club events. The collective manner in which they behaved not only affected the organization of commercial leisure but also men and women's struggles with and against one another to define the meaning of leisure, sexuality, intimacy, and even masculinity.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
System Details Note
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
Digital File Characteristics
text file PDF
Source of Description
Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 18. Sep 2023)
In
New York University Press Backlist eBook-Package 2000-2013
Available in Other Form
print 9780814756201
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Frontmatter
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction
ONE "Marriages Were a Little Different Then": Marriages upon Short Acquaintance, and Immigrant, Working-Class Life
TWO The Era of Large Ballrooms and Famous Bands: The Rise of Commercial Leisure and the Making of a Peer Culture
THREE "The Girls Here Are Like Crazy": Working-Class Women's Heterosocial Leisure and Homosocial Fun
FOUR "That's Alright, I Have My Gang Here": Working-Class Male Culture and the Struggle over Gender, Identity, and Dance
FIVE "And You Know the Old Saying about Familiarity Breeding Contempt": Working-Class Male Culture, Social Clubs, and Heterosocial Leisure
SIX "When It Comes to My Marrying, Boy, There Will Be a Lot of Strings Pulled by My Parents": Familial Conflict, Commercial Leisure, and Weddings
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author

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