Rodriguez 1

Sadie Rodriguez

Writing 1010

Brenda Mckenna

29 November 2016

How to Become a Stripper

My friends and I often joke about becoming strippers, merely because we find it as the

easy way out. When were stressed about having to go to college we say, Its okay, Ill just be

a stripper instead. However, we dont truly know the work behind becoming one. Many people

look down on stippers and slut shame them. While others praise strippers for the large amounts

of money they receive. Im curious to know what are the qualifications to be a stripper. Do

strippers even like their job, or are they unhappy and only do it for the money? Many people

look past the process behind becoming a stripper, but I am genuinely intrigued to learn.

Women getting paid for dancing errotically is nothing new, it's been a thing for an

extremely long time. According to Meddicalbag.com, stripping dates back to the bible, The

daughter of the Jewish Princess Herodias, seductively performed the Dance of the Seven Veils to

please King Herod during his birthday celebration. Herod was so impressed with (and probably

so aroused by) the dance that he granted the daughter anything she desired. Obeying a request

from her mother, Herodias's daughter reportedly replied, Give me here upon a platter the head of

John the Baptist. That's a pretty steep price that pious John had to pay for King Herod's viewing

pleasure.

Archaeologists have found in the areas of Bulgaria and Romania miniature statuettes of

exotic dancers. In France there has also been discoveries of cave paintings of exotic dancers,

proving that the act of exoctic dancing has been around for many years. According to
 Rodriguez 2

medicalbag.com, dancing for sexual purposes is believed to have been an ancient ritual to get on

the good side of the Goddess of fertility and motherhood to grant them a successful reproduction

and also to increase the fertility of crops. The performance would contain women who were

draped in animal fur. They would provocatively pose, and the furs would be slowly taken off of

them, which then revealing the dancers naked body. In Greek and Roman culture priestesses

would perform erotic dances, in sacred temples.The women chosen to dance were picked for

their beauty and vitality. They followed the usual routine of dancing, and slowly items of

clothing would be taken off until they were completely nude. These dances were performed in

honor of the moon, the hunt, and the God of wine. In the 14th century exoctic dancing in the

Middle East, required not taking any piece of clothing off, but was instead expressed with belly

dancing. The way the women would move their hips and pelvis created a sexual pleasure that

was very popular in the Middle East. The audience would throw coins at the dancers, which

would then prove to be the first time that women would get paid for erotically dancing. It was

also a very common ritual in temples of India.

The more traditional form of exotic dancing that people are familiar with is pole dancing.

Pole dancing began in the 1920s in the height of the depression. As mentioned in

medicalbag.com, there were traveling performances, that would generally be inside of a tent and

women would strip tease for a crowd of men. The women would dance erotically with the tent

pole. They would incorporate the pole of the tent into their routine by climbing it, grinding on it,

swirling around it, etc. Hence, the tent pole became the dance pole. By the 1950s pole dancing

upgraded from tents to bars. The strip clubs would very commonly be shut down for challenging

decency laws. It was being prohibited like the alcohol prohibition, but of course there is no

control of where men decide to spend their recreational time at. Instead of prohibiting strip clubs,
 Rodriguez 3

there were guidelines and limits put into place the kind of interaction the women could have with

the customers. From the 1960s to 1970s strip clubs increased in numbers. It was a time of age

where society was more accepting of sexual display.

In 1980 the trend was strippers with large breasts, then leading to an increasing amount of

breast enhancements of dancers. In the 1990s the lap dance came to be. It started out in

Montreal and then became legal in the United states in 1999. Modern strippers dress

provocatively but it is very rare to see a strip tease performance, there's more pole dancing than

anything. Some will bump and grind on each other. Strip dancing has come a long way.

Though the commonly heard nick name is stripper or go go girl, women who dance

eroticly for a living prefer to be called exotic dancers, and generally they work at stip clubs but

prefer to call their workplace gentlemens clubs. There are three different types of gentlemen

clubs; upscale types, neighborhood clubs, and third tier or dive clubs. Upscale types are for more

upper class men such as businessmen and city dwellers. These clubs often have a dress code such

as long gowns that are like evening wear and lingerie. Upscale types are traditionally more

expensive, the house fees are higher and according to wikihow.com, the dancers get on average

10%-20% of their nightly income. This is a very high class club. Neighborhood clubs are more

casual and generally attract tourists. There is no dress code in these clubs, the girls may wear

what they want. They are mostly found in industrial areas such as neighborhood bars, some of

which feature nude dancers as well. A neighborhood club would suggestively be a good place for

new dancers. Third tier or also known as Dive Bars, are typically located in very rural areas of

town which means they don't have as much clientele. However, these clubs are lenient with

whatever their dancers may decide to perform such as nude or not nude and they hire most

dancers that come in.

