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hardest part of stripping
This is a survey about what you guys find is the most difficult part of being a stripper. For example:
*unsteady source of income
*frequent rejection
*being judged by how I look
*close physical contact with strangers
*keeping up the "act" or "fantasy" day after day
*finding acceptance in society
...funny what we'll put up with in exchange for financial security...!
Anyway this could be highly personal but I was wondering what is difficult for you guys, and how you cope with it in order to continue.
*Celeste*
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Re:hardest part of stripping
if this was a poll then i would choose: close physical contact with strangers
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Re:hardest part of stripping
I would say unsteady income and keeping up the "act" even on days when I feel like shit and would much rather shoot every customer in the face, ya know?
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Re:hardest part of stripping
Unpredictable income - I'm really obsessive about planning, so it drives me crazy when the money is so up and down.
Being considered a social deviant - now that I'm settling down in one place I'm volunteering with children and doing other things that people get upset about strippers doing.
Lena
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Re:hardest part of stripping
I think it all drives me a little nuts at times. ...I would say #1 for me....is having to keep up the "happy flirty" girl attitude when I would rather stare directly into the sun for 8 hours then speak to anyone in the club. It sucks when your in a "mood" and you dont really feel like working but you know if you dont have a happy face....then you will have an empty pocket.
I also get tired of all the grabby touchy men.....and inconsitent income...
I suppose there are pros and cons to every job tho...
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Re:hardest part of stripping
A little bit of everything you mentioned bothers me.The finanacial instability and rejection factors plus having to keep face when the money comes hard all drain me.
Essentially it all boils down to money. Who cares what people think or even how grabby or irritating guys are if we are making $20 bills hand over fist night after night? Because at some point our money could open new doors, right?
The reason I work weekly bookings in smaller town Upper Midwest and Montana clubs a lot and stay on the road for several months at a time is trying to get stable income. Working with 4-6 girls a night, in a few clubs 10-12, and getting paid $400 for 6 nights and always working with way more customers than girls makes me feel secure I will have enough to live on and some savings but yet never enough to get way ahead. I like being in large racially diverse cities but the competition for the dollars and the vice hassles are tough in them.
It seems like every time I try to settle back into a big city club the hassle of working with huge amounts of girls and inconsistent business or clientele leads to more downs than ups.
The guys are such a pain in the ass and the laws keep getting anti strip club friendly. Every strip club has to operate defensively instead of being able to take the offensive in generating more business and getting the customers to spend more. One club is nude with alcohol, another requires 2 bottoms, another no contact, another pasties, or your top must stay on yet another guys want sex instead of dances, another has 2 girls for each customer,not enough educated middle aged customers coming to the club alone. Too many rules that make no sense. These rules have made making money harder. And when making money becomes harder it affects ones whole life.
Once you have a beat the system business where people are making above average amounts of cash, the govt is going to step in at some point attempting to regulate it. Compound that with word spreading like wildfire that above average amounts of cash are being made in that business and you have mass amounts of newbies flocking into a business whose earnings potential has been lessened by the govt intervention and now there is not enough money to go around, let alone get rich off of.
As the saying goes timing is everything and hit it and quit it sizes up stripping.
Those of us who were dancing in the 90's and didn't hit it hard, or who weren't in the game then have seen the real money of stripping fade away.
Now its about competing and surviving and that makes what was a good job hard. :-\
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Re:hardest part of stripping
The unpredictable source of income gets me extremly stressed out. All the other stuff does not bother me as much as all the other stuff even though those other things can bother me at diffrent times but I wish I just knew what I would be making each night because when I have a bad night it makes me super paranoid that every day thereafter is going to be a repeat of that night. Even though we all know that isn't true. :)
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Re:hardest part of stripping
For me it's the same thing a lot of other girls mentioned: trying to act like I'm happy when I'm having a shitty day (i.e. constantly getting turned down for dances, rude comments from customers or other dancers, personal problems, feeling sick, or any combination of these things.)
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Re:hardest part of stripping
Believe it or not, for me it's the lack of job security that stresses me out most. I'm not referring to any particular club-I'm talking about the time frame that dancers have. This is something that I love to do, and knowing at some point it has to come to an end, and that at some point I'll have to figure out something else that I want to do stresses me out the most.
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Re:hardest part of stripping
I try to work at lower-contact clubs, so I try to avoid grabby places, but I know that's not always an option for everyone because of geography, school/family obligations, etc...
