Opinions seem to vary pretty wildly on this, but I feel that a woman should be able to dance for as long as she can interest customers, whatever her age may be. Thoughts?
Opinions seem to vary pretty wildly on this, but I feel that a woman should be able to dance for as long as she can interest customers, whatever her age may be. Thoughts?
Interesting question. There have been cases in Canada of dancers filing human rights complaints, saying they'd been fired because they were deemed too old by management. In general I agree that dancers should be able to work for as long as they generate interest and dollars, but I think a lot depends on the context of how the club operates and where it is.
From the club's point of view they have no real stake in keeping a dancer just because she has regulars (keep in mind that not all clubs take a cut of dancer's earnings.) They want to generate buzz and excitement and one of the key ways to stay popular is to have a steady influx of new dancers. However, they cannot have this both ways. If they want to treat dancers as employees then they should be granted a certain measure of control over who works for them. But if they insist on dancers being independent contractors then they have no real grounds to 'fire' dancers.
Anyway, back to the original question. If a dancer is well groomed and attractive and generating business I don't see how you can possibly settle on an arbitrary 'retirement' age.



Good question, I wonder too!





Until they stop making money. I've worked with quite a few over 40 and some that looked over 50?? The young guys seem to like them LOL.





It really comes down to two basic issues ...
#1 is the dancer able to generate interest / sales to the degree that her dancing income still exceeds the income potential from other options (i.e. a straight job)
#2 is the dancer still able, from both a physical and mental standpoint, to deal with the rigors of dancing
Given fortunate chromosomes, good eating / workout habits, plastic surgery etc. it's not that difficult for any dancer to achieve #1 well into her 40's. From my own experience and observations, #2 is a far more difficult hurdle.
From a physical standpoint, even though a 40 year old dancer may still look 'young' on the outside and still be in great physical shape, on the inside her muscles and joints are still 40 years old, and they 'complain' accordingly after several consecutive nights of dancing !
From a mental standpoint, after many many years of dancing, dealing with the same old customer bulls#@t, clubowner bulls#!t, etc. becomes increasingly irritating. And this is especially the case when the industry is in 'decline', i.e. dealing with that bulls#!t yields fewer dollars of income for an equal amount of effort.
I think it's far more accepted for dancers in the US to keep going into their forties and beyond but here in the UK I've never met a dancer beyond her mid to late thirties. I don't know why that is but it seems a shame that dancing has a shorter shelf life here than elsewhere.





i've worked with dancers who were easily over 50




I worked at a club in '04 where one dancer had been there since about the time it first opened its doors...(which was about 25 years ago!). And she was, and as far as I know continues to be, the top earner on a nightly basis.
Last edited by london; 10-08-2009 at 11:17 AM.
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I once worked with (this is bizarre) a dancer who was around 70ish but looked younger. Her daughter and granddaughter were dancers too. Creepy thinking about this. This is a rarity and I'd say generally the oldest dancers were mid 40's. Some looked good and some looked old.
Sadly though clubs often have an age limit. A few clubs used to discriminate against age. One used to run ads from 18-28 and would not hire (or if they did very rarely) anyone older. There was another club around here that was known to do this as well. Maybe it's the sign of the times, but age discrimination was much more common in the early-mid 90's (when I started) than it is now.
Personally if you still look good, there shouldn't be a limit. I've danced with 20 year olds who looked terrible and 40ish who banked.





Man, I'm 27 and I feel (and think that I look) young still. 28, really? That's crazy.
XoXo Gia
Danielle Fishell (the Dish): "If the Super-Star thing doesn't work out, Gia makes a great stripper name"










and frankly, any man who wants to go to a strip club to see a woman young enough to be his granddaughter will always receive EXTREME suspicion from me.
i don't think that most 18 year olds have the mental capacity to understand the implications of entering the sex industry, and i don't understand why it's seen as desirable for strip club owners to recruit "the younger, the better".
also, i have noticed that customers are more respectful of older dancers, which i think enhances the quality of the club.
$.02 from me.
If the dancer is older and working in a clean club and can still make money and feel good about it, I would say go for it. Women have all kinds of different genetics and there is of course plastic surgery and diet and exercise which can help alot too. I really have seen women in their thirties and forties who look alot better than ladies in their early 20's. Of course this is NOT THE NORM. Its possible though. And if the women who is forty looks great and can carry on an intelligent conversation the sky is the limit to her money as opposed to an attractive 20 year old who may be smart but unsure of herself.




There really is no "expiration date" on a dancer.It's really up to her,how long she wants to be or remain in the business.Some get burned out at 20,after 3 months,some stay for 20 years or longer.It all depends on how much of the job you can personally handle,while still making decent amounts (without considering economy etc).





though i understand what you're saying, i don't think it's necessary for women to have plastic surgery to try to erase twenty years from their appearance to continue dancing. i KNOW there are customers who do not want to talk to a 40 year old who looks like a teenager.


