Society for Consumer Psychology

Gendered Behavior in a Male Preserve: Role Playing at ESPN Zone Chicago

Author(s): John F. Sherry, Jr., Robert V. Kozinets, Adam Duhachek, Benet DeBerry-Spence,
Krittinee Nuttavuthisit, Diana Storm
Source: Journal of Consumer Psychology, Vol. 14, No. 1/2 (2004), pp. 151-158
Published by: Society for Consumer Psychology
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1480382
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 JOURNAL OFCONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY, 14(1&2),151-158
0 2004,Lawrence
Copyright Associates,Inc.
Erlbaum

GenderedBehaviorin a Male Preserve:Role Playing

at ESPN Zone Chicago
JohnF. Sherry,Jr.
Departmentof Marketing,Kellogg School of Management
NorthwesternUniversity

RobertV. Kozinets
Departmentof Marketing,Kellogg School of Management
NorthwesternUniversity

Adam Duhachek,Benet DeBerry-Spence,and KrittineeNuttavuthisit

Kellogg School of Management
NorthwesternUniversity

Diana Storm
Universityof SouthDenmark-OdenseUniversity

The consumptionof spectacularexperienceis of increasinginterestto consumerresearchers.

Muchof this consumptionoccursin themedenvironments.These environmentsarouseandmo-
tivateconsumersin multifacetedways. In this article,we explore the ways in which gendered
behavioris elicited and enactedin a sportsbar venue. Using ethnographicmethods,we exam-
ine male role behavioras it is exhibitedat ESPNZone Chicago.We enfold ourinterpretationof
this behaviorin theorizingaboutsport,spectacle, and mass mediation.

So I'm in a footballpool andeveryso oftenwe all get togetherat
ESPN Zone, with that competitivespiritto sit and watch the
gamesandtalkabouteachothers'picks,(youknow)thatfellow-
shiptypeof thing.Youget togetherwithguys you growupwith
andguys you meet overtime, as a just naturalmale thing.The
malethingatESPNZoneis a placewhereyou canjust watchall
the gamesandthat'sone thingthatreally(ah)drivesthe testos-
terone.... Unlessyou bringa youngladywho truly,trulyenjoys
sports,it's definitelya male dominatedatmosphere,testoster-
one flying in the air.Womentheredon'tchangethe dynamics.
Wedon'tchangetheway we react,anywherefromadultcontent
languagegoingontojust(youknow)lotsof drinking.You'rere-
ally not cognizantof thatfemalepresence.If anything,thatfe-
malepresencehas to reallykindof adaptto ourenvironmentor
else, it's kind of like a "toughluck"situation.
They've [ESPNZone] set it up in such a way where ... it's
kind of like one of those ChuckE. Cheeses for grown-upsto
shouldbe sentto JohnF Sherry,
Requestsforreprints Jr.,Departmentof
KelloggSchoolof Management,
Marketing, Northwestern 2001
University,
SheridanRoad,Evanston,IL 60208.E-mail:jfsherry@kellogg.northwest- This staging of retail experience has been recognized by mar-
ern.edu
enjoy games, or watchinga bunchof differentsports.It lends
itself (ah)tojust kindof lettingyou unwind.It'skindof like an
ultimate sports luxury,being away from home ... just be a
couchbum.Guys sometimesuse it as theirescape (you know).
Guys need an escape.
Mark,AfricanAmericanmale, early 30s
The words of our informant as revealed in this interview il-
lustrates the nature of gender roles within this complex,
sports-themed environment. Similar accounts of the public
performance of cultural models of gendered behavior, en-
acted on the stage of retail theater, replete with themes of
agency and ritualized display, are explored in the balance of
this essay. We demonstrate, in our ethnographic account of
gender in the Zone, the ways retail environment and gender
roles interact to inflect gendered behavior.
