Gigolos and Madames Bountiful: Illusions of Gender, Power, and Intimacy

by Adie Nelson, Barrie W. Robinson

In Western societies the roles of male provider and female care-giver have formed a traditional base for intimate partnerships. Because gigolos and their partners appear to reverse the formula, their unions are considered deviant and often scandalous. In this book the authors uncover surprising similarities between the liaisons of gigolos with their Madames Bountiful and the more conventional relationships that most people form. This unique study of love, sex, gender, intimacy, and power offers a radical new view of the dynamics that inform all intimate partnerships.
Based on over 600 case studies from Canada, the United States, and Europe, the book draws upon letters, personal accounts, and anecdotes. The authors explore the gigolo's means and methods, the motivations of the Madame Bountiful, and the emergence, maintenance, and dissolution of the gigolo-Madame Bountiful relationship. They also look at the changing social conditions which now allow gigolos to flourish. They consider both social and personal power in the context of changing gender roles and show how these changing roles influence intimate relationships in general and the gigolo-Madame Bountiful relationship in particular. Through their analysis of this fascinating material, the authors reveal the illusory aspects of power, intimacy, and gender.
This is the first major study of the liaisons between gigolos and the women who wittingly and unwittingly support them. A thoroughly engaging text, it offers intriguing, sometimes hilarious, material drawn from a diversity of sources, along with a radical look at gender and power. Written for a general audience the book will also entice scholars in a range of fields including popular culture, media, gender studies and the family.

480 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1994

About the author

Adie Nelson is a nickname for University of Waterloo Professor E.D. Nelson.