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Clara_M
05-03-2006, 03:01 PM
As a side note, as a (mostly) lurker, one of the things I notice on StripperWeb is the generally high quality of the written English in the posts, as compared to just about every other online board out there. Draw your own conclusions... :-)

Aine
05-03-2006, 03:06 PM
As a side note, as a (mostly) lurker, one of the things I notice on StripperWeb is the generally high quality of the written English in the posts, as compared to just about every other online board out there. Draw your own conclusions... :-)


True, true!!

Emily
05-03-2006, 03:19 PM
hrm, not to downplay how smart we are, but what kind of bulletin boards are you reading?

I read travel, cosmetic surgery, automotive and Apple Computer fora and they are pretty articulate on there.

miabella
05-03-2006, 03:27 PM
simple math would indicate that SW posters are no more or less intelligent than genpop. most people are average, a little bit above average or below average, after all. a case could be made that since both sexwork and sales in particular don't reward high intelligence (at best they reward slightly above average intelligence), it is less likely to turn up in either/both venues.

Emily
05-03-2006, 04:17 PM
wait, you are saying that SW members are an adequate statistcal sample of the general population? I wouldn't even consider us such among strippers and customers, let alone a cross sample of human beings in general. Just being on the internet and caring enough about our jobs to network with others in the same field automatically deviates us from the norm.

But we definitely are not the idiots that people would normally assume we are....I think we can all agree on that.

miabella
05-03-2006, 04:54 PM
the internet has about 500 million or so regular users. at this point, it is pretty representative of genpop. i mean heck, myspace? ten years ago, i would say SW girls might be abnormal, but 2006? no way. SW is totally representative of genpop and to a lesser extent stripper-genpop. but as for high intelligence, SW deals in arenas where it's not rewarded and is therefore less likely to show up. of course the OP wasn't an astrophysicist asking if she was too clever to get naked for money, so it's likely i'm speaking of a tangential matter since we all know college doesn't mean you're smarter than average.

Lena
05-03-2006, 06:03 PM
Da, I'm sure that you're well meaning and honestly curious. But think about how your unconcious attitudes are affecting your ideas about dancers, yourself as a dancer, and the way you communicate with us. Really.


Please re-read my original post...

Okay...


I wasn't saying that I thought I was better than others...

But, after saying how brainey and college-ish you were, you told us:


But at the same time, i'm worried that i'll be surrounded by girls who are very unlike me...


I didn't say that I thought that I was too smart to strip....I didn't say that at all.

But you're worried that...


Has anyone here felt like they were sort of "out of place" with stripping because they felt like they were in school and could stick it out with loans and such but still were tempted by the money? Did that feeling eventually go away?

(Of course, we're just tempted by the money while we're in school, otherwise we'd never let people see us nekkid).


.... I wasn't saying that strippers are dumb....

again...



felt like they were sort of "out of place" with stripping because they felt like they were in school

PhillyDancer1982
05-03-2006, 06:09 PM
My first respose was, "Yes, you're too smart to strip. Keep working at McDonalds for five bucks an hour and leave the five hundred dollar nights to us dumb girls."

THAT'S WHY I FEEL SO STUPID THAT I DIDN'T START STRIPPING EARLIER THAN AGE 22!!! :O When I was in college and couldn't earn enough money for tuition, I DID work McJobs(fuck, when I was in high school, I actually worked at a McDonalds and boy did they screw me over on raises/promotions simply because I didn't have a penis!!! >:( ). All the McJobs did for me was waste time that I coulda instead been using to strip and make "real" money, and this resulted in debt. I wish I knew more about stripping a few years earlier than I started, so that I coulda been banking during those years, as opposed to begging my reluctant friend for $5 so I could get gas in my car and a single chalupa from Taco Bell because I hadn't eaten in 2 days. Did that last sentence make me sound like I was silly/moronic? Good, that's the point I was trying to make...When I didn't have enough money for everyday expenses, I had to succomb to idiotic, shameless things, however if I'd gone to stripping instead, my money problems would have been solved and I would have been a lot better off during my college years.

francescadubois
05-03-2006, 06:16 PM
THAT'S WHY I FEEL SO STUPID THAT I DIDN'T START STRIPPING EARLIER THAN AGE 22!!! :O When I was in college and couldn't earn enough money for tuition, I DID work McJobs(fuck, when I was in high school, I actually worked at a McDonalds and boy did they screw me over on raises/promotions simply because I didn't have a penis!!! >:( ). All the McJobs did for me was waste time that I coulda instead been using to strip and make "real" money, and this resulted in debt. I wish I knew more about stripping a few years earlier than I started, so that I coulda been banking during those years, as opposed to begging my reluctant friend for $5 so I could get gas in my car and a single chalupa from Taco Bell because I hadn't eaten in 2 days. Did that last sentence make me sound like I was silly/moronic? Good, that's the point I was trying to make...When I didn't have enough money for everyday expenses, I had to succomb to idiotic, shameless things, however if I'd gone to stripping instead, my money problems would have been solved and I would have been a lot better off during my college years.


