Pleasure Boys

« Pleasure Boys » is an ongoing project that explores the world of male striptease and its performance of masculinity. In collaboration with the UK Pleasure Boys troupe, the project examines the tension between virility and vulnerability.

How many nude women have we seen in the history of representation ? In magazines, ads, movies, museum walls, or on billboards ? Women have been scrutinized and reduced to stylised typologies since forever.

They’ve also been dancing naked for men far earlier than the reverse. To give you some context, female striptease dates back to the 19th century whereas the first male striptease show was in 1978, almost a century later. Still, male striptease has found a place in Western culture. Think of bachelorette parties or surprise birthday parties, often seen as playful, humorous spectacles, typically experienced in groups.

Yet, a closer look reveals that these shows reproduce very stereotypical ideas about gender. Even if they engage in similar acts, the roles that the performers take on are not at all the same. They reproduce patriarchal symbols such as the demonstration of physical strength, vigour, courage and even the use of violence as an istrument of power. The dancers wear costumes of firemen, policemen, businessmen, soldiers and workers. These uniforms, validated by society, suggest capable bodies meant to protect or dominate.

 I am a woman who photographs men. But here, there are no ambiguities: I was welcomed into this rather unusual team as one of them, or as their « little sister » as they would call me. My immersion allowed me to capture collective and individual moments, of preparation, anticipation and recovery of the show. Backstage atmospheres, garish lights, moments in between, not quite alined with the product of fantasy the shows usually stage. Sometimes, I capture the « wrong angle », the one that is unflattering and betrays the stereotypes . But that is precisely the one I seek.

Even though they often embody figures of power on stage, they experience the same pressures as the women who strip. Dancing naked places them in a deeply vulnerable position. Their bodies are exposed, often reduced to objects, open to scrutiny and projection. And yet, there’s something moving about the sense of team they create together. A shared energy marked by humor, self-deprecation, and mutual support. While they stick with certain stereotypes, they also subvert others entirely, revealing a more complex, layered relationship to their bodies and how they are perceived.

In striptease, as in broader society, the emphasis on penis size reflects the societal construction of masculinity and the pressures men face to conform to these ideals. Before the shows, the performers use makeshift cockrings with elastics to push everything to the front, paired with pumps to enlarge the penis and give the « illusion » of an errection. Central to the plot of the show, its unveiling creates intrigue and anticipation. It becomes an accessory.  

« Pleasure Boys » highlights the complexity of this profession, but also brings some humanity back into it. It shows sculpted bodies, but also relaxed stomachs, tired men, sometimes without desire. It brings a closeness that is not intended to be spectacular.

This work seeks to show the processes and complexities behind the surface. To unveil the illusions. More broadly, it raises the questions:

What does it mean to be a man? And what representations emerge when the gaze shifts?