This study supports the anecdotal experience of
several exotic dancer clients I've had. They all hated
the work, had very negative feelings toward men. They
only did it for the money and because it was quick and
offbook.
But is it exploitive? I see exploitation as a matter
of degree. Yes, it is a shitty way to make money, but
there is a degree of choice involved. It is a crappy
job, but nobody is making them do it. They choose to
do this type of work. We've all had crappy jobs in our
life. We endure them until we decide to leave.
--- Vaj <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>
> 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
>
>
=== message truncated ===
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