Preach girl!!! :) ;D

miabella
05-03-2006, 06:32 PM
it is a little stupid to behave as though only mcjobs and stripping are the only possible job options with some flexibility and income potential for students or anyone else.

VenusGoddess
05-03-2006, 08:13 PM
I think you guys are reading too much into her post.

As a college educated ex-stripper...yes, I did find that I didn't have much in common with some of my fellow strippers. However, I found this to be true mainly in the HITW clubs I worked at for very short periods of time. But, usually at the upscale clubs, I found more girls who were a little more on my level. The girls who were putting themselves through college, a few through Masters or PhD programs. And, then there were some that were the "typical" stripper. But, overall...the higher quality the club, the higher quality strippers. Of course, you can always have exceptions to the rules, but that was from my general experience.

SilverSaturn0
05-03-2006, 09:44 PM
It takes a smart woman to play stupid

miabella
05-03-2006, 11:25 PM
IME i've not found college educated people (inc. strippers) to be smarter or 'higher quality' than people without such educations.

PhillyDancer1982
05-04-2006, 02:17 AM
it is a little stupid to behave as though only mcjobs and stripping are the only possible job options with some flexibility and income potential for students or anyone else.

Well then why don't we call the employers stupid? Because that's what my job situation ultimately came down to. Take my word when I tell you that I spent HOURS and MONTHS, even YEARS, obsessing about my job/money plight and applying to better-quality jobs than the McJobs I had. OK most of my McJobs were slightly better than literal McDonalds...they were jobs like $7.45/hr putting away clothes at Target, or $8.00/hr at SuperFresh supermarket deli...but no, looking at the big picture, they were NOT much better than McDonalds at all. Trust me, I hated those jobs even more than I hate admitting to having worked at them. I searched for internships, jobs relevant to the medical field I was pursuing at the time(such as doctor's office receptionist, lab assistant, etc), but all of these jobs required prior experience and I had none. Sorry, McJobs don't count for shit here. And my college's careers services center sucked big time...my school's not known for networking. I don't think my innocent, young looks helped any, either...on one very humiliating instance, I went to Allstate insurance to inquire about a receptionist position and if they had openings, and the guy literally said in a coochy-coo baby voice(the kind you use when talking to little kids), "No I don't have any openings, but I appreciate a little girl like you being so ambitious to look for a job!" and then after I disputed that by telling him my age and college level and specifically what I was looking for, he tactually had the nerve to tell me to apply next door at the hotdog/ice cream stand because they--gasp!--gave their employees free ice cream!!! >:( I was twenty at the time!!!!!! >:( Oh I'm sorry, am I venting?...well, this situation is still one that infuritates anger from within, especially since my financial debt that resulted from a lack of a decent job is the entire reason that my family decided to write me off for a few years.

PhillyDancer1982
05-07-2006, 11:32 AM
By the way, guys...please be nice to the girl who started this thread! I really don't think she meant this thread to brag or be arrogant. She is new to the stripping industry, and she is trying to feel it out, so let's give her a chance and not flame her!! She had a legitimate concern...with the pessimistic way that the media portrays strippers, no wonder so many girls not in the industry sometimes associate strippers with being drug addicts who didn't further their education, career goals, or ambitions! Blame the media! Now I could be wrong, but I don't perceive Da to be a troll who is trying to slam strippers, I mean I *think* she is a real person with legitimate questions about dancing...if you guys want to flame/slam a troll, check out Lady_Maleena...now THAT'S a troll that does nothing but imitate some false stereotypical "valley girl" *stripper talk* and do no good for the boards! Hahaha.

Jenny
05-07-2006, 12:26 PM
^^^
Perhaps. But you have to admit that it takes questionable judgment to come here and say that you are worried that you might be too intelligent to fit in with us. This has nothing to do with preconceptions and media and everything to do with common courtesy. I didn't flame her and I didn't call her names. I wouldn't go to a message board for auto mechanics and say that I've heard that auto mechanics have a sub par education, and that people keep telling me I'm too smart to be an auto mechanic , and that I'm worried that I won't fit in with the other auto mechanics because I'm too bright. Same thing for cheerleaders. Why? Because regardless of media portrayal, that would be considered rude.

VenusGoddess
05-07-2006, 02:18 PM
But, she never said SHE thought she was too intelligent. She said that others have told her that college educated girls are too smart to strip.

Total difference.

