Mojave Mirages: Gender and Performance in Las Vegas

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2002

Publication Title

Women's History Review

Volume

11

Issue

1

First page number:

115

Last page number:

132

Abstract

The article explores the permeable boundaries between image, perception, experience, and realities through a series of personal observations on gender and performance in Las Vegas. The author’s observations on this resort destination in the middle of the Mojave Desert are mingled with the narratives of women who came to the area during and after World War II. Lucrative jobs in wartime industries followed by the post-war tourist economy gave women opportunities to earn more money than they could ‘back home.’ A work in progress, the article explores why women came to Las Vegas and stayed and how they, like many visitors to the city, play out their fantasies in its public theater.

Keywords

History; Nevada--Las Vegas; Performance; Sex; Sex role; Tourism; Women; World War (1939-1945)

Disciplines

Gender and Sexuality | History | United States History | Women's History | Women's Studies

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the item. Publisher policy does not allow archiving the final published version. If a post-print (author's peer-reviewed manuscript) is allowed and available, or publisher policy changes, the item will be deposited.

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