We investigate the structuring of staged experience in
which gender plays an important and almost autonomic role.
keting pundits such as Joseph Pine (Pine & Gilmore, 1999)
152 SHERRYET AL.
andMichaelWolf (1999). Thatall the retailworld'sa stage is
a metaphorripe with implicationsthatconsumerresearchers
arefruitfullycontinuingto explore.Pioneerssuch as Michael
Solomon (1983) and John Deighton (1992) have urgedcon-
sumer researchersto consider the ramificationof role and
performancesin consumerresearch.Our researchsuggests
thatESPN Zone Chicagoprovidesthe male consumerwith a
culturallens to enactthe role of athleteor tele-athlete.Forthe
moment,ESPNZone Chicagois able to sell him his own per-
sonal stage, where otherscan easily see him as he sees him-
self, the centerof a universewherehis athleticexploits can be
recognized.One informantcomments
I get theimpressionthat(youknow)they'retryingto create
theimpression thatthisis a realrah,rahmanthing.Youknow
whatI mean?Youknow,with(the)allthesportsandall.Girls
heremustfeel, (hmm)like (uh) the rah,rah cheerleader.
Yeah,I thinkthat'swhatthisplaceis like.It'slikethere'sno
pretendstuff,it'sa game,therealgame... withthemenhere
toplayandthewomenheretocheer[smilesbigandlaughs].
Freddie,1Whitemale,mid-20s
Performancessuch as that describedby Freddie, find male
guests starringas the lead character,whereasfemales arecast
in supportingroles. Still, if ESPN Zone Chicago provides a
stage, who is the audience?Often it could be seen thatmale,
self-made, and Zone-aggrandizedstarsperformfor their fe-
male companions.This genderdynamicis drawnout further
in a revelatoryexcerptfrom a researcher'sfield notebook:
I watchas a youngmaleathleteis hittinghis stride,falling
intoan easyrhythmof slingingfootballsthroughthe many
movingtargetsof the Arena'sscaled-down FootballField.
His prettyblondegirlfriendgazesadmiringly at his perfor-
mance, as the gameclockwinds down. As thepasserstepsup
the tempo,firingrapidlythroughthe targets,his girlfriend
beginsto dig footballsfromthe returntrough,feedingthe
passerandsavinghimprecioussecondsfromrummaging in
thewellhimself.
A crowdof youngmaleshasgatheredaroundtheenclo-
sure,watchingthe performance intently.The passer'smo-
mentumandprowesshavedrawnspectators to thecageand
energizedthe crowd.The onlookersalternatebetweenath-
leticspeculation andscopingoutthegirlfriend. Thisgather-
of is
ing boys simultaneously proud jealous it feedsvi-
and as
cariouslyoff thepasser'sperformance.
As timeexpires,thegirlembraces herboyfriend,fawning
overhisachievement ashe acceptshisduewithquietreserve,
scanningboththescoreboard andtheeyesof thecrowdasthe
couplestepsfromthecage.Gazingafterthedeparting cou-
ple, offeringsomereluctantadmiration forthepasser'sskill
andsomeenthusiastic forthegirl'scharm,andla-
admiration
the
menting paradoxical unfairness/abidingrightnessof the
ethosof sportsworld,
to-the-victor-belongs-the-spoils some
of theboys takeup positionsinsidethe cage,hopingto re-
1All informantsare given pseudonymsin this account.
peat,if notbetter,theperformance
theyhavejustwitnessed.
(Researcher Fieldnotes)
In a rite straightfrom the Stone Age, his provingof grid-
iron prowess is ritualistic;both courtshipbehaviorand alpha
display. From anotherperspective,it is for the anonymous
others, the crowd of young males, that our star-for-the-mo-
ment performs.For them, his props include not merely the
football field, and his talents, which he possesses tempo-
rarily,but also his female companion,whom he is exhibiting
in some sense every bit as much as he is his athletic skill.
There are performanceswithin performancesin the Zone.
Expectedperformances,promisedperformances,actualper-
formances, rememberedperformances,and fantasizedper-
formances,and these multipleperformancestake place on a
stage that, like the fields and courts of professional sports
themselves, structuresthe rules of genderwithin highly con-
ventionaland tightly defined boundaries.
In this article,we investigatethe ways one retailenviron-
ment influences these gender boundariesand, in turn, the
way consumers themselves stage gendered role perfor-
mances,conforminganddirectingbehaviorsas they navigate
this mediatized social space. Our researcherexperience at
ESPN Zone suggests these environments can be both
genderedand gendering.They are genderedin theirabilities
to fit genderperceptionsandgenderingin theirabilityto sup-
portexistingnetworksof genderroles andrelations.We pres-
ent ethnographicfindings that demonstratethe ways retail
environmentssuch as ESPNZone arouseparticulargendered
consumerinteractionsand discuss the implicationsof these
interactionsfor genderand themedenvironmenttheories.
