It’s a fact: strippers make bank. For the simple act of taking off their clothes, these ladies make upwards of $500 a day. Who wouldn’t want such an easy and lucrative job? In these troubled economic times, more and more young (and not so young) women are considering moving into this ancient profession. I know that several of my friends, as well as yours truly, have toyed with the idea, not as a career path but as supplemental income. I mean, if I can’t find a job using my skills and education, wouldn’t the Foxy Lady be preferable to the Bank of America Call Center?  

With these thoughts swirling in my head and a lot of misinformation based on prejudice out there, I decided to do some investigating of my own to see if taking it off is as easy and lucrative as it seems. Some of what I found was surprising and really did make me think twice about the idea, though I haven’t given it up entirely ;)

There are a lot of things about working as a stripper that make it seem like a no-brainer. Easy money, right? Most people who consider the idea think that they can’t do it because they are not the right type. Well, the truth of the matter is that strip clubs need a variety of women to suit the tastes of all of their customers. That means tall and short, blonde and brunette, busty and flat as well as a variety of skin tones and ethnicities. The most surprising thing about strip clubs is that the variety of beauty in women is celebrated and encouraged rather than the media-driven image of “anorexic blonde” as the only type of woman considered attractive in our society. There are few strip clubs that hire only one type of woman and you can use this to your advantage to make more money. For example, I have yet to see an Indian woman (that is, from India, not American Indian) in any strip joints in my area, if one decided to take the plunge and take it all off, I’m positive that she would be making some serious cash because of her uniqueness on the strip circuit. If you can fake an accent or take a foreign stage name, you will be well on your way to earning more than your average Lexus or Brittany.

Another thing that makes stripping easy is that you don’t even have to know how to dance. Stripping is much more about sales than it is about dancing. You are selling a fantasy to the customer and that requires more than just nudity. You have to be able to connect with each person whose money you want. You have to be able to make the customer feel like they really are interesting and fun and the center of your world and not the boring blowhards and sleaze balls that they most often are. As long as they keep paying, you have to pretend that you are ready to fall in love with them. This takes effort and concentration and quite a bit of acting ability. In this way, stripping is both easier and harder than it looks. The strippers who make the most money are not the ones with the pretty faces and the amazing bodies (though this doesn’t hurt them), but the ones who are friendly and personable and have the ability to make their customers feel great about themselves.

But all that hard work is worth it when you’re making so much money, right? Well, the income issue is a tricky one. There are many factors that contribute to how much you can make including: how good you are at your job, how long you have been doing it, the type of clientele that the club attracts and how many other girls are on shift with you. Before you can even audition for a position as an “entertainer,” you will have certain expenses including the purchase of proper outfits, stripper shoes (they pretty much have to be 4 inches and plastic for practical reasons), tanning and getting all the hair from your neck down waxed. If you are desperate for money now, you might want to consider a job that does not have these requirements because in the short run you will probably make more in your first week at KFC than at the Satin Doll just because of the short term expenses (except the waxing, you have to do that constantly). Your first week will most likely be good due to the “new girl” allure but afterwards it might suffer and you could end up losing money. How could you work for eight hours and lose money? That’s how it works in the stripping game.

Strippers are considered “independent contractors” which means that they are self-employed. There are benefits to this arrangement, such as flexible working hours and the ability to hide at least part of your income from the tax man but there are also downsides. Strippers have no job security, they can be thrown out for any reason, they also don’t qualify for worker’s compensation if they slip and break an ankle, there is no paid time off or sick days and they are always required to pay “house fees” to the club for the privilege of dancing there. DJs, house moms, makeup artists and attendants also usually take fees and if you want to be friendly with the bartender and the bouncers, it’s a good idea to tip them at the end of the night. With all these fees and tips, you could end up losing money on a slow night. The best way to make sure that you make lots of money when you work is to build up a client base of regulars who will constantly return to you. This takes time and effort, in the meanwhile, you’ve got bills to pay and you don’t want to end up in the situation of owing even more money to the strip club so if you were looking for a quick and easy way to make some cash think again. Stripping is hard work and not always lucrative. At best, it can be a moonlighting gig you do for extra cash on the weekends but it would be really dangerous to rely on taking your clothes off as the only income you have.

Then there is the whole morality/shame dimension to your chosen part time job that could cause problems for you now or in the future. If you have a problem with nudity then this just isn’t something you should be doing. And why are you even reading this far? If you don’t have any personal problems with it, but you’d rather not let daddy know his little girl is topless at the bar downtown, it is easy enough to strip anonymously, no one has to know who you are. It’s harder when someone who knows you ends up at the club. This can be minimized by working a few towns over but you can never be sure that it will not happen. You will also need to be sure that once you “retire” from “dancing” there can be no way to trace what it was that you once did because if you want to seek office in the future or even want to marry someone who is, it can really come back to haunt you. So try not to appear in videos or on the website.  

Stripping can also be a dangerous job due to the late hours and suggestive nature of the work. Some men will be confused by the fantasy and think you really like them and this can be scary. You may also be pressured to do “extras” and other sexual services that you had not signed up for when you believed that you would just be getting naked and giving lap dances. Strip clubs can have connections to organized crime and drug dealing and working in such an environment can be hazardous and can also lead you down a path to all sorts of addictive behaviors. It’s important to remember that you are there to do a job and not party. As long as you remain focused, determined, and most importantly don’t hesitate to leave if you feel uncomfortable or unsafe, you will be able to get through your unusual occupation safely with your health intact and wads of cash to put towards what you really want to do (start a business, invest etc).

Finally, there is the feminist perspective to consider. How do strippers contribute to the objectification of women? It’s important to see both sides. Our gender unequal society allows stripping as a way a woman can exploit the objectification of women for her own financial gain, but what is her gain can be considered a loss for all women everywhere. However, what are the alternatives? Radical feminists have good theoretical perspectives but it’s hard to see how these things will help someone who is struggling with debt right now. It may not be pretty, but it is a practical and shrewd solution to such problems. Whatever your perspective, it is important to consider these issues as they will have a huge impact on how you see yourself and feel about yourself doing this job that many consider the provenance of “fallen women” and “whores.” Personally, the only real problem I have with the profession is the hairless rule. What kind of women have no pubic hair? There is something creepily pedophilic about hairless pubic areas.

In the end, the only real way of knowing what it’s like and whether you would like to do it is to just try it. No one can make you keep stripping if you decide it’s not for you, but if you are curious, you have little to lose by purchasing some stripper gear, getting a wax and taking the stage. You might find that you’ve found your calling, more likely you will find that the job’s rewards outweigh it’s downsides or you will hate it and know once and for all that stripping is not worth it for you. Just remember that if you do decide to do it, you can easily parlay your experience into a memoir or undercover study by keeping a journal or diary about your exotic dancing days. This will add respectability to your reasons for dancing and give you a natural next step once you decide to give it a rest.