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Thread: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

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    Default Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    This question for the dancers is a variation of the "how do people react when you tell them" question - It seems like during the past few years, dancers/strippers have become really COOL in pop culture... (1) top-40 artists like Christina Aguilera, Tila Tequila, Brittany Spears and Madonna don stripper attire in their music videos and dance around the stripper pole like true SC veterans, (2) actress Carmen Electra has produced her lap dancing and strip-aerobics videos which are sold in "family-friendly" bookstores/videostores like Borders and Barnes & Noble, as well as her own line of stripper poles which are sold in most U.S. shopping malls (Spencer's Gifts store), (3) actress Sheila Kelly has a national franchise of pole dancing studios for "regular" woman, (4) pole-dancing for fitness was the fitness craze a few years ago and a petition is currently going around to make "vertical dancing" a part of the Olympic Games, (5) I've seen just about every attractive actress in Hollywood play the role of a stripper in at least one movie, (6) "stripper chic" has become both a fashion style and culture trend,... etc.... etc....
    So, have YOU noticed people's attitudes about dancers change in recent times? Do people respond more positively to your disclosure that you are a dancer today, as opposed to five years ago?

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    Default Re: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    A quick search would reveal TONS of threads where this topic has been discussed.

    In general, no matter how accepted the industry appears to be to the main stream public, there are many dancers who continue to experience tensions within their interpersonal relationships, as well as having issues with possible career paths.

    Also, I don't think 5 years ago is a long enough time for comparison. IMO attitudes haven't changed all that much over that short a period.
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    Default Re: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    Quote Originally Posted by verfolgung View Post
    A quick search would reveal TONS of threads where this topic has been discussed.
    My question is specifically about the role that pop culture plays in how dancers are perceived... The public fascination with dancers, stripper poles, lap dances, etc. seems like a very recent phenomenon...

    I do think that attitudes about custies have changed... I remember thinking as a young man of about 20 that I should stay away from SCs - regardless of how tempted I was to go, because only "perverts" patronized those places... That was about 15 years ago... Obviously, attitudes have changed a lot. Now, I visit the SC with friends, co-workers, my boss and even my father...

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    Default Re: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    ^^

    You're a 30-something dude who's obsessed with strippers. You'll always think we're cool and you're pretty much our target audience. That's all that matters to me. I don't really care what the teeny-boppers think about "stripper-chic".
    "SS=stripper shit, in the same spectrum as CS=customer shit, which is within the spectrum of SaS=sales shit, which is all contained in the universe of BS=bullshit." -- Jay Zeno (mod)

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    Default Re: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    Quote Originally Posted by jack0177057 View Post
    top-40 artists like Christina Aguilera, Tila Tequila, Brittany Spears and Madonna
    wtf? I'm having a Sesame Street flashback. "One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn't belong....."

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    Default Re: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    Quote Originally Posted by jack0177057 View Post
    My question is specifically about the role that pop culture plays in how dancers are perceived... The public fascination with dancers, stripper poles, lap dances, etc. seems like a very recent phenomenon...

    I do think that attitudes about custies have changed... I remember thinking as a young man of about 20 that I should stay away from SCs - regardless of how tempted I was to go, because only "perverts" patronized those places... That was about 15 years ago... Obviously, attitudes have changed a lot. Now, I visit the SC with friends, co-workers, my boss and even my father...

    Hrm ... the question is muddled somewhat because there are various layers. I think in your original OP you asked about dancers disclosing their jobs. When I think of this, I picture telling friends and family, which can still be recieved with a reaction that this industry is taboo. The same dancer could be out at regular bar on a Friday night and scream out to all the patrons, "I'm a stripper", and the crowd would cheer. Neither of these scenarios is all that different today than 5 years ago.
    (Btw - I bought two stripper poles as gifts for ladies over 5 years ago, and Carmen Electa's Strip Tease Work Out came out in 2003 - 6 years ago)

    In terms of your own personal experience, I think part of that is your own maturation process vs. society's view in general. If 15 years ago you thought SC's were bad, than 10 years before that you likely thought girls were icky and gross. Meanwhile there were still businessmen entertaining their customers and clients out a SC's.

    In some ways, I've actually found that the appropriateness of going to SC's has diminished. It used to be a regular occurance for the people in our company to take visiting cleints out to SC's, we even used to refer to it as taking them out for "happy meals." Today, we rarely do it. Although a few of us younger partners are trying to revitalize the practice.
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    Default Re: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    Quote Originally Posted by Everyman View Post
    wtf? I'm having a Sesame Street flashback. "One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn't belong....."

    haha!

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    Default Re: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    Basically the same exact topic, which the ladies have been discussing for a while...