THEORY OF THEMED RETAILSPECTACLE
Thatwe live in a cultureof spectaclewhereourexperienceis
transmuted by marketers who thematize entertainment
(Rugoff, 1995) is the startingpoint of our inquiry.Marketers
have alwaysfounda way to dramatizetheirwares,entrancing
the potentialbuyerwith the allureof products.
Fromthe rise of the departmentstore (Domosh & Seager,
2001; Sorkin, 1992) throughthe flowering of the flagship
brandstore, marketershave designed retail spaces that are
fundamentallydramaturgical.Every aspect of the built envi-
ronment-merchandising, trafficroutes, sight lines, lighting
decor,soundscape,and so forth-contributes to the blocking
of consumers,who are transformed(both wittingly and un-
wittingly) from audienceto cast members,and who become
not merelybuyers,but also sourcesof amusementfor one an-
other.As this complex retail staging unfolds, consumersare
often bothpropandactor.This appropriationof consumersis
a critical componentof the staging of retail theaterbecause
the performanceof consumption,which is both a public en-
actmentof retailtherapyandan inversionof guerrillatheater,
is itself a principallurefor shoppers(Sherry,1998). This em-

bedding of performanceart in commerce transformscon-
sumers into props as well as actors, highlighting the pas-
sive-active dialectic that fuels spectacle. Consumersenact
genderroles on a stage providedby the marketer,as evident
in the revelatoryincidentwe describe.
Consumer researchershave explored retail theatrics in
such venues as malls, departmentstores (Creighton, 1998),
open air markets(Sherry, 1990), and flagship brand stores
(Pefialoza, 1999; Sherry, 1998). Our investigation extends
this explorationinto the realm of what sociologist George
Ritzertermsthe new means of consumption(NMC). Accord-
ing to Ritzer (1999, p. 2), the retail settings that have come
into existence since the end of WorldWarII have "dramati-
cally transformedthe natureof consumption."
ESPN Zone Chicago, our field site, is distinctivefor more
than its complexity compared to the sites of many earlier
studies, such as many on the long list of sites mentionedby
Ritzer (1999), comprisingsuch venues as themed malls and
restaurants,casinos and cruise ships, sports stadiums and
museums, and, increasingly,culturallyreconfiguredpublic
and private institutions, such as planned communities and
smarthomes. Otherpreviousinvestigationshave focused on
whatmight arguablybe describedas sites of the feminization
of public space. Retail theaterhas its originsin thejoint colo-
nizationof public spaceby women, andthe transformationof
women from domestic producersto prototypicallymodem
consumers(Domosh & Seager, 2001). The "feminizedritu-
als of shopping"(Bowlby, 2001; Domosh & Seager,2001, p.
91; Miller, 2001) that are the locus of contest, cooperation,
and cooptationbetween marketersand consumers-the sites
of resistance and appropriationthat the cocreation of con-
sumptionrequires-are the traditionalfocus of consumerre-
search.ESPNZone Chicagois also a genderedspace, but our
informantsrecognize it as essentiallymasculinein character.
Arising as it does from its roots in neighborhoodsportsbars,
athletic fields, and couch potato patches, ESPN Zone Chi-
cago approximatesa male preserveanda playgroundof men.
RESEARCH SITE
ESPN Zone Chicago comprises 35,000 squarefeet of spec-
tacularconsumptionpotentialin thatcity's upscale shopping
district.The site is ajoint venturebetweenthe Disney Corpo-
rationandthe sportsnetworkESPN. It is a complex hybridof
restaurant,sports bar, and theme park that encourages pa-
trons,througha host of simulations,arcadeandvirtualreality
games, andubiquitoustelevision monitors,to immersethem-
selves as participantsand spectatorsin a phenomenological
universe we describe as sportsworld.Patronsare invited to
"Eat, Drink, Watch, Play" with the first clause of the
servicescape's advertising slogan, and discouraged from
imagining any other conceivable alternativestate of being
with the slogan's conclusion:"WhatElse Could You Want?"
The principalvenues of the servicescape-the primarilypar-
ROLEPLAYINGAT ESPN ZONE CHICAGO 153
ticipatoryArena, with its banks of games, and the primarily
spectatorial Screening Room, with its banks of moni-
tors-ensure both the active and passive engagement of
consumerswith sport.Gottdiener(2000) asserted,in a man-
ner consistent with Belk (1995), that the pervasive
commoditizationof life (e.g., themed malls, theme parks)
has resultedin new forms of consumption(NFCs). NFCs are
new to classic theories of consumption,and to modernlife,
andareremarkablechiefly for the place-basednatureof their
impact. These consumptionspaces are pleasure zones that
serve both as medium and object of consumer behavior.
