Is stripping also violence?

[lildreamer316]

46. Oh goodness.

Thanks, and thanks for remembering that, but it *may* have been TorchTheWitch who said that ..we tend to have similar replies on threads like this. But either way, yes...I found it all interesting, even the parts that were not so pleasant. That's life, that's real, that's humanity.

Why is it worse now?

Well, it really IS a loooooong list of reasons, but it can be boiled down to corporate mismanagement..like so many other business today, ironically. The biz has become more and more mainstreamed. Everyone saw how much money those who had small chains in the late 80s and early 90s were making, and it attracted those who wanted to make big conglomerates. There are now several top corporations who own between 15 to 80 clubs apeice, all over the US and in many countries abroad.Just as in other kinds of business, this lead to streamlining of standards of operations, multiple managers in many clubs, and a heavy emphasis on profit margins over any other consideration (there are at least two publicly traded corps in the biz that I know of,maybe more). So of course, it ends up that the actual work environment has become a lot harder to deal with for your average employee.

Dancers are usually considered independent contractors, and we do sign such a contract upon hire. Djs are sometimes considered that also,but most these days are considered employees, as are the waitresses and floor hosts/bouncers. (A good point: djs are now more often considered employees so that the managers/owners have more control over what they do. This is important to the big picture. Bouncers, on the other hand,may eventually be relegated to contractor status because of the tendency for ppl to sue the club/corp after being forcibly thrown out)

Because dancers are independent contractors, we PAY a house fee to work every night. This means we pay the house between (depending on club and city) $15-$300 to work. Sometimes this is demanded at the beginning of shift. This money goes straight into the club's coffers, so of course it behooves any management type that wants a promotion to hire as many girls as possible, no matter what attitude, what condition (drug addicted, prostitution convictions, etc.); or what appearance. This, in turn, peoples the clubs with entertainers that do not have the skill set to provide good *entertainment* (yes, dear readers, I do mean that, lol!); as well as ones that will do anything for a dollar. This trend has lead to a business that is now full of girls (it seems the average age is lower every year) that really do have absolutely no self-respect; who have no respect for co-workers; who do not understand that one is not selling sex but a fantasy (so they sell actual sex); and managers who simply don't care; as long as the house fee is paid. It leads to overcrowding of girls in any given club, which brings each girl's opportunity for nightly earnings way down. It leads to overworked girls (going in more shifts to make up for the decreased earning capability of each shift) which leads to burnout and general disgust with the job (assuming you could enjoy it in the first place). It leads to heavier alcohol and drug use by these overworked girls. It leads to irritated coworkers such as housemoms, waitresses, bouncers and djs, who have to deal with managers who pressure them to keep the girls happy no matter what; so they girl count does not go down.

Of course with the spread of clubs, that means that an entertainer has many more choices than she did ten years ago when it comes to employment. But because of the mainstreaming of stripping (in music videos; corporate expansion and partly also because of the economy tanking); this means many,many more girls entering the biz because they think it is easy money and they want to be just like the girls on the video. They don't care about anything but making the money, and the fastest way to the first buck. It's sales.
In good sales, you build on your last sale. You create lasting, returning customers; instead of ripping off the customer the first time so that he has no desire to return. It is, pure and simple, a long sale. The game is to get the most money out of someone over a period of time,and to make the customer feel he got value for his dollar. These girls just grab-and-go, and the fastest way to the customer's dollar these days is to offer some sort of sex. And to offer it cheaper than the next girl.

Now, lest it seem as if I am completely blaming the girls I am referring to here for the woes of the industry, I believe the buck stops with the owners. They, like the others of the 1% we regularly lambast here, have put profit over anything else, and I believe have damaged the earning capacity of the industry majorly. They are short-sighted and greedy. They've overpopulated almost every major and most minor cities in America with a plethora of strip clubs,numbing the average customer to the experience and creating an environment where drugs and sex are so commonplace and accepted that not only has the original fun been lost,but the local vice can't keep up. *This* has lead to much stronger laws being considered and in many places passed, which in most cases hurts the bottom of the totem pole (the dancer, and other tipped employees) more than anything else. It creates an atmosphere where a dancer, in order to make what she needs to, will more often cross her personal boundaries . It also carries the risk of being busted by the vice/police for infraction of these more stringent rules. Then one is really up a creek w/out a paddle..being an independent contractor, the club can deny all legal responsibility for your behavior, and leave you to swing in the wind. I've seen this happen because a girl touched her rear end. On the cheek.

And to attempt to return to the original topic of the thread (sorta); this mainstreaming and overpopulation of clubs has lead to, of course, an increase in violence against entertainers. Because the managers are overworked, unqualified, or just don't care, they don't look out for the girls and do not instruct their floor hosts and bouncers to enforce the no-touching rules (that exist in almost every club). This just completes the circle of problems by reinforcing in the girls' minds that no one cares/they are not worth caring about. Customers see the laxness and take advantage. Nothing is done about it,because the corporation,having spread itself so thin with so many clubs, needs every customer dollar they can keep in the doors. This is the crux of the violence problem.

There's more,but I'm sure how you can see that this would create a perfect storm of bullshit-that-I-sure-as-hell-don't-want-to-deal-with-now. LOL.

Unionization is another topic for later. I'm not particularly in favor,but it may be necessary.

Note that as entertainers we usually also have to tip the dj and the bouncers, and sometimes the housemoms and floorhosts.