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Published: December 2nd 2007
In true Michelle form, I am now hanging out in strip clubs in Kathmandu. For those of you who are unaware, I have developed this reputation of conducting research in settings considered deviant—like a study I did a few years ago (which should be published early next year) in a completely nude male strip club in Massachusetts. I do this because these are the places where some of the riskiest sexual behavior occurs. But most people do not even venture into such places in their lifetime. Me? I strut right in and make myself at home…for the sake of research.
So Faruq and I and his Nepali friend went on our first rendezvous together to a place called Show Girls Dance Restaurant in Bhag Bazaar last night. We parked on the street (where there were no street lights) and made our way up the rickety metal stairs to the club. We were saluted by a security guard (to me he gave the hands together namaste greeting). We then went up another flight of concrete stairs, following the signs for Shows Girls and St. Xavier’s school, which are housed in the same building. We were greeted by another security guard at the entrance, who again saluted.
The restaurant was a small place with a bar to the right as you stepped through the door, a lighted stage in the middle of the room with mirrors behind it, and tables, chairs, and couches scattered around the rest of the room. With its concrete floor and no central heating, the place was cold. It was completely dark, except for the tracking lights on the stage. We picked a couch right up front. Apparently if you want to watch the show you sit up front. If you want to do more private things, like fondle a woman, you sit at the tables in the back.
There were maybe 15 men when we got there around 9pm of various ages from early 20s to late 50s. There were also about 2 dozen women who were employees of the restaurant. There are the dancers, the waitresses, and what I will call the “date for a night” women. Their job is to sit with a man, make him feel special by touching him and sitting on his lap and flirting, and get him to buy more drinks and snacks—both for himself and for her.
The dancers were young—one told us she was 19, but to me she looked 16 or younger. She said another dancer was 21 and had a daughter. At the change of each song (which were mostly Nepali and Hindi pop), a new dancer would come out on stage. Some of them danced in a tight t-shirt and short shorts, some in a tiny wrap around her waist and a bikini top or bra, others in long glittery skirts and heels. Still others would remove their clothing early into the song. Underwear generally stayed on (bikinis, no thongs), but flashes of vagina and pubic hair were common. The women were thin but not muscular, and not particularly curvy. They all had natural breasts, and about half had underarm hair. Their faces were covered with heavy makeup, and they all kept adjusting their hair during their dances.
Some song lyrics were shared by a male and female voice, so during those numbers one of two men also come out on stage in jeans and a tank top to dance. I was told by Faruq that these are the dance instructors. They would mouth the words of the song when the male voice sang and grind up on the female dancer, often times simulating sex in various complicated positions. One male dancer came out with what I hope was a fake hand gun and motioned around with it throughout the song, maintaining a gangster-like appearance.
The whole scene was pretty tame and not completely unlike what you would see in the U.S., but it definitely had a Nepali flare, such as the dirty floor, the tattered costumes some of the women wore, and the male dancers. But I became uncomfortable when the male dancers started to grope the women. They would rub their hands all over the women’s breasts and torsos, often remove their tops, and then proceed to lick their nipples and stomachs. In the meantime, the women were constantly trying to push them away, clearly not wanting to be fondled. Sometimes the men would grab at their asses and rub their hands along the women’s crotch, try to put their hands inside their panties, or pretend that they were penetrating the women with their fingers. During one song there were 4 women out on stage and both of the men, and the men were particularly aggressive in their touching. The women were clearly annoyed. The whole scene was very difficult for me to watch, but what could I do? I already stuck out like a sore thumb, being the only foreigner and only female customer in the joint. I couldn’t exactly protest what was going on on stage safely.
Tipping of the dancers was very uncommon. Every once in a while a customer would toss a 100 Rs bill at them. One time a man stepped up to the stage when one of the women was grinding against the pole in the front center to hand her some money. When she turned around and saw him, she quickly jumped back, probably thinking that he was trying to touch her. So he just threw the bill on the stage. She left it there and continued to dance closer to the back of the stage.
There were also 2 showers on each side of the stage with a little porcelain bath dug out. We did not see any women dancing under the shower heads, but apparently “dance with shower” is a big thing in Kathmandu now.
When not dancing, the women came out into the crowd fully dressed to flirt with customers. Some of them put on winter coats because it was so cold. One girl, who I will call Angela, sat with Faruq’s friend most of the time. She told us she was 19, illiterate, has no phone, and makes 6500 Rs per month (about US$100) working at the restaurant. She shook my hand and said in Nepali that she wanted to become friends with me. She was not drinking alcohol, but seemed a little spacey, so maybe was on some type of drug. She was one of the few dancers who were not afraid to remove all of her clothes, and she would often touch herself while on stage or dancing on tables.
Another woman sat next to Faruq for a while later in the night. She also shook my hand, and I was able to converse with her a little bit in Nepali about where I am from, how I like Nepal, and tell her my name. She told Faruq that she was in love with me, and so he teased her about marrying me. Young women seem especially anxious to befriend me, and I haven’t quite figured out why. Several Nepali women have said to me, Renuka, or others I hang around with that I am beautiful, so I think they want to be with me because it makes them look good. It’s all very flattering, but at the same time creeps me out. But perhaps it will come in handy in the strip clubs when I am trying to find women to interview.
We left the club around 11pm. The place was starting to get packed, and at one point we were actually asked to move to a different table because a group of customers that had just arrived wanted our seats. But Faruq’s friend refused. The crowd that came in later looked a little more rough—they were younger, had a more intimidating demeanor, and were not afraid to stare at me from across the room. Angela was saying something about some men at a table on the other side of the stage liking me, and was going back and forth between our table and their’s, but I couldn’t understand what was going on. We left shortly thereafter anyway.
Faruq said the Young Communist League (YCL) is like the new mafia of Kathmandu. They are young guys who used to be paid stipends by the Maoists, but now they don’t receive anything. So they have turned to crime to make ends meet—petty theft, sometimes fighting. They don’t really target foreigners, but if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, I can imagine it could get dangerous. In the paper this morning there was an article about 2 men being stabbed last night, but no indication as to whether it was connected to the YCL. Regardless, Faruq’s friend was no longer comfortable in the club once the younger crowd started to arrive.
My plan is to go back to Show Girls a few times to see if I can’t actually befriend some of these women who wanted to know about me, gain their trust, and then interview them about their work. The whole project is definitely reminiscent of my male show bar study, but with the oddities of Kathmandu mixed in. I can’t wait!
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Kif
non-member comment
Are you doing a study?
Hi Michelle, My name is Kif. I live in Kathmandu. I work for a NGO dealing with child protection and anti-trafficking projects. I just found your post while "googleing" and I was wondering if you were currently conducting a study on dance bars. As I am also making a few invetsigations, it could be interesting to exhange on the issue. Cheers, Kif