Editing Go-go bar

{{short description|Type of nightclub}}
[[Image:Kathoey.jpg|thumb|[[Kathoey]] working in a go-go bar in [[Bangkok]]'s [[Nana Plaza]] entertainment neighborhood]]

A '''go-go bar''' is a type of business establishment where [[alcoholic drink]] is sold and dancers provide entertainment. The term ''go-go bar'' originally referred  to a nightclub, bar, or similar establishment that featured [[go-go dancer]]s; while some go-go bars in that original sense still exist, the link between its present uses and that original meaning is often more tenuous and regional. Speaking broadly, the term has been used by venues that cover a wide range of businesses, from [[nightclub]]s or [[discotheque]]s, where dancers are essentially there to set the [[Mood (psychology)|mood]], to what are in essence [[burlesque]] theaters or [[strip club]]s, where dancers are part of a show and the primary focus.

==United States==
The term '''go-go bar''' is often used for certain sorts of  [[strip club]]s. In regions where the term is used, go-go bars are considered lower in class when compared to [[Gentlemen's club (adult entertainment)|gentlemen's clubs]], which offer a more coordinated and show-centric experience. In these bars:

*There is no [[Champagne room|champagne court]].
*Dress codes are more relaxed for both patrons and performers.
*There are no staging, choreography, or special effects considerations.
*A House Mother monitors activity and assists performers in the dressing area.
*Feature performers usually do not perform at go-go bars.

==East and Southeast Asia==
The phrase ''go-go'' was adopted by bars in the 1960s in [[Tokyo]], Japan. It gained a lesser reputation when it was abandoned by a majority of clubs and appropriated by bawdy ''[[American burlesque|burlesque]]'' and [[striptease]] establishments, which in turn became known as go-go bars and the women working there known as go-go dancers.

During the [[Vietnam War]] the [[United States Seventh Fleet]] was based at the [[U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay]] in the city of [[Olongapo]] in the Philippines. The city had 500 go-go bars used by US servicemen.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Trouble and Strife|url=http://www.troubleandstrife.org/issues/Issue12_FullScan.pdf|issue=12|date=Winter 1987|title=For a Song: Female Sexual Slavery in Asia|first1=Tono|last1=Harubi|first2=Tsukamoto|last2=Yumi|first3=Iyori|last3=Naoka|page=10}}</ref> There were also many go-go bars in [[Saigon]], [[South Vietnam]],<ref>{{cite book|title=To Vietnam with Love: A Travel Guide for the Connoisseur|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aD0VIjEyRsgC&pg=PA81|first=Kim|last=Fay|publisher=ThingsAsian Press|date=2008|isbn=9781934159040|pages=81–82}}</ref> to entertain [[U.S. military|U.S.&nbsp;troops]]. A synonym used in Vietnam for go-go dancing is "[[table dancing]]".

There were many such bars in Thailand during the Vietnam War and they continued (on a smaller scale) after the war ended in 1975.<ref name=Finlay>{{cite web|title=A Guide to Bangkok's Red Light Districts|url=https://theculturetrip.com/asia/thailand/articles/a-guide-to-bangkoks-red-light-districts/|website=The Culture Trip|first=Leslie|last=Finlay|date=6 April 2018}}</ref> During the 1980s, Thailand became a leading center for [[sex tourism]]<ref>{{cite web|title=History of Prostitution and Sex Trafficking in Thailand|url=https://www.endslaverynow.org/blog/articles/history-of-prostitution-and-sex-trafficking-in-thailand|date=8 October 2015|first=Cazzie|last=Reyes|website=End Slavery Now}}</ref> with go-go bars located in the [[List of red-light districts#Asia|red light districts]] catering to foreigners.<ref name=Ditmore>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Prostitution and Sex Work|volume=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SKBvqXL0jTQC|first=Melissa Hope|last=Ditmore|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2006|isbn=9780313329692|page=57}}</ref> They are part of Thailand's sex-related entertainment industry, along with [[massage parlor]]s.<ref>{{cite book|title=Prostitution in Thailand: Myth and Reality|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_R_aAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA112|first=Lipi|last=Ghosh|publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers|date=2002|isbn=9788121510271|page=112}}</ref> Go-go bars have hostesses and/or dancers<ref name=Ditmore/> who perform on stage, sometimes [[pole dancing]]. They typically dance wearing bikinis, lingerie or [[Uniform fetishism|fetish costumes]]. Occasionally they perform topless but rarely nude<ref name=Weitzer>{{cite book|title=Sex Tourism in Thailand: Inside Asia's Premier Erotic Playground|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9y21EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT95|first=Ronald|last=Weitzer|publisher=NYU|date=2023|isbn=9781479813438|page=95}}</ref> and the bars do not usually offer striptease,<ref name=Ditmore/> although [[sex show]]s are sometimes performed on stage.<ref name=Weitzer/> Many of the bars are found in [[Bangkok]] in [[Patpong]], [[Nana Plaza]],<ref name=Finlay/> and [[Soi Cowboy]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=List of activities and businesses allowed to operate and those remain closed in Bangkok|url=https://www.pattayamail.com/thailandnews/list-of-activities-and-businesses-allowed-to-operate-and-those-remain-closed-in-bangkok-2-359739|website=Pattaya Mail|date=16 June 2021}}</ref> Soi Twilight is Bangkok's main street for gay go-go bars.<ref name=Finlay/> Unlike Thailand's many open-fronted bars, go-go bars are not accessed directly from the street.<ref name=Sorajjakool>{{cite book|title=Human Trafficking in Thailand: Current Issues, Trends, and the Role of the Thai Government|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=okDQDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT44|first=Siroj|last=Sorajjakool|publisher=Silkworm Books|date=2013|isbn=9781631021947|page=44}}</ref> Instead they are indoor bars<ref name=Ditmore/> located in closed buildings. The participants are not visible from the outside so that passers-by cannot congregate to view the dancers for free.<ref name=Weitzer/> Dancing is typically used as a form of [[solicitation]] for prostitution.<ref name=Weitzer/> After dancing for the customers, the [[bar girl]]s who work there often leave with them to provide sexual services once the customers have paid a [[bar fine]].<ref name=Sorajjakool/> Such bars can also be found in parts of the Philippines and other parts of Southeast Asia.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=van der Velden |first=Leo |year=1982 |title=Tussen prostituée en maitresse: de hospitality girls van Ermita, Manila |publisher=Universiteit van Amsterdam |url=http://www.scriptiesonline.uba.uva.nl/en/scriptie/573463 |language=nl |trans-title=Between Prostitute and Mistress: the Hospitality Girls of Ermita, Manila }}{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==Etymology==
The origin of the term go-go dancing goes back to a 1949 British film ''[[Whisky Galore! (1949 film)|Whisky Galore!]]''. This film tells the story of the sinking of a ship loaded with whiskey. The French title of this film was ''Whisky à gogo !'', "à gogo" being Parisian slang for "galore".<ref>{{cite book|title=Dictionary of Modern Colloquial French|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-MaHAgAAQBAJ|first1=Edwin A|last1=Lovatt|first2=René James|last2=Hérail|publisher=Routledge|year=2005|isbn=9781134930623|page=264}}</ref> During the period that this film was showing in France, discotheques were just introduced as a new form of entertainment. Due to the success of the film and the snob appeal of drinking whiskey in France, a number of discotheques were given the name "Whiskey à Go-Go".