Place is coproduced by marketers and consumers, and
shapes, if not entirely determines,the consumptionexperi-
ence.
Following Fischer and Gainer (1994), we use sport as a
windowonto male genderrole behavior,but,unlikethem,we
do not focus to any greatdegree on analyticdistinctionsbe-
tween participation,spectatorship,and fandom.In our work
at ESPNZone Chicago, we have heeded Real's (1998, p. 15)
call to "problematize"what he calls "MediaSport"the way a
"remoteanthropologist"might approach"strange"behavior.
Because most analysesof this phenomenondeal with gender
image-in particular,the focus is on female marginalization,
stereotypification,and sexualization-and because there is
an emerging interestin masculinity,we opted to pursuethe
more neglectedrouteof male audienceresearch(Kinkema&
Harris,1998). We are not concernedin this study with mas-
culinityso muchas the performanceanddisplayof masculin-
ity in public spaces designed to elicit patternedbehaviors.
The site evokes both the communalritualof the stadiumand
personalfantasyof home televiewing.
METHODOLOGY
We embarkedon a researchteam approachto a multifaceted
ethnographicinquiry. For a period of 2 years, an ethno-
graphicteamcomposedof 3 men and3 women froma variety
of generations,cultures,and attitudestowardsportinhabited
the venue across all hours and seasons of its operation.The
use of such a diversified team is a critical departurefrom
standardethnographicpracticereportedin the literature.This
diversitypermitteda more nuancedexplorationof the phe-
nomenon than conventionalpracticeallows by enabling tri-
angulationof individualobservationsin the formulationof a
cogent, multiperspectivalinterpretation.Workingsingly, in
dyads, andin triads,the field workersused participantobser-
vation,interview,andphotographyto collect data.Interviews
were transcribedverbatim, and logs of e-mail correspon-
dence with participantswere kept.Field-siteartifacts,such as
Zone menus, Zone brochures,and other promotionallitera-
turefoundon-site were preservedfor interviewinguse in pro-
jective and autodrivingtasks with informants.
In regular strategy sessions, researchersmet to analyze
dataand shapethe emergentdesign of the study.Individually
154 SHERRYET AL.
andas a group,qualitativeanalyticalcoding techniques,such
as marginnoting, memoing,thematicnotation,and categori-
zation (Belk, Wallendorf,& Sherry,1989) were employedto
inform our analytical interpretations.These interpretations
of consumer behavior were furtherfacilitated throughdis-
cussion and negotiationduringthe strategysessions. These
sessions also guided the process of purposive sampling, as
the diversity of our research team resulted in rich, multi-
perspectivalinterpretationsbased on interviews with infor-
mants differing in gender, age, ethnicity, and nationality.
These interviews were conducted with Zone management
and front-lineemployees, in additionto consumers.
As a means of validatingour interpretations,informants
were enlisted in the process of memberchecking as the pro-
ject unfolded.This process temperedour analyticalabstrac-
tions with individualconsumers'lived experience.These in-
teractionswith consumersfurtherinformedour analysis and
increasedthe resonanceof our ethnographicfindings.
EMBODIEDCULTUREAT ESPN Zone
Researchershave focused broadlyon the motivationfor tour-
ism and the regulationof tourist behavior,producingargu-
ments on either side of the themes of touristsas free agents
questing for authentic experience, tourists as exploited
pawns consuming artificialexperience,and touristsas frag-
mentedsubjectswith no unifyingbelief in the absolutevalue
of experience.Ourfield site typifies such refractionof appar-
ently paradoxicalissues. As a genderedspace borderingon a
male preserve,ESPN Zone Chicago drawstouristsin search
of verisimilitudeand fantasy,of proliferationand reduction
of choice, of retail and streettheater,of distracteddiversion
andcriticalrealism.Often,consumersmock the gamingeven
as they embrace it, providing metasocial commentary on
their participation.Suspended in an androgenic marinade
that is universallydescribedas "overwhelming"(or as pro-
ducing "sensoryoverload"),touristsare hyperawareof their
bodies as they negotiatethe site, as evinced in the words of
one of our touristinformants:
Whatisn'tgoingon orcontainedin thisplace?Lights,cam-
era,action!It's muchlike whatyou Americanswouldsay,
"veryHollywood." So muchto hearandsee at onetime.It's
hardto keeptrackof. Onecouldperhapslose sightof oneself
if (hmm)notcareful.
