The Effects of the Economy on Exotic Dancing

Here we are on the cusp of 2010 and employment prospects are still pretty weak all around. In the Northeast, hot on the heels of Boeing , other major companies have still been laying off their staff. In this day and age of instability and barely getting by, there is a beacon of light at the end of the tunnel for those Women who have great bodies and sunny dispositions-be a stripper, or in more artsy terms, an exotic dancer.

I have reviewed many articles where Guys talk about the "easy money" that exotic dancing provides. I have even read from other Women articles that state how they would rather strip and earn more money than work flipping burgers or stocking shelves. And the jobs are out there: just recently a club actually held a job fair looking for staff: (MSNBC) You may ask, if there are job openings and Women need jobs, then what's the problem? I will tell you right away that there is plenty wrong with this scenario.

Let me start by saying that I speak from a unique perspective: I actually began Stripping in Philadelphia informally when I was a Junior in college circa 1997. I had just had Children and one of my friends told me about the money he saw being made at an underground club that he and his friends used to frequent. You didn't need a schedule to work or even show up every week. If you had $5 for your entrance fee you could walk around and ask various Men for lap dances and charge what you wanted-if people were willing to pay, you were a busy Gal. I cut my teeth in this establishment and by the time I Graduated with my Bachelors degree, I was performing in better venues in South Philadelphia.

Now that you have some of my background, let me also explain that when I was dancing it was very common even being awkward and inexperienced to bring home a couple hundred dollars a night without really putting forth a lot of effort. Guys were really just happy to see a cute girl who was willing to show her boobs-after all that was the point of the club. You had many Girls who were there who could have been doing something else, but the money allowed them to buy their houses and make payments on their cars. I remember running across one Girl who purchased a condo in Center City Philadelphia during her first year dancing. If you had your regulars, you were financially set.

But something changed along the way- the economy started weakening and even before it got this bad, you really could feel change in the air at the strip club. Slowly the Champagne courts stopped being as full as regularly. Saturday nights started to feel a little lighter in the pockets. I know towards the end of my time dancing in Philadelphia a lot of the Girls I performed with ended up either finally going into their chosen line of work (ex. What they studied in college) or finally settling down and leaving the business for good. The money just wasn't the same, and you had Girls entering the profession who didn't take it seriously-if that's possible-they just weren't performers and they created a different type of dynamic in the club. This was also felt among the Customers- before it seemed as if they understood your time was money and you were there to make money, so they tipped.

Now, there seems to be a "drink and look" mentality. The earlier article stated that People will always drink, especially when they are depressed or upset. In strip bars you get the added benefit of drinking and watching naked people-not necessarily tipping -but buying enough booze to help you drown your misery. The bar makes its money, but the Girl still hasn't made hers. In addition, the Guys that are tipping-usually are bargain shopping and trying to get a tremendous bang for their buck-no pun intended. Sometimes, it seems like most of these people should just stay home.

The club will always be hiring because it costs them nothing to keep as many Girls as possible around. In fact, the more Girls that are in the club, the more there is for these Customers to look at as they drink their booze. Its all just a Game, where in the end, the bars win!

I understand that discretionary income is at its lowest for many people. But it disturbs me more that Women are seeing stripping as their way out of a bleak situation. The Customers of today's strip clubs are not in the same financial situation as their counterparts of the past. Girls who were strippers for years realize the Party is over and with the advent of Craigslist, many Men see no need to be teased when they can be pleased-for dirt cheap. Everyone is looking to cut corners and pleasure-seekers are no different. I just want Girls to be informed that when they are seeking to be an Entertainer, the environment they are walking into may not be what they expect in today's economic climate.