I'd say for me it's being treated like a pariah. I'm glad I have a great SO who isn't bothered by my job, but I can't tell my family, and I get a little paranoid when I meet new people.
Also, job security. I'm trying to build up a bigger emergency fund, but if I were to get seriously ill or disabled, odds are I'm utterly screwed.
Finally, I get tired of the stereotypes and assumptions. Some of party, some of us don't, some of use are truly intelligent, regardless of how far we went in school, some of us are dumb as rocks, and some of us have slimy boyfriends that take are tips and some of use are happily committed or single. It's just that people sometimes don't like to be proven wrong.
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Re:hardest part of stripping
yep definatly the inconsistant income. what also worries me, is not only are you judged on your looks, but if say, your in a car accident, and get disfigued or whatever, then thats your job gone. scary thought. :(
also, leaving my bf every night at home,and not seeing him during the day. i spose working nights can be annoying too
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Re:hardest part of stripping
I'd have to say finding acceptance in society has been difficult for me. It is really hard for me to find/keep friends as well as a positive image in society because of all of the stereotypes attached to dancing. I'm actually proud of what I do and while I don't flaunt it relentlessly, I refuse to hide it, and that, I guess, is socially unacceptable.
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Re:hardest part of stripping
mermaidnz,
Is that your real pic on your avatar? If so, you are very beautiful! Your S/O is a very lucky man!
TS
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Re:hardest part of stripping
lol yep, thaz me :)
oww you thinks im beautiful ? shucks * blushes*
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Re:hardest part of stripping
I think one of the hardest parts is that people forget we are human.
Flesh and blood… and feelings.
Sometimes it is the feminazi who thinks she should impose her morals one me. Strippers are not entitled to have their own beliefs, or not bright enough to think it through to the “right” morals.
The neighbor, who told the other neighbor, and was overheard by the kids, who now approach me and ask if I strip... or just stare like they would never have the nerve to at someone else, and I can't tell if they are rubbernecking or leering. Strippers don't deserve to be treated like the other people in the neighborhood.
"Friends" in college who suddenly weren’t because they couldn't accept it… I guess they never were. But strippers don't have feelings, so it’s OK.
The ones that remained friends, but introduced me as "the stripper" or suggested to me that I wouldn't have something appropriate to wear to a formal dance. "Not THAT kind of dress." (No shit, Sherlock!) Strippers don't have real-people clothes, or any sense of class.
Customers who lie to you like you are stupid... they don't even make up a reasonable excuse, they just tell you they were sitting there- all night - when you were there for the last 8 hours and there were only 20-30 people in the whole bar. Just tell the stripper what you want her to think, she’s too dumb to not believe you and if she knows that you are lying, it’s OK because who cares what she thinks. She’s just some stripper.
Even my boyfriend. Sometimes when it all gets to me and something gets past the armor and it hurts… he just tells me that he thought I had a thick skin. I do… read above if you want to know why and don’t reminds me that, “its just a customer.”
Yeah, it’s just a customer, but I have - just a heart. An ability to do this job does not equate to an inability to feel. And people forgetting that I deserve the same treatment, understanding and consideration as others is the hardest part of being a stripper, for me.
I think that’s why I have enjoyed reading and posting here. I just found it a little while ago and already it is something that I look forward to when I get to work in the morning. Everyone treats each other like people here, and while most of us are dancers, we are not relegated to a lesser class and treated like “Just a Stripper.”
Thank you.
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Re:hardest part of stripping
Once I am at work, it's all cool, but going in is always difficult for me.
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Re:hardest part of stripping
I try to work two days and then take a day off in between so I feel newly fresh and flirty next time I go to work. Of course this means I only work four nights a week, but honestly, if I didnt have those "in between" nights off, I'd be a complete bitch ;D . But I do envy girls who work the entire work week, or four nights in a row, because they are definitely making more money than I am. But then I question, how is their emotional and physical wellbeing during/after/before all those shifts? I guess I'd rather have less money and feel the closest to "normal" as one can get living this lifestyle. So for me the hardest part of stripping is not keeping up the "fantasy," it's the unsteady flow of income. I like to plan ahead as well, and if I'm going on vacation, I want to know for sure that making rent will be simple as soon as I come back and work a few nights. It's when I plan ahead is when I usually get a surprise $100. night, or even worse, two in a row.
