Holsopple, Kelly. 1999. "Stripclubs According to Strippers." Making the
Harm Visible: Global Sexual Exploitation of Women and Girls, eds. Donna
Hughes and Claire Roche, Kingston RI: Coalition Against Trafficking In
Women.
The Glamorous Life of the Stripper
Excerpted from a 1999 study by Kelly Holsopple.
Kelly, a former stripper, investigated violence in strip clubs, typical
strip club activities and interactions, working conditions, and women¹s
thoughts on stripping.
Her study had two parts. In phase one, she interviewed 41 women for 1 to 4
hours each. The interviews were qualitative and open-ended. The phase one
subjects ranged in age from 19-40, and had been working as strippers
anywhere from 3 months to 18 years.
They worked in both urban and rural clubs which, collectively, featured the
following activities: topless dancing, nude dancing, table dancing, couch
dancing, lap dancing, wall dancing, shower dancing, and bed dancing,
peepshows, female boxing and wrestling with customers. Some of the clubs
also sold photographs of the dancers, or hired porn models and actresses as
headliners.
After analyzing the phase one results, Kelly found that two most pronounced
themes were low-self esteem and violence.
In phase two, Kelly interviewed a smaller group of women using a
26-question survey. It focused on the rules and work conditions at clubs,
and incidents of verbal harassment, physical and sexual violence, and sexual
exploitation experienced by the strippers.
These surveys and consequent discussions lasted from one to four hours.
The phase two subjects ranged in age from eighteen to thirty-five years
old, and entered into stripping between the ages of 15 and 23 years old,
with an average entry age of 18 years, 10 months.
In phase two, the women were asked to describe the various circumstances of
their recruitment into stripping.
One woman recounted her recruitment as an eighteen-year-old. She went to a
gentlemen¹s club¹ to pick up her friend, waited at the bar, was served
alcohol, and was asked for her ID by the owner. Instead of kicking her out,
he told her she could make $1000 per week working for him and pressured her
to enter the amateur contest that night. She won the $300 contest, and
worked there three weeks before being recruited into an escort service by a
patron pimp.
This kind of story is not uncommon. Typically, a strip club manager asks a
potential applicant to audition on amateur night or bikini night, popular
with customers who hope to see girl-next-door types rather than seasoned
strippers. If the manager is pleased and there is an opening in the
schedule, he may make a job offer.
Applicants are told working as a stripper is flexible, lucrative, and that
they will not be forced to do anything they do not want to do. Later,
strippers discover that managers overbook them so they are forced to compete
with each other, often gradually engaging in more explicit activities in
order to earn tips.
It¹s important to understand that strippers are typically hired as
independent contractors¹ rather than employees.¹ They have no fixed wage,
and their income depends on pleasing customers in order to earn tips. They
are not entitled to any of the following privileges: workers¹ compensation,
health insurance, unemployment benefits, or filing discrimination claims.
Club owners save money by paying no Social Security, no health insurance,
and no sick pay. (see Joe¹s Strip-o-Rama Employee Handbook)
Other club income collected by the management can include: door cover
charges, beverage sales, sale of promotional novelty items, kickbacks,
prostitution, and fines imposed on the women.
When not on stage, strippers are also encouraged to perform private dances
for bigger tips. These are usually performed in areas shielded from the
larger club view. As a rule, these transactions involve one female dancer
and one male customer. These situations skirt the definition of prostitution
because of the contact involved.
Table dancing is performed on a low coffee table or on a small portable
platform near the customer¹s seat. The woman¹s breasts and genitals are eye
level to the customer.
Couch dancing for a customer involves a dancer standing above him on a
couch, dangling her breasts or bopping him in the face with her pubic area.
Lap dancing requires the woman to straddle the man¹s lap and grind against
him until he ejaculates in his pants. A variation involves the woman dancing
between his legs while he slides down in his chair so that the dancer¹s
thighs are rubbing his crotch as she moves.
Bed dancing occurs in a private room and requires a woman to lie on top of a
fully clothed man and simulate sex until he ejaculates.
Shower dancing is offered in upscale clubs and allows a clothed customer to
get into a shower stall with one or more women and massage them with soap.
Wall dancing requires a stripper to carry alcohol swabs to wash the
customer¹s fingers before he can insert them into her vagina. His back is
stationary against the wall and she is pressed against him with one leg
lifted.
Peep shows feature simulated or actual sex acts directed by masturbating
customers who sit in darkened booths and view the women through a glass
window.