    What would REALLY happen if eveyone knew you were a stripper...
    http://forum.stripperweb.com/showthread.php?t=131423

    If you read it, you'll see that the ladies still have to deal with stereotypes, misconceptions and basically a lot of bull shit.




    Plus, for all the of the ways in which pop culture has made it "cool", you still have comments like Chris Rock's - "You're only responsibility as a father is to keep your daughter off the pole."
    If you can't win. Make the fellow in front of you break the record.


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    Default Re: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    Quote Originally Posted by jack0177057 View Post
    So, have YOU noticed people's attitudes about dancers change in recent times? Do people respond more positively to your disclosure that you are a dancer today, as opposed to five years ago?

    No, and if you actually look at some of the threads on this site, you'll see that the stigma around being a dancer IRL is still as strong as ever regardless of the glamour the movies create. Attitudes haven't changed about strippers in the least.

    The thread that verfolgung listed is the same one I was going to post.

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    Default Re: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    Quote Originally Posted by JayATee View Post
    No, and if you actually look at some of the threads on this site, you'll see that the stigma around being a dancer IRL is still as strong as ever regardless of the glamour the movies create. Attitudes haven't changed about strippers in the least.

    The thread that verfolgung listed is the same one I was going to post.
    Yeah, I am aware of previous threads on this question, but I was curious specifically about what if any influence, pop culture has had on the public-at-large's views of exotic dancers... I understand that immediate family members will usually disapprove,... but, what about regular people you meet in social settings? Are we (custies) the only people that think its "cool" for you to be a dancer?

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    Default Re: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    I find that people react to finding out a lot less negatively... but not necessarily in a way that I would say makes me believe that they think I am cool. Some people that might have felt differently about it a few years ago simply don't care one way or another now.

    As for the "Top 40" artists... yeah, Madonna was just far before her time and these little publicity stunts that have been pulled by the young music artists like Britney and Christina kissing her on stage just disgust me. Seriously, it's fine if you want to do that, but don't display in on public television just to try to publicize that you've been inducted into society's celebrity "Hall of Fame". Ugh... we know you are famous, you aren't Madonna though and kissing her isn't really proving to us that you are a better performer. No one really hears much about Christina these days and as for Britney she's pretty much already screwed up her reputation so I doubt she'll ever be remembered the way Madonna has been. Each of them has some great music, but the little stunts don't prove anything.
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    Default Re: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    Quote Originally Posted by jack0177057 View Post
    Yeah, I am aware of previous threads on this question, but I was curious specifically about what if any influence, pop culture has had on the public-at-large's views of exotic dancers... I understand that immediate family members will usually disapprove,... but, what about regular people you meet in social settings? Are we (custies) the only people that think its "cool" for you to be a dancer?
    I think many of your questions have already been addressed, especially in the thread verfolgung posted for you. You can't possibly have read that and think pop culture has positively affected societies view on dancers. I'm not talking about family members either. I'm talking mainstream society. We're denied leases on apartments and loans for houses. We have to be careful that ppl from our real life careers don't find out about us being dancers bc we could be fired. Those of us that want to be in school have to worry about being accepted, and then if it's leaked that we danced through school, we have to worry about it effecting future jobs. We're thought of as stupid, drug addicted whores. Even when we are portrayed in the movies, it's never as smart, empowered, strong women. People's responses to strippers haven't changed at all. It isn't an acceptable form of employment. Nobody encourages their kids to be strippers. I really don't even think customers view us as "cool" either.

    And tbh, I really don't know how you could've read the threads and still be asking this question. I mean, just read the first few posts and you'll have your answers.

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    Default Re: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    If it was so cool, so many of us would not be hiding it from our friends and family. Its really a matter of how you feel about it, I don't regret that I am a stripper. But you wont find me tell people, largely because of the taboo around it.

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    Default Re: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    Quote Originally Posted by jack0177057 View Post
    ,... but, what about regular people you meet in social settings? Are we (custies) the only people that think its "cool" for you to be a dancer?
    "Regular people" met in "social settings" is probably the group that least matters to a dancer's actual day to day life.

    Do you know when we will be able to say that dancing really is "cool"? When a dancer won't have to put "waitress" or "hostess" on an application for an apartment or loan, or have to use euphemisims on their job resumes. We'll know when a story, which would otherwise be non-newsworthy, doesn't get embellished just because the word "stripper" is in the headline.

