Stripping is often surrounded by stigma and speculation.
It's also a pragmatic job that can get poor students cash fast; in fact, a survey found that over one-fifth of UK university students had considered sex work or stripping.
Below are some stripping secrets that an anonymous dancer, who also turned to dancing solely for the cash, shared in an Ask Me Anything Reddit thread.
- It's not always some dirty secret.
"My Dad knows and he knows I am smart and safe. All he ever says is "Be safe." Almost everyone in my lfe knows. No one cares lol."
- Prostitution is more prevalent in the industry than you might think.
"Prostitution is hugely prevalent within the dance industry. It's unfortunate and annoying. It makes it harder for girls like me to get through a night without disrespect. I'm all about legalizing prostitution so the men and women who need that can get the hell out of the club. I have nothing against it, just sick of guys assuming it's part of the package because "the other girl" does it."
- Sex sells.
"I just left work. I made about $500 tonight. I made about $650 last Saturday night. Weekdays less. Depends on the area, the season, the type of club, etc. When I worked in a slightly smaller club I could usually depend on about $200-$350 per night. I have other things going on during the weekdays, but if you know what you're doing and work full time, you could probably pull six figures a year. When I was working 4 days a week, I probably net 60k annually. Of course my tax statement said otherwise."
- When asked the most she has ever made in a week, she said:
"Hard to say. Probably $2k or so when I had the time and motivation. I wanted to take my son on vacation and worked like crazy to make it happen in the time frame I had. Not only did I make my goal, we stayed on vacay 4 extra days. It was pretty awesome. I recall being fairly broke when I returned, but c'est la vie. Just took him on another one this summer."
- Quick cash is a common reason for stripping.
"I choose to do this because the schedule is flexible and I dump out a bag of money each night I work. I have an issue with authority and underemployment. I have a degree, I've done other things, I've currently got other things in the making. But dancing lets me make quick cash so I can get back to those things, and my family."
- Patrons can be creepy.
"I haven't so much had people "stalk" me per say, but I've had people find out everything they can about me and use it to manipulate me or make things awkward. In every case, it was my fault, for giving out my number occasionally or something like that."
- It can be best to just focus on the work.
"The club is similar to a jail microcosm. You have your cliques and solo flyers. I'm a solo flyer. I definitely keep my head down. I have no interest in making friends with most of my coworkers. Few of them are decent people, and the ones that are keep to themselves like I do. On 2-3 occasions I have made "friends" with a coworker. One of them, we had a good thing till she moved. The next went on a meth binge and made up paranoid violent stories about me to other coworkers (which was awesome because they were all afraid of me for a while). The last I had to rescue from her boyfriend beating the shit out of her and helped put her on a plane to go live with a sugardaddy. Long and short, it's best to keep your head down in this industry. People try to start fights over nothing and I don't have time for it."
- The main requirement for the job is thick skin.
"Everyone has a shot. Whether you are a model or not-so-much, you have to have a thick skin for this job. I am sterotypically attractive but I often get turned away because I am just not that person's type. On a semi-regular basis I get told "I like a thicker woman than you, sorry." And I'm a normal BMI with a smidge of extra. It's more about personality and sex appeal than anything else. And if you do learn to dance, all the better. The best dancer I ever knew was super chubby lol."
- There is no one body type that will get you hired.
"Lol, tell your "friend" ;) there is "an ass for every seat" meaning that all men like different things. Nobody on God's green Earth cares about stretch marks except really arrogant types and you want to stay away from them anyway (they think you should be paying THEM for their time...) I have plenty of stretch marks but lighting in strip clubs is designed to make you look awesome. Hence the "ugly lights" lol. To summarize, everyone has different tastes. There are many men who are turned off by a "perfect 10" and wants a girl who seems more real. I know plenty of women wider than me who make more money than I do."
- And her father is proud of her.
"My Dad is my best friend; an intelligent and accepting man who trusts me to fund my more intellectual endeavors through this work as a means to an end. His heart would probably be more broken if I were some sort of psudeo-feminist troll shaming the aspects of female sexuality that only exist in response to male sexuality."
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