Michael,WhiteFrenchmale,mid-30s
The manic sensationof operatingin overdrive,seen by many
internationalvisitors to be a particularlyAmericancondition
(along with devotionto monumentalism,kitsch, and heroes)
whose excessiveness is momentarilyattractive(as long as it s
not exported),appearsto be profoundlyengaging to the lo-
cals. ESPN Zone Chicago primarilyfacilitatesconsumption
of American cultureby Americans, who representmost of
the consumerbase. This was apparentto ourmulticulturalre-
search team, as well as tourists, such as Linda, a consumer
visiting Chicago from China.She notes
Uh,I thinkthatsportis important in Americanculture,with
the food andthe drink,it's all entertainment.
I thinkthat's
whatAmericancultureis. Spendingmoney,playinggames,
drinking,partying,eating ... all Americanculture.
Linda,Chinesefemale,mid-30s
In this setting, we see that customersboth consume and
producethe "culture."These ideas are capturedby some in-
formantswho noted,"Everybodyhereis American,andthere
are American sports on TV."Another informantremarked,
"Mostof the sportsaroundhere,in here,areof Americancul-
ture."Moreover,for consumersthis familiarculturalelement
appearsto take on significantroles.
Oh,if you look aroundthe bar,you see a guy witha Dale
Earnhartt-shirt,and somebodywalkingaroundwith a
Raider'st-shirtoverthere.AndAmericalovessports,I mean
you know,sportsfor betteror for worse,we deifyathletes.
They'remoreimportant thanpresidential There
candidates.
are somepeoplethathavetheirown life with sports.You
know,theyhavetheirjob andtheyhavetheirteam.Andthe
teamis a biggerdealthantheirjob.
Dick,AmericanWhitemale,mid-40s
Unlike othererstwhileNMC venues such as PlanetHolly-
wood andthe Jekyll andHyde Club,ESPNZone has thrived,
expanding to eight stores nationwide since the first Zone
openedin Baltimorein 1998. PerhapsESPNZone Chicagois
buckingthis trendbecause of the universalappealthatlies at
the confluenceof NMC andthe social institutionof sport.At
ESPN Zone Chicago, it is sportthatprovidesa multifaceted
characterto such performances.Palan (2001) advised con-
sumer researchersto study the situations and contexts in
which gender roles are performed, as the setting may
heighten gender identificationand salience for consumers.
Ourfield site lends itself to just such an exploration,because
it cathectsgenderso strongly.
SPORTSWORLD AT A GLANCE
It'sjustlikea realgameatthestadium.Whenthescorespop
up you canhearthe otherpeopleshouting"yeah"or "boo"
andit'sjustlikebeingata NotreDamegamewheneveryone
aroundyouis shouting.(I don'tknow)I juststartedwaving
my handsin my seatwiththefolkson theTV.
Dave,AfricanAmericanmale,late30s
Sport has become spectacularizedand as this informant
enumerates,thereis a connected spiritbetween the real and
the virtual sports fan. Contests themselves become embed-
ded in, if not peripheralto, the events ostensibly facilitating

their delivery. In fact, televised sports contests are situated
within a context of culturalpageantry(Guttman,1992; Holt,
1995; MacAloon, 1984; Martin& Miller, 1999) thatincludes
pre-/mid-/postgameactivities,commentators,frontieradver-
tising interventions,festive comportmentin the stands,and a
host of other diversions.This pageantryis clearly visible in
the spectatorialovertones suffusing ESPN Zone. That these
spectacles often unfold as melodrama,especially as broad-
cast by wise and knowing commentatorswith whom the fan
is encouragedto identify, invites spectatorsto employ sport
as a vehicle of fantasy and projection (Rose & Friedman,
1997), immersingthemselves in a simulatedsportsworld.