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Re:hardest part of stripping
lack of health insurance
deviant social stature
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Re:hardest part of stripping
I think it's a combination of things, sometimes being rejected over and over again makes it hard to do this work. My age is a factor, I wish I had started this sooner, but I'm not that old. And the other thing is just getting to work because once I'm there and I've completed at least 2 sets, then I'm okay, It's that first and second time on stage each night that is also hard.
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Re:hardest part of stripping
In order of hardest to easiest.
*unsteady source of income
It can be difficult to plan, and a great deal of my income goes to physical upkeep, mental & emotional post-work cleansing and taxes, insurance etc. Those things must be paid for whether I make a steady $1000 or $10 nightly
*keeping up the "act" or "fantasy" day after day
It can get really old. Sometimes I just ain't feelin' it! But wok schedules and bills dictate that I must.
*close physical contact with strangers
It isn't neccesarily the fact that these men are strangers, it's that I may not be attracted to them/or motivated enough to fake it well, and we all hate bad acting don't we?
*being judged by how I look
That happens every day no matter what your profession. The color of your skin, hair, teeth. The shape of your nose, breast, @$$. Someone always thinks they've figured out which box to put you in because of what they see. At least in this field I can blatantly put it all to good (for me) use.
*frequent rejection
For the most part I couldn't care less, but when it affects my money I wanna figure out why it's happening so I can fix it.
*finding acceptance in society I'm not a big fan of this society, so it's rules and acceptance don't mean much to me (I'm an American).
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Re:hardest part of stripping
>*unsteady source of income
Definitely, this really gets to me. Even though I haven't made under $100 since I started working, which is double what I'd be taking home if I was working any minimum wage, or close to minimum wage, job, I still freak out. What if I do buy that large ticket item and then boom, I break my ankle next week? This is why I don't splurge a lot.
*frequent rejection
Eh, to be honest, it isn't that bad. Long as the guys [and girls!] are polite about it, I can usually deal.
*being judged by how I look
I'm pretty confindent about how I look, so this one isn't too bad.
*close physical contact with strangers
Doesn't really bother me, actually, except the "maybe she's forgotten that she told me twice not to touch her there" types. >:(
*keeping up the "act" or "fantasy" day after day
Yeah, this one is a pain. just coming into work ill or depressed, and then being "miss happy girl" even when it's a sucky night is just hard. In some jobs you don't have to bother, it doesn't matter what you're like when you're a cashier, your income doesn't depend on whether customers checkout at your line. Here it does.
*finding acceptance in society
Yeah, this is a hurdle I haven't had to deal with much yet, but might become a problem. My family doesn't know, but unless I spend very little it becomes sticky. Friends haven't been too bad, but I worry about future circumstances.
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Re:hardest part of stripping
Brooke- I feel you there baby girl. It's easy to make jokes at our expense and it gets hard to just let it roll off your back.
The hardest thing for me is the traveling every week. I just want to go home!
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Re:hardest part of stripping
I love being a dancer, and I forget sometimes that my job makes others uncomfortable. Sometimes I like to make people uncomfortable.
For instance, I was at my Husband's highschool reuion, and these ladies were sitting at a table with us. My Husband got up to go get something and the ladies start talking about a classmate who worked at the local strip club (where I worked). They were very catty, and talked about her like she was some stupid whore, who couldn't do any better than that. She was not at the reunion, and had moved to another state years before I started dancing.
I was dressed in business casual, and didn't advertize what I did for a living. The ladies appoligized for gossiping about people I didn't know and asked me what I did for a living. I smiled sardonically and said "I dance at Fred's."
Luckily, they didn't treat me like a freak, because they got to know me before they found out what I do for a living. But at the same time I think their view of my husband was changed. Like he went from nice guy to pig in that moment. I don't much care what people think of me but when the closed view of others affects the people close to me, it really pisses me off.
I have been treated like I have some deadly and contagious disease by people who claim to be religious, but my Mother who is a minister, and my father-in-law who is a missionary treat me with the most respect. My Mother even says she wishes she could be more like me in many regaurds.
But the unsteady income doesn't bother me, nor does the body contact (I'm picky about who I will dance for). Being happy and perky most of the time is my personality, but if I do have an occasional off day, I can usually work it to my advantage (wear black vinyl dance to goth music, wear a wig etc.).
Sorry this was so long.
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Re:hardest part of stripping
I'd have to agree that keeping up the act all the time is the worst part; I mean, I had one guy just today that was acting like a complete goober and if it weren't for the fact that he was tipping good, I would have left his sorry ass right the fuck there.