PhillyDancer1982
05-08-2006, 06:46 AM
Yes, what VenusGoddess said, is what I'm talking about. She never said she was "too smart to strip," it's what her boyfriend said. Again, blame society, or more specifically blame the boyfriend. If anything, she might have titled her original thread "too 'brainy' to strip?" in sarcasm in reference to what her boyfriend said.

For example, over a year ago at Wizzards when that one asshole said that I was "too humble to be a stripper" and didn't give me a dime but interrupted our convo to get private dances from other girls, it was HIM saying/thinking that not ME! I know I've bitched about that guy and his "humbleness" comment a few times on SW, and if anyone responded to me by saying "then don't strip if you think you're too humble" I woulda been offended because: a) I DON'T think I'm too humble, and if someone calls me humble I take it as an insult, even if the person meant it in a good way; b) my experience in the dancing industry has shown me that not all dancers are arrogant/narccisitc materialistic snobs, therefore yes even a seemingly "nice" girl could still dance or meet other nice girls who are dancers. And by the way, no I'm not a total narcissitic asshole, but at the same time I'm NOT a "nice girl" no matter how innocent my looks are. I've lived in some ghettos of Philly by myself, I've had a lot of partners, admittedly I even did my fair share of drug experimentation(BEFORE I was a dancer! I stopped when I started dancing!)...so please credit me for my experiences and do not call me a nice girl!!!

cheetahchick
05-08-2006, 01:24 PM
I have a Masters degree, working towards the PhD and I still dance =)
As the others were saying, you should be careful how much regarding your education you reveal while you are in the club, because men are not always looking for educated girls when they go to strip clubs. Also, I've had experiences when other girls over hear you talking about degrees and they may think that you think you are better than others, even if you don't - make sense? You may personally not find it intellectually stimulating, because it is a very different enviornment from a university setting. It is great money & it can be a fun job, flexible hours. Some say that if we put our minds to it, we could make just as much money doing other things.... You will meet some other girls like yourself who also dance to pay for school. As long as you keep yourself stimulated by studying etc in your free time (as oppossed to making dancing your entire life) I think you'll be ok. Keep us posted!

cheetahchick
05-08-2006, 01:25 PM
Phillydancer,

Whats wrong with being a nice girl?

cheetahchick
05-08-2006, 01:30 PM
One more thing:
Please do not think you only have a choice between dancing or flipping burgers. It is possible to do fellowships or research, teaching assistantships in school that will pay you in the form of scholarships, financial aid, workstudy. I could totally live off of waitressing...or something professional using my degree & make less money but still be ok financially....the question is - do you want that? Noone NEEDS 6 figures...Plus the professional experience looks good on a resume and doesnt leave a hole like dancing does

xoxoGracexoxo
05-08-2006, 01:55 PM
I have a Masters degree, working towards the PhD and I still dance =)
As the others were saying, you should be careful how much regarding your education you reveal while you are in the club, because men are not always looking for educated girls when they go to strip clubs. Also, I've had experiences when other girls over hear you talking about degrees and they may think that you think you are better than others, even if you don't - make sense?

Good points, and I think this more closely addresses the original poster's question. (I wonder if she's even still reading or if we scared her away...geez.) Being smart is pretty much pure advantage in anything. Stripping is a little strange, though, in that letting on that you are smart is not always a good idea. Customers may be intimidated, and dancers may get catty, but in my experience, the worst reactions are from management. To grossly generalize, strip club managers are not the sharpest knives in the drawer, and many are not particularly good at their jobs. They do have huge egos, though, and the last thing they want to deal with is a "dumb stripper" who is as smart or smarter than they are. I think my problems with management at my last job had something to do with the fact that I never dumbed myself down around the managers. I figured they would appreciate someone smart and professional working for them...call me naive. At my new club I haven't done or said anything to the managers to make them think I have two brain cells to rub together, and everything is going swimmingly. Go figure.

keira
05-08-2006, 09:01 PM
Stripping is not a quick fix for poor finances. It takes time to learn how to make money. Stripping is a very head orientated job, if your stupid you won't last, being especially intelligent will not guarentee you money because there are a lot of dancers there of above average intelligence already who have experience and you will be competing against them.
I can kind of relate to the too intelligent to strip bit though, I was told by Mensa to come sit their exam after school and preliminary tests showed my IQ was very high. I decided not to partly because I thought it might be snobbish but mostly I chickened out, maybe it's another kind of steriotype but I have this mental picture of a room full of rocket scientists and scholars asking me what I do for a living, me saying "I'm a stripper" and them looking at me like I have two heads.