ESPN Zone Chicago immerses its patrons in the
sportsworld.Real, virtual, and broadcastengagementinter-
penetrateone another.Consumers shuttle rapidly between
the roles of participantand spectator,as noted by this infor-
mant:"I enjoy watching otherpeople who are interestingor
good at the games they play as muchas I enjoyplayinggames
myself."Consumersareremindedconstantlythatthey are at
the epicenterof sportsworldas they merge with its continu-
ous production.Corporateofficersregardthe ESPN brandas
comprising a "grouphug of sports fans," and identify both
the brand'smanagersand its consumerfranchise as "fans."
This ethos of inclusivenessand communitasalso encourages
an appreciationfor the irreverentoutspokennessembodied
by the network's celebrity broadcastersand commentators
(Larson,2001, p. 23). One informantnoted
Sportis a verymaledominated
typeof thing,whereeveryone
has somekindof commentary. At ESPNZoneyoucanlook
faceto facewithyourcomradesandsay "Itoldyou,Randy
Mossis garbageandDrewBledsoeis reallya greatquarter
back." ... You can feel like an expert, because it's a forum
where you can raise your opinions back and forth freely.
You'rethepersonthatfeels liketheexpert.
Mark,AfricanAmericanmale, early 30s
Moving beyond the virtuallyembodiedexperienceof ath-
leticism itself, we discuss the consumer'sexperience of the
metasocialsignificanceof sport.In termsof Stratton's(2001)
theory of culturalfetishism, sport, and the athlete who em-
bodies it, can be interpretedas a "fantasticrepresentationof
phallic power,and its image is one with which men "identify
narcissistically."
CONFLUENCE OF SPORT AND GENDER
It's different [ESPN Zone]. Most of the time when I come
when I'm with the guys, I'm just watchingthe game. Wejust
watchthe game. I would bringa dateto ESPN cause it's inex-
pensive and you can do the same thing as at home. It's fo-
cused aroundguys, the game, and the big screen. So even
when you have a dateit's the same thing,you can do the same
thing ... you don't have to not watch the TV. When you're
ATESPNZONECHICAGO 155
ROLEPLAYING
here it's not too muchof uh a stretchfrom whatyou would be
(like) doing on a Monday night.
Jonathan,AfricanAmericanmale, early 20s
Sportis a site of the negotiationof genderedidentity.De-
spite the long, discontinuous,andrapidlyacceleratingpartic-
ipationof women (Guttmann,1992), sportis still frequently
understoodas an exaltationof masculinity.For example, in
surrenderto the communitasof the fraternalbondingof fans,
the ceremonial enactmentand celebrationof male identity
are powerfulmotivationsfor the performanceof sport.Jona-
than's opening remarksillustratethere is also an underlying
affiliationbetween man and sportand an attemptto combine
these two relations(i.e., sportandwomen) in one place. Con-
sider some otherobservations:
I thinkit's anidealenvironmentto takea groupof buddies,
your male friends.
When youthinkaboutteamsportsit'susu-
allya maleorfemalesport.It'swhenyoubuildcamaraderie.
If youlookaroundit's mostlymenhere.
Dave, AfricanAmericanmale, late 30s
In a social milieu in which male-to-malecompanionship
is highly valued, but must be carefully defined, sports pro-
vide a perfect outlet for this closeness, and ESPN Zone Chi-
cago and other sports bars like it provide the perfect loca-
tions. Anotherinformantsimilarlyremarks,"There'sa level
of camaraderiethat'spresenthere that'sdifferent(you know)
than any otheratmosphere..."
These are spaces in which socially acceptablegood clean
fun can be pursuedby men. It is a place where "buddies"can
be together,in which men can watch men's sports,in which
camaraderiescan be establishedand maintained.
Seating arrangementsin the Screening Room are also a
source of gender-typing. "Mike," a White male in his
mid-20s statedthat
I'm a man, so I like recliners.Veryinterestingandvery com-
fortable.Obviously in these chairs ... it's awesome!
His comments point to the invisibility of his own gender
awareness.Mike's commentsuggests thatmen fit into reclin-
ers like handsinto gloves. The fittingnessof this form of fur-
nitureseems to derivefromits symbolicproximityto notions
of throneness,relaxation,and television, the master of the
house reclined aftera long day's hardwork.
Foodselectionandpreparationdrawsrelatedcommentary:
It was good ... loved the food, great beverages. I mean I
thoughtthat(uhyouknow)thattheymakegoodbarfood ...
that(uh)theappetizers
aregreat,Iknewthatalready
that'swhy
I camehere.Infactwe didn'tevenhavea meal,wejust hadsev-
eraldifferentappetizerswe all grazedon andthat'sbecausewe
knew the kind of stuff they have ... I mean Lordknows it's a
coronaryarteryplatter,but that's what we're here for!
