10.16. Discussion topics.
What is a ‘stag night’? What is a ‘hen night’? See if you can guess.
One is for groups of men only, and the other is for women only. The behaviour of both groups is normally quite bad, and there is normally a lot of alcohol and strippers involved. Any ideas? No. The answer is not one of Zak Washington’s English classes. We are, of course, talking about the night out for a man (stag night) and a woman (hen night) who are going to get married. The man getting married is called the bridegroom, or just the groom, and the woman is called the bride.
Have you ever been on one? Describe what happened. Who usually behaves worse in groups? Men or women? Discuss.
Traditionally in Britain, men behaved appallingly at such events and still do. Nowadays, it appears that women are equally badly behaved.
What would a typical stag or hen night in your country involve? Where are the typical places that people go to? When it’s your turn to get married, what would you like to do for your stag/hen night? What is your idea of a really good night out?
Imagine this scenario: A group are out celebrating a stag night when suddenly a policeman arrives. ‘Are you Jackie Williams?’ the policeman asks. ‘Errrr…. yes, that’s me,’ says Jackie terrified. The poor girl is in a state of shock. She asks herself if she has done something wrong, if she has parked her car badly, or if someone has found out that she stole a mini skirt from the clothes shop the previous week. By the time she has thought about this for a moment, the policeman has begun to remove his clothes. Not only is he taking his uniform off, but he is also doing something indecent with his truncheon (the stick that British policemen are armed with). Everybody else is shouting and cheering and taking photographs. What the hell is going on? This is the curious practice of hiring a stripogram or a kissogram. (The words are a variation of the word telegram.) If you wish to do the same, you will have a choice of policemen / women, body-builders, French maids, drag queens, ‘roly-polies’ (fat people), or even a Mr. Bean stripogram! They will arrive in any private or public place, strip off, and completely embarrass their victim. The whole pathetic scenario will cost you about £70-£100.
In Britain, like in many other countries, stag and hen nights have a bad reputation, and consequently a group of drunken lunatics can’t just turn up (arrive) at a nightclub and expect to get in. It is common then, to go to a special place that caters for this kind of night out. These establishments will have strippers, ‘rude food’ (food cooked into the shape of …. well… you know) and a special show. A common practice is to have special T-shirts printed, or to wear ‘accessories’ such as plastic breasts or plastic bottoms.