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Economic crisis – would you pole dance for a living?
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You do what you do to pay the bills. I’d be game. Unfortunately I have not been blessed with a chest. I can hear the audience comments now, “Hey, who let that little boy on the stage?”
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I know quite a few dancers who are not large chested who make decent money. Not every man is into plastic boobs and I have been quite surprised to see a trend lately to more natural. Of course you are still going to get those men who want big fake titties in their face but as someone else said, every man has a different kink which is why the successful clubs will hire all sizes, shapes and ages.
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I was very small chested
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Wow this topic is a huge eye opener! I had thought about being an exotic dancer if I abosutely HAD to, but I never realised that in reality, you don't get paid all that much to dance! Now I understand why exotic dancers enter "amateur nights" and compete because the overall money you win from doing less than 1 hour of work equals pretty much 1 week of work as an exotic dancer! Now if I were to lose my job or couldn't find a job, I wouldn't become an entertainer, I would just try my luck at all the amateur nights every week because some of the clubs have prizes up to $1000 if you win first place.
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Unfortunately many of the amateur nights are by audience vote so if you have not padded the audience with people who will cheer for you the chances of winning are slim.
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I worked in a club as a cocktail waitress a few years back (a very well known high end club), so I saw the good, bad, and the ugly. From my experience my comments are this; the dancers usually make about the equivalent as the waitresses and bartenders, and slightly more than the door girl. Not every man that goes into a club is a 'bad' person, I met a lot of very respectful men there, most enjoy a conversation more than anything. There is a lot of sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll, not every dancer is on something but the majority are. The big paydays are hit and miss, the real money is made by either 1. acts that compromise the self worth of a human being, or 2. by giving out your number and 'hanging out' with customers outside the club. There's lots of jealousy and I have seen more than one physical altercation between employees, always over money. Most amateur nights are rigged, and overall it's a hard job that will eventually burn you out, the window of opportunity is small. The money is good but looks fade, and you will have no health plan or a 401K. If it's truly your bag then rock on, I myself love strip clubs, and there's nothing better than making it rain on a dancer who truly enjoys entertaining, but if you're desperate for money (as I was at the time) you're better off waiting tables at a TGIFriday's….that's a much less benign chapter to leave in your legacy.
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I have and so obviously I would. I just want to say that stripping is not as glorious as some may think. Yes it's getting payed to pole (awesome) but it soon feels just like any other job, and the income is not reliable so it can be quite stressful. I often forget about my time dancing in a gentleman's club for a living, it seems so removed from my life now. Pole dancing to me now is about personal achievement and physical challenge, fitness, emotional expression and just enjoyment. Stripping was mostly about cash. Sometimes it was exhilirating, fun, interesting and educational, and I guess it has informed my style and confidence now, but really, it was just a job, a very hard and exhausting job. I think anyone who is strong in their sense of self, has healthy self-esteem and doesn't feel any shame or guilt attached to making money from your body could do it.
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And I'd just like to say in response to those many people who believe that the "industry" is unsavoury… What is so undignified about exploiting your body for income? We do it with our brains, we do it with our fitness (gym instructors etc), we do it with our appearances (models), so why can't we do it with our sensuality? I just think that society has had major hang-ups and repression regarding sexuality and the naked body and that in my personal experience there is nothing degrading or undignified about it. In fact, strippers are the ones with the power (over men). Also, the industry is not a den of iniquity filled with desperate and ruthless people. The women I worked with had university degrees, full time jobs, they were mothers, they had travelled the world. Strong, independent, feminist, educated, intelligent women can use their body to make money. There is nothing paradoxical about it.
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Scarlett, I think you nailed it with your first post stating
"I think anyone who is strong in their sense of self, has healthy self-esteem and doesn't feel any shame or guilt attached to making money from your body could do it."
So many girls I have met have either lost their self esteem from the job or had low self esteem to begin. I am not sure if it is different in Sydney than it is in the States. The majority of clubs are in seedy parts of town which is where a lot of the "unsavory" comes from. The US is also so totally backwards on thing….we see sex selling EVERYTHING here however if you wear revealing clothing or strip for a living you are seen as easy or a tramp. Women are blamed for being accosted because of what they wear but every billboard, every commercial or print ad shows women wearing less. All of us have had issues in our lives because we have taken up pole dancing and are proud but we are made to feel shame. You DO need to be strong but I see the industry tear women down horribly. Even club owner don't respect the girls that are making them money. I will not say this is across the board but I would say more clubs are like this than not.
I do not see anything wrong with it. I fear for some of my girls safety and I fear for their well being. I have seen many get involved in too much alcohol and drugs just to be able to get on stage. But I have also met girls who know how to keep their head high and thoroughly enjoy what they are doing. I have nothing wrong with those that use their abilities, whatever they may be, to make a living as opposed to living off the system. And I have a lot of respect for the girls who can make it because to me it is one seriously hard job.
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I take pride in being an ex-stripper..I am not ashamed and if someone can’t see past that then I can’t be friends with them….I never got into drugs or alcohol,not saying I didn’t do them on occasion,it was not a habit I got addicted to.I was able to support my son,had a new car and was able to save up to buy a house at the age of 20…I now am married for 13 yrs to a man I met in the club… I can honestly say the owners that I’ve worked for which is only 3 they all care for their employees 1 owner would actually give us Christmas bonuses depending on how long we have worked there…
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to chemgoddess: the clubs do respect their girls, everywhere I went, I've always been treated good. Maybe it s different where you are, but here in Canada, most clubs treat their girls very good.
Maybe because I was a good girl and didnt cause any trouble , I never seen the management been bad with the ladies (exept those who were doing more than dancing been kicked out ) but thats all
as for the security … i never feared for my safety in a strip club, always sexy doormans to keep an eye on us
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I would do it if i had no other choice and couldnt feed my baby, then HELL YEAH, i would be working it out on that pole, lol. I would rather own my own studio and teach pole dancing, that would make me really happy 🙂
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