What stereotypes do you think people have of strippers?
In the movie The Goods, Jeremy Piven's character defines three types of strippers that seem to play into most peoples' stereotypes:
(1) The college stripper
(2) The single mommy stripper
(3) The drug addicted stripper
In addition, I think like Melonie said, many people muddle the line between stripper & prostitute.
Regardless, it's safe to say almost no one thinks of the IRA-depositing, real estate owning investment stripper. No one thinks of the happily married stripper, or the stripper with the "respectable" day job.
Do you think they are based in any truth? If not, what are they based on?
Yes.
Have you met any “stereotypical strippers”?
Yes.
How do you react/feel when you encounter those stereotypes/perceptions being espoused in the day to day world, or in the media? Does it affect your mood in the short term? Do you think it affects the way you feel about yourself in general?
Either amused or indifferent, short-term. Long-term, however, I think it does affect the way I feel about myself -- For me, the most frustrating thing about stripping is overcoming the stigma. It's safe to say I really enjoy working, the majority of the time. I was just talking to my mom about this a few nights ago, actually. Stripping has never felt shameful to me, and it's well within my moral code -- Not only am I "OK" with it, I feel good about it and genuinely believe I bring a valuable experience to my customers. What gets me is the stigma associated with stripping -- the fact that strippers are generally thought of as the "bottom of the barrel" of society, so to speak, because I don't see myself that way at all.
Has getting to know people on StripperWeb affected your perception of those stereotypes?
Yes and no. I never really denied the existence of the stereotypes, but I've been stripping for five years and only recently joined/started participating in SW, and I met plenty of strippers in clubs that I've worked at that weren't the "stereotypical" stripper.
Has being part of SW changed the way you respond to those stereotypes/perceptions when you hear people repeating them?
No.
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