Tim,Whitemale,late30s
156 SHERRYET AL.
InterpretingTim's culinarycomments,we find some highly
genderedreadingsaboutwhichmenuitems constitute"man's
food."Men's food tendsto be "barfood,"the type of food that
can be eatenquickly,with one hand,gulpeddown while talk-
ing, drinking,or watchingtelevision. Ourmale informantsat
ESPNZone Chicago arenot actuallyinterestedin fine dining
experiences. These more civilized experiences are absent
from Tim's commentsperhapsbecause they are not the do-
mainof men. He takesthis lack of diningto anextremeby ele-
vatinghis own lack of a meal. A truehunter-gathererat heart,
Timsimply"grazed."Barfood, consistingof ingestionof mul-
tiple appetizers,is apparentlymeantfor the grazingof those
who musthunttheirpreyandgathercamaraderieandcalories
in bars.Finally,themachismoof the dietinspiresanactof bra-
vado. Wisely invokingthe deity, Tim notes with aplombthat
the food he eats in these places is "acoronaryarteryplatter"a
heartattackwaitingto happen.He suggeststhatthegreaseand
fatof whattastesthisgood mustbe badforyou,butthatthedar-
ing adventurerdoes not hesitateand, indeed, even welcomes
this vital andpotentman food. This cardio-meat-sportmotif
of manlinessis a Chicago archetype,immortalizedin the re-
curring "Superfans"sketch on SNL and embodied in "Da
Coach,"Mike Ditka.
Cynthia,a Black female in her mid-30s suggests of ESPN
Zone Chicago that
It's (ah)verymalefocused.I meanthe menuis verymuch
gearedtowardsmen.Well,it's [themenu]verylimited.It's
gotsliders'[minihamburgers withgrilledonions]onit,that's
anexampleof whatI wouldcall very,verymucha manfo-
cusedmeal... whichis a hamburger thathasjust a pieceof
bread,it's betweena pieceof bread.
Like Tim, Cynthiareadsbarfood as man food. Not only the
sports space itself, but the food in this space is gendered.
Sliders are "a man focused meal,"likely because they are
high calorie, high fat, contain red meat, contain bread, and
are appetizer-likeandquickto eat. Cynthia,a woman,appar-
ently readsESPNZone Chicago's food offeringsas gendered
male, similarlyto the way thatTim interpretsthem.Thus, al-
thoughmen andwomen routinelypartakeof the ESPN expe-
rience, xur informantsinterpretthat experience as having a
masculine cast, as the following capstone commentaryon
ESPN Zone Chicago as a "guy's heaven" suggests.
"Archibald,"a White male in his 20s notes that "Yeah,defi-
nitely with the La-Z-boys [recliners], that was great. The
guys arechompingdown on theirbig cigarsandtheirplateof
wings and theirbeer and they've got theirfeet up and in the
leatherrecliningchairs."To Archibald,ESPN Zone Chicago
is both heavenly and heavily masculinizedbased on the rich
fantasies that pervade the staged social spaces within its
walls. The food-fat-filled plates of chicken wings-and
beverages-beer, glorious beer-is masculine. The
La-Z-Boy recliners (with even their name being gendered)
enforces a pose thathas come to be associatedwith leisurely
masculinity,the benefitsof being male, of being enthronedin
one's home palace, of being king. The "chompingdown"of
"big cigars" seems to connote imagery from '50s mobster
flicks, Wall Street players, and Hollywood media ty-
coons-men of power, places of success, manly players in
the games of men.
Informantsalso reveal their hypnotic enchantmentwith
the vast constellation of screens, sounds, and information
displays of the broadcaststimuli. One informantexpresses
his brainstimulationin these words:
I enjoythestatistics,rightupto theminutestats.I canwatch
thegameand(uh)lookupand(uh)reallytellwho'shavinga
strongdayandwho'shavingsubparperformance. Thescore-
boardfurtherpromptsyou to continueenthusiasm for your
teamin knowinghowotherteamsin theleaguearedoing...
in a senseit furtherenergizesyou.
