ABSTRACT
In both the Sands and the Yacht Club bodies are gendered, heteroerotic, and coupled-and many are aged, or aging. In the Yacht Club, affiliation is grounded in the continuation of couples through time (the divorce rate is minimal after the third or fourth spouse), and displayed in sociability. But sociability is also competitive, not only when card games are being played, but also when bodies are being displayed through bodily adornment, body contact, and body and sex talk. Bodily display, mostly the provenance of women, focuses on the successful “youthfulness” of aging and old bodies. Body talk includes the discussion of one’s own and others’ illness or wellness, weight, height, hair, teeth, skin, cosmetic surgery, bodily adornment, and sexual longings and adventures. Sex talk in the Yacht Club displays competitive (heterosexual) desire and desirability, of self or others.