In the second phase of her survey, Kelly found that:
100% of the women reported physical abuse in the club.
100% of the women reported sexual abuse in the club.
100% of the women reported verbal harassment in the club.
100% of the women reported being propositioned for prostitution in the club.
100% of women also witnessed these things happening to other strippers in
the club.
Customers committed the overwhelming majority of violent acts.
Club owners, managers, assistant managers, bartenders, music programmers or
DJs, bouncers, security guards, floorwalkers, doormen, and valets were
guilty to a lesser extent.
The women in the survey reported that customers have
spit on them
sprayed beer at them
flicked lit cigarettes at them
pelted them with ice, coins, trash, condoms, room keys, pornography, and
golf balls
hit them with cans and bottles
pulled their hair
yanked them by the arm or ankle
ripped their costumes or tried to pull their costumes off.
bitten, licked, slapped, punched, and pinched them
Some strippers worked on elevated runways so narrow that they could not get
away from customers on either side touching them, especially when they were
kneeling down to accept a tip in the side of their g-strings/t-bars, or when
they had their backs turned.
Despite claims from management that customers are prohibited from touching
the strippers, this rule is consistently violated.
Strippers reported having these thoughts while on stage:
³I daydream about nothing in particular to pass the time of 12 minutes.²
³I¹m thinking about how good I look in the mirrors and how good I feel in
dance movements.²
³I tell myself to smile.²
³I think about getting high and that I am making money to get high.²
³I am giving these guys every chance to be decent, so that I don¹t have to
be afraid of them.²
³I am filled with disdain for the customers who do not tip, but sit and
watch and direct you to do things for no money.²
³I think of how cheap these fuckers are, what bills I need to pay.²
Strippers engaged in private dances reported these reactions:
³I don¹t want him to touch me, but I am afraid he will say something violent
if I tell him no¹.²
³I was thinking about doing prostitution because that¹s when customers would
proposition me.²
³I could only think about how bad these guys smell and try to hold my
breath.²
³I spent the dance hyper-vigilant to avoiding their hands, mouths, and
crotches.²
³I was glad we were allowed to place towels on the guys¹ laps, so it wasn¹t
so bad.²
³I don¹t remember because it was so embarrassing.²
Notice none reported thinking, ³Gee, this guy is so hot, I wonder if he¹ll
let me take him home.²
On 9/13/05 7:33 AM, "TurquoiseB" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> --- In [email protected], Vaj <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> On 9/12/05 11:03 PM, "sparaig" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>> --- In [email protected], Peter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>> wrote:
>>>> --- Vaj <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> It's interesting. the dark side of these people who
>>>>> try to pass themselves
>>>>> off as the latest guru. That tendency (to declare
>>>>> oneself a teacher or guru
>>>>> or "enlightened") I tend to associate with nothing
>>>>> more than a refined and
>>>>> clever ego. I remember how disappointed I was when I
>>>>> found out that Charlie
>>>>> Lutes had loved to frequent strip clubs.
>>>>
>>>> This opens a question for inquiry, and I apply this to
>>>> myself, too. Why would such behavior on Charlie's part
>>>> bother us so much? He liked to look at naked women.
>>>> Okay.... I have known other people in the past that I
>>>> respect and admire that did the same thing from time
>>>> to time. Why is it such a problem? Hmmmm.
>>>
>>> Anyone who likes strip clubs does NOT like women.
>>
>> I don't know that "like" would be the operative word...
>> maybe "respect". Like I said, it's all about control and
>> domination and subjugation of women--at
>> least (IMO) it is an overriding theme.
>
> Vaj, I like you, but I have to wonder whether you have
> actually ever *been* to a strip club.
>
> Yes, it's sad that our society is so sexually biased
> that one of the only options women who don't want to
> work for low pay have open to them is stripping. But
> the *dynamic* in a strip club is exaclty the *opposite*
> of what you describe. *Any* "seer" with half an ounce
> of discrimination would be able to discern that immediately.
>
> The people being controlled and dominated and subjugated
> are the *men* around the stage. And *every* woman who
> works at one of these clubs knows it. Some actually get
> off on the level of control they have over the customers,
> playing with it.
>
> Sit and *talk* with some of these women sometime. It
> might open your eyes to the possibility that this scene
> is not nearly as black-and-white as you think it is.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> To subscribe, send a message to:
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
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> and click 'Join This Group!'
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