Faking identity in Clubland: The communicative performance of “fake ID”

Underage female consumers of alcohol and music create temporary identities through communicative performances that are designed to gain them access into clubs and bars. Such performances are created during interaction with male club gatekeepers, who judge the legitimacy of the performances, in an interaction context of suspicion designed to uncover the “true” identities of underage consumers. The study describes various informing social contexts, the constitution of “good fake IDs,” conventional performance practices that female consumers and male gatekeepers enact in a particular interaction context, and flirting and teasing as two types of gendered performances. The performance of “fake ID” transforms the contexts of subsequent performances in Clubland as well as guiding communication practice in other contexts