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

James S. Frideres is associate dean (research) in the Faculty of Social
Sciences at the University of Calgary and the author of A World of
Communities: Participatory Research.

This scholarly work examines the relationship between gigolos (men
purposefully supported by women) and madames bountiful (women who
“keep” a man). The authors obtained their data over a 10-year period
from more than 600 gigolos and 100 madames bountiful in Europe and North
America.

Chapter 1 provides a good definition of a gigolo and a madame
bountiful, and profiles the various types of relationships. Chapters 2
and 3 deal with the quest for intimacy and eroticism in these intimate
relationships, analyzing such issues as why women keep gigolos, and
exploring the concept of power and its impact on intimacy in the
relationship. Chapter 4 focuses specifically on formal and informal
strategies of power and on how gigolos and madames bountiful cope with
the tension and strategies employed by the other. Chapters 5 and 6
examine the process by which men become gigolos, and provide an
excellent analysis of how the participants conceived of, and accounted
for, their relationship, and the ways in which they conceptualized their
roles within it.

Using sound sociological theory and a quality database, Nelson and
Robinson have provided an excellent analysis of a social relationship
not often studied. Both scholars and lay readers will find this
well-written book interesting, informative, and heuristic.