 Rodriguez 4

Though female strippers are more commonly heard of there are male strippers a well. A

common example would be Chippendales. But according to chmedicalbag.com the stripping

field is dominated by women, and men make up less than third of the proffesional stripping

community. Since the 19th century muscle men have been paid to show off their muscular

bodies, however, according to www.slate.com, it wasnt until the 1970s that stripping was a

coed profession. Throughout the 1970s men who publicly took off their clothes, would receive a

citation so male strippers weren't very common. It wasnt until late 1970s that male strippers

became a common feature in strip clubs all over the country. The most popular group of males

strippers would be the Chippendales, a touring dance troupe that is best known for their male

striptease and their uniform of a bare torso with a bow tie and shirt cuffs. The Chippendales were

established in 1979 by Somen Banjeree and Bruce Nahin and they were the first all male

stripping troupe to make a business performing for an almost all female audience. They perform

at a 10 million dollar theatre and lounge that was built especially for them at the Rio All Suite

Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. As mentioned in wikipedia.org, annually The Chippendales are

seen by almost two million people worldwide. They perform in more than 25 different cities in

the U.S., 23 cities in Central and South America, 60 cities in Europe, 4 Asian countries and 8

South African cities.

The profit one makes by being a stripper has always been questioned, how do strippers

get paid? It is thought that strippers are paid hourly by the club, however according to a former

stripper that goes by the pseudonym, Menagerii, it is a complete myth. Most clubs don't pay the

dancers, instead the dancers pay a flat fee per shift in order to be able to perform in the clubs.

The strippers get their earnings entirely by tips however, they also have to give the club 10% of
 Rodriguez 5

their tips and if a girl wants to work a double shift they have to pay double the stage fee.

According to Menagerii, each shift is usually 6 hours. Her flat fee was usually $35-$50. On an

average night Menagerii says she can bring home so much as $500- $1,500 a night and when she

works a double shift she can earn up to $3,345 a night. Her annual income would average up to

$120,000. Many people ask her why she dances, and she replies, Well Id say its for the fun of

it, but that would be a lie. Dancing for disgusting, old men that are often fat and sometimes

smelly is not my idea of fun. On an occasion you get the chance to dance for a hot, young guy

but they generally are a**holes and dont have the cash we are really looking for so for the most

part Id say its the first scenario. The old, fat guy whos eyeing you like a piece of meat, hes got

the cash you want, So basically, strippers dance more for the money not for the entertainment.

According to Therichest.com, most club owners do not consider their strippers as real

workers they are considered as, Independent contractors who are not entitled to benefits.

Hence, groups such as the Exotic Dancers Union and We are Dancers have been created. The

Exotic Dancers Union as stated by www.bayswan.org/EDU, are exotic dancers all across the

country that are filing a lawsuit against their eomployers for illegally refering to them as

independent contractors which denies them the rights and benefits an employee deserves. The

organization of We are Dancers is a group of New York city based former and current exotic

dancers and supporters. The website www.wearedancersnyc.com was created by them to provide

recources, support and information about the industry, and for them to be aware of their rights as

dancers they as well have a support group in New york that meets regularly. Their goal is to build

a community of dancers that supports and empowers each other.

The question remains, what is needed to become a striper, well to become a stripper one

must follow these simple steps as instructed by wikihow/becomeastripper.com. The first step
 Rodriguez 6

would be to find the right club for performances. Its suggested to take a couple of weeks and

scope the different clubs if a club is too lenient to letting rules slip, then it is recommended to

pick another. Its very important to pick a club that treats the dancers respectively, and are

assured no harm. The second step is once a club has been picked it is important to ask questions

to those who already work there. Questions such as; Do they charge to work there? Is tipping a

requirement? How much is required to tip out if tipping is required? It is also very helpful to ask

the girls where they bought their clothes, wardrobe is very important. The third step is to find the

manager or the house mom (the paid staging coordinator) and ask them questions concerning the

date of the audition, what to wear, who will be the manager in charge that night,etc. It is

important to charm the person in charge, give them a sense of your charisma. The fourth step

would be to create your wardrobe. The ideal ensemble would require high heels (a minimum of

3), a thong (the riskier the better) and lingerie. The fifth step is to practice the routine multiple

times before audition. The sixth step is to pick a stage name. The pseudonym that a dancer

chooses is very important because it will be what they will be known as. It is suggested that the

name truly identifies the dancer, but also has an exotic twist to it. The last and most important

step is to just go for it! Confidence is the key to a successful audition, and if the dancer does not

pass the audition it is important to just keep auditioning in other clubs until they get the job.

Though I have spent hours of research on strippers, I personally do not wish to become

one. However, I have more knowledge and inside look on the stripping industry. It is so

commonly degraded, simply because it is viewed a low easy job for sluts, but there is work and

history behind this job. It dates back to the times of the bible, it was a ritual, and it is a job that

many need to support themselves. I have a newfound respect for strippers.

 Rodriguez 7

Works Cited

"The History of Stripping." Medical Bag. N.p., 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

Benrubes. "Become a Stripper." WikiHow. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

Wickman, Forrest. "A History of Male Strippers: When Did Men Start Stripping?" Slate

Magazine. N.p., 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

"Chippendales." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

"Strippers and Their Salaries." TheRichest. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

"Exotic Dancers Union." Exotic Dancers Union. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016."About |

We Are Dancers NYC." We Are Dancers NYC. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.