If there's one thing I've been learning, both during my time dancing and in my time off, it's that stripping is as much a business as you make it. Some girls do this as a "job" for a few months or years before moving on to careers, and that's fine. Some of us choose to do this as a career, albeit a shorter one than usual, and it's those of us in that position that have to treat it like a business to "get ahead". But, for now at least, we are independent contractors- and that's where things get sticky.
Unlike other careers where an employee works as part of a team to make the company more profitable, as independent contractors, we are the company. And, unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot of "how to's" for independent contractors because, not only are we a dying breed, a lot of people don't have the cojones or the drive to work solely for themselves. It honestly is easier for the general public to go to college so they can work under some one else's directive in exchange for a guaranteed paycheck and benefits. This leaves those of us with the motivation to mostly figure things out on our own or try to adapt lessons from employee-type careers to work for us. In this case, the word "colleague".
Despite being independent contractors, most of us are house dancers that rely on the club to provide the largest portion of our customers. The club's reputation is what determines the kind of customers it gets. Just about the largest contributing factor to a club's reputation is the dancers who work there. In this way, we are coworkers working towards the same goal- attracting customers that will pay for our services.
Once customers are in the club, however, the fight begins for which dancer will get his money. It would be nice to think that hustle alone will always nab a customer, but that's just not so in this kind of environment. Not only are you (the smart, intelligent, and skilled woman you probably are if you choose to do this as a career) vying for his attention and cash, but so are the "job" girls- the ones who are there because tuition is due next week, they're out of meth and need a fix, their pimp will beat them if they bring home less than X amount, or they're trying to put food on the table for kids when the pantry is running dangerously low. Yes, we need money as much as the next working joe but, because we are smarter about our money, our percieved need is not as great as these girls and so we will not go to the extreme lengths these girls will. And so breeds competition.
How do my fellow career dancers handle this? How does it affect your relationship with other house dancers? Do you think of yourself and the other dancers as competitors? Or as coworkers? Or is there some middle ground between the two, giving birth to what those in the employee fields call "colleagues"? If you are colleagues, then how do you set yourself apart from the other girls in the club and "get ahead"? And what defines "getting ahead" in the club?
Just food for thought.



Reply With Quote

Bookmarks