Robert,AfricanAmericanmale,late30s
The Zone's grandiose television montage holds many
male consumerstransfixed.For our male informants,the big
screen's enormityinvited their affinity,an attachmentto the
big screen stemming as much from its sheer grandiosityas
from its visual and auditory clarity. One male informant,
"Dyson"advancesthis interpretation:
Haveyoueverseena guynotget excitedabouta big screen
TV?If youcomeintomyhouse,I don'tcarewhatexpensive
artwork I havehanging,I amgoingto say"Dude,comelook
at thisTV! Yaknow?Lookat thepicture!"So I thinkthere
hasalwaysbeena thinginmymind.I likewatchingsportson
big TVs.
As Dyson expresses,a componentof the Zone experience
arises from the scale at which it is produced. Penetrating
deeper into the culturalimplicationsof his utterances,they
provide wonderfulexamples of the genderednatureof con-
temporarymedia audiencing.Television watchingseems, in
Dyson's account(as it is in La-Z-Boypositioningandbrand-
ing), to be a quintessentiallymasculinebehavior.As Tim in-
ferentiallyjuxtaposed "grazing"with "dining,"finding the
formermale andthe latterfemale, Dyson is herejuxtaposing
the high cultureof artappreciation("expensiveartwork... ")
with the seemingly lowbrow appreciationof a large-screen
television. There is more to this apparentlyworking-class
valorization than meets the eye, however. Dyson's
technofetishization points not only to a valorization of
audiencingandrelaxation,but also to the same sortsof capi-
talist technological utopian imperativesthat drive Western,
American,and much of global society. Dyson's fetishization
of the largenessof the television screenis a projectedfantasy
aboutthe expansionof self thatoccurs throughbeing able to
select from a vast numberof channels.It is aboutthe control

of other'sinternalspaces, throughthe (remote)controlof ex-
teriorized inner states that are projected on screen. The
masculinistexpansionof self thatis inferredby the largetele-
vision screen is a type of omnipotence,an association with
power and size that exalts males in the Zone.
Seen throughthe lens of our informants,the effects of the
high tech gadgets on display (e.g., television touch screens
that informantsmanipulateat will, informationboards up-
dated to the minute, "monstrous"big screen), resonantly
spectacularin both form and function,conspireto producea
complex of emotions. We again see these sentimentswere
echoed in an interview conducted with Brian and Michael,
two White males in theirlate 30s:
Brian:"Wewantedto be able to watchthe game on the
big screen."
Interviewer:"Andthe big screen ..."
Michael: "Makesit bigger" [said with a crescendo
and big smile]
Brian:"Whynot?Bigger is better.We aremen after
all ... I mean, because I can watch a regularsize TV at
my home. I want somethingout of the ordinarywhen I
go out and a TV this large is that."
CONCLUSION
This article provides an overview of the gendered and
gendering effects of a complex themed environment.Our
multipersonethnographyof ESPNZone Chicagorevealsthat
themed environmentscan tap into and reproduceparticular
genderroles andrelations,providingmultiplecues for appro-
priategenderedbehavior.In ESPN Zone Chicago,these cues
derivedfrommale-centeredsports,wherecamaraderie,com-
petition, stardom,exhibition before adoring audiences and
women as trophiesandformsof entertainment.We would ex-
pect to see widely divergent gender performancesin radi-
cally differentthemed spaces. Our argumentis that themed
spaces areboth genderedand gendering.By being gendered,
we mean to indicate that they are positioned in the market-
place as attractiveto those alreadyholding particularviews
of genderroles and relations.By being gendering,we mean
to indicate that they also reinforcea system of existing gen-
der roles and relations. Entering into the themed space of
ESPN Zone Chicago's sportsbar thereforeimplies entering
into particularpatternsof social and genderrelations.
Finally,on a more socially criticalnote, ESPN Zone Chi-
cago functions as space that, in its unreflectivereliance on
consumers'usually unreflectivereliance on situationalcues,
providesa set of social structuresthatcan be as oppressively
constrainingto male as to female gender roles. Forced into
roles where they must athleticallyperformto particularskill
and style specifications,competitivelycast againstpeers, al-
ternately boxed into affiliative relations of camaraderie,
ROLEPLAYINGAT ESPN ZONE CHICAGO 157
choosing from limited menus of unhealthy food, and lei-
surely reclination recreation, and force-fit into particular
perspectivesof male-female relationships,male behaviorin
ESPN Zone Chicagois in manyways as themedas the archi-
tectureitself.
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