‘The guys in there just expect to be laid’: embodied and gendered socio-spatial practices of a ‘night out’ in Wollongong, Australia

Abstract

This article investigates intersections of sexuality, sex, femininities, and alcohol. The concept of spatially-situated subjectivity is deployed to examine how women negotiate their femininities and sexualities in and through spaces of a ‘night out’. A mixed methods approach was deployed with young, single, white women in Wollongong, Australia. Drawing on narrative analysis, our research suggests the paradoxical qualities of pub spaces. We argue that where and why women drink is an outcome of negotiations, transgressions and accommodations as they reconcile a sense of self with(in) the gendered and heterosexed socio-spatial practice of particular pubs. In practical terms, corporeal femininities provide effective advice for ameliorating risks of regular intoxication.