Abstract: The aim of this paper is to examine the accomplishment of gender in the context of the youth cultural formation of dance raves. Drawing on a narrative analysis of in-depth interviews with 300 young women and men in a San Francisco rave scene, we examine the role that the drug ecstasy plays in the gender formations at these events. We present evidence to show that using ecstasy within the social context of raves allows increased gender flexibility and alternatives to conventional notions of femininity and masculinity. This is particularly apparent in the ways that young women exhibit greater sexual assertiveness and young men demonstrate increased affective and communicative displays. Yet at the same time, their narratives provide ample evidence that gender accomplishment in this context does not occur outside the bounds of gender accountability and behaviors seen as gender inappropriate are actively policed and sanctioned.