The first ''Whisky à Gogo'' nightclub opened in Paris in 1947,<ref>{{cite book|first1=Bill|last1=Brewster|first2=Frank|last2=Broughton|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Np3dpRhTsxQC&q=%22paul+pacine%22&pg=PA50|title=Last Night a Dj Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey|pages=50|publisher=Grove Press|year=1999|isbn=9781555846114}}</ref> drawing the "Whisky" part of its name from the whisky labels that lined its walls.<ref>{{cite book|title=Girl Culture: An Encyclopedia [2 Volumes]: An Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9PRoPX3DIwgC|first1=Claudia|last1=Mitchell|first2=Jacqueline|last2=Reid-Walsh|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2007|isbn=9780313084447|page=328}}</ref> In 1953 it became the first [[discotheque]].<ref>{{cite book|title=DJs: A Children's Guide to the Origins of Hip Hop|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sptLAgAAQBAJ|first=Lamont|last=Clark|publisher=70 West Press|year=2013|series=The Five Elements of Hip Hop|volume=2}}</ref> The club was franchised, first in Chicago in 1958 and then in Los Angeles in 1964.<ref>{{cite book|title=Fashion Fads Through American History: Fitting Clothes into Context: Fitting Clothes into Context|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GDoVCwAAQBAJ|first=Jennifer Grayer|last=Moore|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2015|isbn=9781610699020|page=275}}</ref> In May 1964 the Los Angeles club was featured in [[Life (magazine)|Life magazine]] and by 1965 clubs called ''Whisky à Go-Go'' (or ''Whiskey à Go-Go'') had appeared in Milwaukee, Washington, San Francisco and Atlanta.<ref>{{cite book|title=How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music|first=Elijah|last=Wald|url=https://archive.org/details/howbeatlesdestro00waldx|url-access=registration|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|isbn=9780199753567|page=[https://archive.org/details/howbeatlesdestro00waldx/page/232 232]}}</ref> In the Los Angeles club a new style of dance was taking place, as go-go dancers in short, fringed skirts and high boots danced in a glass booth above the patrons. The first recorded occurrence of topless go-go dancing was in the Condor nightclub in San Francisco in 1964, and topless go-go dancing quickly became a part of the adult entertainment industry.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the Sixties: A Decade of Culture and Counterculture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JscEZeXBsZYC|editor-first1=Abbe Allen|editor-last1=DeBolt|editor-first2=James S.|editor-last2=Baugess|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2011|isbn=9780313329449|page=253}}</ref>

During this time, several dance styles were becoming popular in which dancers danced separately from their partner or with no partner at all. American discos, often using the same name (“Whiskey A Go-Go”) as their French predecessor, introduced young women dancing alone in these new styles as a form of entertainment, creating the concept of a "go-go dancer".<ref>A.O. Aldridge, American burlesque at home and abroad; together with the etymology of go-go girl, in: Journal of Popular Culture, 1971, V, 565-575</ref>

==See also==
* [[Bargirl]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Sex industry]]
[[Category:Nightclubs]]
[[Category:Types of drinking establishment]]