    Social settings are one thing; however, it has always been the interactions in personal or professional settings that really matter.
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    Default Re: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    pop culture hurts us more than helps us.

    middle aged housewives that take pole dancing lessons still don't think we're cool, usually. they're just ripping off our art form for exercise and to make them feel sexier and better about themselves.

    rap music encourages tipping us, but also encourages trying to take us home to sleep with you. great on the one hand, obnoxious on the other.

    it's more acceptable for young guys to come into strip clubs i would say, without being perceived as desperate. but i don't think it's "cool".
    "If she wants to dance and drink all night, well there's no one that can stop her. She's going til the house lights come up or her stomach spills onto the floor. This night is gonna end when we're damn well ready for it to be over, worked all week long, and now the music is playing on our time. Yeah we do what we do to get by, and then we need a release!" - Against Me!, "Thrash Unreal"

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    Default Re: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    I definitely don't think that many people regard dancing as "cool". I'm very choosy as to who I tell I'm a dancer, and so far, most of them seem intrigued (well the girls do, anyway).
    I very seldom tell males I'm a dancer because it just makes things awkward.

    Will it ever be cool? Probably not. Some of the female custies may feel cool acting slutty for free, though.

    And I just wish the media would shut the hell up about strippers and strip clubs!

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    Default Re: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    Not to mention, and this has also been said a million times, that the instant stripping becomes accepted and main stream we're all out of a lot of money.

    The day I stop making money, or start having to fight for my job from ppl who in the past never would've considered dancing, is the same day I quit. For this to be lucrative it needs to be taboo.

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    Default Re: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    ^^ So what can we do about that?? There's a flood of girls right now in clubs, but maybe that's due to the economy. Maybe it'll get better once the economy starts recovering.

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    Default Re: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    yeah, pretending to be a stripper is cool.

    if you actually are one you're dirty/a whore/sinful/whatever else my mother thinks about me.
    just like dressing like a homeless person is cool. being homeless isn't.

    trendiness is all about taking something taboo or un-trendy and changing factors of it to make it marketable to the mainstream so that certain people can make a profit.

    reality is never cool. only the shit you can sell from the distortion of reality and spoon-feed it to the masses is cool.

    sorry, end of rant.
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    Default Re: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    Quote Originally Posted by Jaden_GD View Post
    ^^ So what can we do about that?? There's a flood of girls right now in clubs, but maybe that's due to the economy. Maybe it'll get better once the economy starts recovering.
    I dont think there is anything that can be done about it. There are always gonna be new girls. Some last, most don't. I meant more that if dancing goes mainstream (which hasn't happened yet) I'm done with it because it will stop being profitable.

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    Default Re: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    Not to mention when one's so called male friends find out - they instantly think your a pimp.

    Oh yeah it's cool. Busted knees, bruises - blisters. Broken nails - jammed fingers. Being bitten occasionally. Urinated upon, vomited upon.. ejaculated upon. Random men in the club trying to steal money, clothes ( costumes ).

    Joint pain
    bad back
    Bad knees

    But DAMN - I look good.

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    Default Re: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    Quote Originally Posted by JayATee View Post
    I meant more that if dancing goes mainstream (which hasn't happened yet) I'm done with it because it will stop being profitable.
    I'd say it's gone pretty main stream! Housewives are starting to imitate us, sometimes even getting the gull to come work in the clubs. Female pop musicians are imitating us on national tv through their dance performances. Dancers are showing up on a lot of reality tv shows and competitions. Telling people you are a dancer doesn't phase most people under 40 anymore.

    How much more mainstream do you have in mind?

    I've seen the attitude towards this industry change a ton in a short amount of time and it's far less controversial than what it once was.
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    Default Re: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    Quote Originally Posted by Kylea2 View Post
    I'd say it's gone pretty main stream! Housewives are starting to imitate us, sometimes even getting the gull to come work in the clubs. Female pop musicians are imitating us on national tv through their dance performances. Dancers are showing up on a lot of reality tv shows and competitions. Telling people you are a dancer doesn't phase most people under 40 anymore.

    How much more mainstream do you have in mind?

    I've seen the attitude towards this industry change a ton in a short amount of time and it's far less controversial than what it once was.
    Being less controversial doesn't mean that it's accepted. The whole thread on "what would happen if everyone knew you were a dancer" is proof that while it might be less taboo than it once was, it's still very much a negative thing to do in terms of most ppl's thinking.

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    Default Re: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    ^^^ Maybe on paper, but in my experience for a lot of people who are younger they just don't care anymore... there's not a lot of feeling one way or another.

    I honestly can't think of the last time that someone reacted negatively or snubbed me for what my line of work is... it's been years.
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    Default Re: Dancers: Is it cool to be a dancer?

    ^ well that's cool. I'm glad ppl don't do that to you. That unfortunately hasn't been my experience.

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