da
05-08-2006, 10:40 PM
I'm definitely still reading this post! ::) haven't been scared away or anything like that....!
I really appreciate all of your comments....and yes, I think that the original title of the thread, " too 'brainy' to strip?...and other issues" might have made it sound as if I thought I was too "brainy" to strip...might have made it sound like I was saying "yaaaa, i'm soooo smarrrrt.... so could I strip despite that?"...in a condescending way... but I was only used it as a title choice (should have written a clearer, less-likely-to-get-misinterpreted title) because some people think "oh, you're too smart to strip!" like my bf thinks....
It's really interesting to get all the different points of views....all the different stories... it's helpful. And it makes me feel more comfortable about getting started in this stuff.... I'll let you guys know when I try out for strip clubs locally (after this hectic crazy exams week is over)...when i'll get my butt into the world of stripping!.... keep you all posted.... I just need to start looking around for shopping for the right dancewear...and shoes...
thanks for everything, everyone,....and i really do mean it! :)

xoxoGracexoxo
05-09-2006, 04:38 AM
Another random thought on stripping and "braininess": The cognitive skill set considered 'smart' in an academic setting doesn't always translate immediately to stripping. I was always considered smart in school, a standardized testing superstar. I only took an IQ test once, as part of an admissions process...don't know the exact score, but the cut-off score was something like 130, so I must have scored at least that. Anyway, none of that ammounted to too much when I started dancing. I mean, basic cognitive skills like pattern recognition and categorization still come into play, but there's a huge learning curve on things like "That guy is saying he wants to buy dances but he's probably just trying to get me to hang out with him for free to impress his friends with what a stud he is" or "this manager is telling me I can't come in before a certain time, but if tip him enough he might pretend not to notice when I do."

When I first started dancing, it never occurred to me that people would lie or try to take advantage of me. That might sound stupid, but I really assumed everyone was on the level and making rational decisions. Silly me. It took me a long time to learn to negotiate the weird, irrational, manipulative and counter-manipulative world of strip clubs, and I'm still learning.

As other posters have said, stripping is a skill that it will take you a while to develop. On the other hand, being smart will probably give you a boost in learning what you need to learn.






(sorry to ramble...I can't sleep...DAMN redbull)

scarlett_vancouver
05-09-2006, 05:04 AM
To repeat what everyone else has said, you have to be pretty smart to pull of the 'dumb stripper' thing. Real dumb girls don't do that well as dancers, in my observation.

You have to be able to gauge when to turn it on and off. Like, standard scenario is act dumb until he is in lust with you, get him all spendy, and then ka-pow him with a bit of intelligence. Then back to dumb...you will be mysterious and non-intimidating at the same time. Cha-ching!

keira
05-09-2006, 05:58 AM
Like xoxoGracexoxo said, an academic environment uses different skills to a socially orientated one, having a hand in both will probably make you a more rounded person if you are able to balance the two, you will find conflict between stripping and study both within yourself and with others attitudes, the hours will probably clash too but it can be done, just be sure you keep up to date on your studies and stick to your priorities.

PhillyDancer1982
05-09-2006, 06:15 AM
Look, all I'm saying is, for me I didn't have the *choice* of internships, fellowships, etc. I went to a really crappy overpriced college with a career services center that really sucked("Do you have...a RESUME?" duh, yes. "Well, did you look for a list of place to apply for...in the YELLOW PAGES?" basically things that I already knew and I coulda told myself; I was expecting a little more sophisticated information than that and NO I don't think I'm expecting too much when I demand more than the info I learned in my 9th grade careers class when I was paying my college thousands each yr) Also, I had a lot of bad luck looking for jobs. I am NOT KIDDING when I say I spent much time--literally years!--looking for a job better than dead-end, just to end up having to surrender to taking yet another dead-end job because I couldn't find anything else and held out for a better job so long that my bills started to catch up to me and engulf me.

Face it, the economy sucks! Even the decline in a stripper's income these days isn't *bad* money, when you compare it to making $8/hr in retail. (And yes I did jobsearch alongside working these bad jobs but sometimes there's only so much you can do, it's ultimately up to the employer if she/he needs or wants to hire you.) I'm not going to air all of my personal problems here, but just take my word when I say that when I first started dancing, I had more debt and financial worries than anyone else my age that I've ever known. YES it took time before I learned the "art" of hustling, and I didn't make nearly as much money in the beginning as I do now, BUT it was still a lot more than the money I woulda made in retail. Even if you work 8hrs and only make $150, yeah that's pretty crappy money for a dancer, BUT it's STILL around 3 times better than the money I was making in 8hrs of retail. And most of my early days dancing were much better than that! There were only a few days that the money was that lousy, and partly because I started in a kinda dying club(hey, you gotta start somewhere before moving up!) and was given the really dead dayshifts. So yeah, even with making a pretty "sad" stripper's income at first, it was still enough for me to start to clean up my finances.