The Last Night of Freedom: Consumerism, Deviance and the ‘Stag Party’

<p>This article offers an ethnographic examination of the stag party phenomenon in the United Kingdom. Stag parties have become socially expected asa rite of passage, pre-marriage celebration for men that usually involvesexcessive alcohol consumption and engagement in deviant, potentiallyharmful, behavior. These events produce a shift in time and space, andtogether with group expectations for celebration, increase the impetus forexcessive consumption. Our contention is that excessive consumption ofalcohol and deviant behavior that often takes place are partially rooted incommercial ideology, which has become firmly embedded in the attitudesof young British men.</p>