I'm fortunate so far in that I'm 25 but I look like I could pass for 18. So hopefully I don't get the boot as soon as I hit 30 :p




Aw, Happycat, you won't be booted at 30. I've been taken by complete surprise on numerous occasions hearing dancers in the dressing room discuss their age and had to do a double take because I had always assumed they were my age or sometimes even younger.
And then, in the reverse, I've seen the astonishment on 18-21 yr old coworkers faces (not to metion customers)when she learns Im 26 and they thought we were peers.
From a 'first look' standpoint I can, at times, look like I'm barely out of high school. This applies both in and out of the club, with makeup or without. I've met many women in different clubs who can 'appear' a decade or more younger than they actually are, ethnicity notwithstanding.
Rock those good genes! Neoteny rules!
Last edited by london; 10-08-2009 at 11:15 AM. Reason: jammed keyboard
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A hot well maintained woman in her 40s is perfectly at place in the clubs and will often make lots of money. However, a rundown 30 yr old who is fat and has a drug problem should probably hang up the heels, because they just make the industry look bad. Its all situational really... one thing i have learned from stripping is sometimes women who you would not expect to look good are hot as fuck. I have worked with women in their late 30s who have like 5 kids and still have a banging body as well as a solid hustle. There is no reason for them to leave the industry, unless they want to of course.
The best thing i have heard in a strip club to date:
customer: we should get married right now! we should get a shotgun marriage!
me: uhh... i think you are misunderstanding what a shotgun marriage means. A shotgun marriage means you knock me up and my daddy shows up at your door with a gun and forces you to marry me and raise the baby. You mean elope.
customer: hmm... nah actually i will take the shotgun marriage. At least then we would be having sex.
If you are a well-maintained older dancer my consensus is go for it. You have the looks and also the experience to make money in the industry(whats left of the industry anyhow.) Oh, translucent one is this posting perhaps for you if so it would help us out a great deal to know what city you were in then we could steer you to the right club!

I have a friend who is 48 and she's still dancing and she still does well. She works hard at her body and it shows. No...she does not look 25...but her attitude is great and the men don't seem to care.


i think it comes down to more than just how the dancer feels, its how the clubs management feels, how it effects other dancers(and it does men are always asking me how old some dancers are it has put me in an awkward position countless times when they lie and then we have to lie and then customers question our lies), and as much as a girl eats well excercises, doesn't drink/smoke how good her DNA is etc she's never going to pull off looking 20 or 30 years younger thats not how it works! some customers or other dancers may try to be nice and guess a realy low age but you cant stop yourself from ageing or slow it down for 30 years! x
Hahaha! I started dancing when I was 29 y.o. I've got a baby face and got carded for alcohol just last month. I'll be 40 in less than a month, btw.
I agree with Melonie about the insides wearing out even though the outter appearance still is quite attractive. My feet are messed up from wearing high heels from Dancing for 9 years. I've got back and shoulder problems from the pole work. Dancing can take a toll on a person's body, that's for sure.
Promote yourself and earn more money! This is a business that is owned by strippers for strippers. Let's make that money!





I promised myself I would quit by 28. This is my last season. I am simultaneously thrilled and nostalgic.
My personal opinion, is that this is a business to do while you are young. Sock away some cash, and get out. I lie about my age all the freaking time (I'm 27) but I look really young so it works out. My personal opinion, is that 35 is too old. I just feel like by that time, you should have a professional career going, you know?
Ha. I hate being 27 so much that when my boyfriend I go out and the doorman asks him his age then looks at my ID, I say "Yeah, I know, I'm old as shit.".




I concur. Beauty is more a state of mind than something that you have when you're young. Where I work, the top earner was in her 40s before she got a straight job, and she still comes in to work in the club every so often. Where as we have a couple of toothless wonders who are in their mid-20s.
It's all about you. If you take care of yourself and still feel and act beautiful, a lot of guys will still be in to you. I think it would be awesome to dance straight through my 50s if I was still healthy and confident enough to do it by then!
Exotic dancing is like any other job.If you work in an office, you wear dress shoes and a suit.If you work in a restaraunt, you wear skid resistant shoes and a uniform.If you work in a strip club, you wear 7" stilettos and lycra g-strings.


I agree i'm doing this while im at uni and young but i couldn't imagine doing it in 10 years time i couldnt even imagine stepping foot in a lapdancing bar in 10 years time. There is one particular woman that dances at my club and she is in her 40s she tells people she is 25 she's tried to cover her age with dying her hair peroxide blonde, slapping on alot of makeup and getting giant breast implants and people are laughing at her because she looks over her real age and its such a riduculous lie anyway i think its very sad because even when the club jerk her around, dont give her shifts or times are hard, she has no choice but to keep on turning up for work and making the best of it, she's a single mother to 4 children and works in a supermarket, the drop in income would probably ruin her and she doesnt even like dancing, i think building a good career and setting a date to give up is the way forward else youll be stuck in this industry forever!
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