Work and intimacy: an ethnography from a men's cabaré
Keywords: Sex Work; Cabaré; Male Prostitution; Gender; Sexuality.
This thesis is an ethnography of economic and labor relations in a men's cabaré founded in 2020, located in a medium-sized city in the interior of the Brazilian Northeast. Realeza, as I have chosen to name it, is a commercial establishment organized around the provision of sexual services by young men from other municipalities, referred to as boys, who reside there seasonally. In addition to these young men and the venue's founder, the Baronesa, the space is also frequented by a clientele primarily composed of gay men. The research was conducted through visits and short-term stays at the cabaré between December 2022 and June 2024. The methodology employed participant observation, informal conversations, semi-structured interviews, and the creation of free-hand drawings, both individually and in the company of the boys. During this period, it became evident that economic and labor relations were inextricably linked to personal and intimate relationships, in which the interlocutors were constantly negotiating their definitions, distinctions, and, when applicable, their connections. Building on this, the thesis aims to explore these aspects by articulating reflections on sex work, sociability dynamics permeated by relations of gender, generation, and sexuality, forms of consumption, processes of subjectivation, emotions, and moralities, as well as the relationships between corporealities and eroticism.