Depending on your age, it’s probably because things have changed so much. I was 20 when I started, and worked in a seedy neighborhood dive, and never had to do more than bump my boobs on foreheads and do air dances to make great money. Hell, then you could even make a ton of cash for an awesome stage show. Now, people just don’t care as much about that, even though many of us still try to put on a good show. They’ll enjoy it, but it isn’t their primary reason for coming to the club.
I always say I never would have stripped if it was like it is now. I’m hardened and know what I’m doing, and that’s the only way I can stand it when I work these days. (Of course, I know that part of it is that I’m older and less energetic, and don’t wanna fuck with it very often.)
I then wonder if it’s at least somewhat regional–your description of how it used to be tracks almost exactly with the overt appearance of my local club (to which I go to chat with the nice naked ladies who are all actually pretty likely to be working on their masters/PhDs.).
Said local club doesn’t have private lap dance rooms or even, so far as I can tell, a champagne room. Is that one of those obvious indicators it’s aboveboard?
I agree that most strippers are not victims. They make crazy bank - a lot more than I do at my 9-5 that I went to college for. If anyone’s a victim of stripping, it’s the men who feel the need to patronize them because the “regular” girls around them are so frigid and bitchy that their physical and emotional needs aren’t being met (yes, emotional. Contrary to what some believe the bodies aren’t the only attraction of strip clubs - the fact that the girls tend to be very warm & affectionate to the clientele is a big draw. It doesn’t matter to most whether it’s an act or not). In the process, their wallets are drained of all their hard-earned cash and in some cases men are left destitute as a result.
I don’t know about all that, but it sounds like a good club. PM me with the name of it and location and I’ll tell you what I know, or hell, just post it here.
Lol, cry me a river. Guys know the score when they go to a club, and if they are left destitute as a result of their patronage, that’s entirely their own fault. Most of us aren’t con artists, and men will always tell you what they want to hear, all we do it pick up on that and run with it. Can you blame us? That is our job, after all.
The idea that strippers all make “crazy bank” is a common misconception. That might have been the case 10 years ago, but plenty of girls have trouble making $100 or $200 a night, and after club fees and tipouts that isn’t much. It can definitely be a good living, but that’s never been 100% true across the board. Like anything else, if it sounds too easy or too good to be true, it probably is.
Women are just the source of all evil. We’re either frigid bitches who drive men into the crotches of strippers, or we are the strippers who are coldly faking affection in order to rob men of their hard-earned cash.
Nope, I don’t blame you. I blame “regular” women a little bit though, because the demand for that service would not be so enormous were the supposedly liberated women out there a bit less frigid.
I never said it was true across the board. But the fact that on a good night one can pull more than I make in a month is enough that I can’t feel sorry for them. Which is what you want, right? I’m on your side, trying to diminish the myth of stripper victimization. In the process I feel like standing up for men at least a little bit is warranted, even though of course I agree that ultimately people are responsible for how they spend their finances. I’m sick of hearing people parrot the mantras we’ve been indoctrinated with since birth as if it were inalienable truth: that men are more or less greedy, selfish, abusive oppressors and women are always victims. It’s bullshit.
Was writing my reply when this was posted, but as I said - yeah, I’m slightly bitter, but not towards strippers.
Sometimes. I truly love women and I’ve had the pleasure of being acquainted with some great ones, but I do have a problem with the seemingly popular modern idea that women are always poor, helpless victims and men never are.
“the fact that the girls tend to be very warm & affectionate to the clientele is a big draw. It doesn’t matter to most whether it’s an act or not). In the process, their wallets are drained of all their hard-earned cash and in some cases men are left destitute as a result.”
Reading this passage is hard to do without sensing some hostility towards strippers.
I tend to think the motivation for many men going to strip clubs has more to do with the way that men are wired sexually… you like looking at near naked women. Strip clubs also offer an opportunity for fantasy and a little indulgence of voyeurism. I can’t imagine a man’s unfulfilling relationship with a wife or girlfriend is a primary motivator. It always seems to me to be a separate thing… which is why many women don’t mind their husbands or boyfriends going out to a strip club occasionally.
If I had a client who was claiming he was going to strip clubs on a regular basis because of lack of validation and affection from a partner, I’d question the state of his existing relationship and his own inadequacy issues and fear of rejection. Women who otherwise aren’t burdened with an overabundance of crazy tend to turn “frigid” when there is no emotional intimacy with their partner. In other words, there are bigger problems going on than lack of sex.
I could see that, but it was more of a reactionary response than anything. As I clarified - I don’t blame strippers at all and every person is responsible for their own decisions, yadda yadda. But I was trying to reinforce the idea that by and large strippers are not victims, and men often get a much worse rap than they deserve. Especially men who patronize strip clubs, and in at least some cases are willing to spend huge sums to ease their loneliness winding up broke in the process - I feel sorry for those men since no one else seems to.
It’s The End Zone, State College PA. I’ve actually been friends with a few people who worked there (though I never saw any of them dance there, for whatever scheduling reason), and they’ve all uniformly said it was the single best club they’ve ever danced at.
grins Literally 70% of my town’s population is college kids, I can have my dreams.
In all seriousness, I ran into my favorite one on the street buying 500-level physics textbooks a year or so back. She waved before she remembered WHERE she recognized me from.
Piffle, by the same logic, casinos and lottery tickets are approximately seven million times worse than strip clubs.
Nah, because people don’t go to casinos or buy lottery tickets to fulfill a need other than the (mistaken) hope that they might get rich, and maybe get a rush of adrenalin in the process. Strip clubs are providing a service that speaks to more powerful human needs than that.
I find statements like this grossly offensive. Nevermind the tradition of Freudian misogyny that lies behind characterizing women as “frigid,” I think it’s outrageous to suggest that women are in any way at fault for being unwilling to sleep with a man in any circumstances. Being “liberated” means having the freedom to make a choice, and blaming a woman for not choosing you is pretty disgusting.
That said, Indygrrl, I’m curious: do you know anything about the plight of male strippers? You don’t hear so many people complaining about how often they’re victimized (in fact the same goes for male sex workers in general), but do you or does anyone know any differences or similarities between their experiences and females’?
What do you think gambling addiction is? Fulfilling a “need” is EXACTLY why many frequent casinos or spend money they don’t have on gambling.
And how do you know so many men “go destitute” from visiting strip clubs? Are they friends of yours? Was it a sad story in your local paper? Where are you getting this information? Did it happen to yourself?? :eek:
Most of them aren’t really in grad school.
Uh uh! They all are just dancing to make their way through college!
I truly love women and I’ve had the pleasure of being acquainted with some great ones, but I do have a problem with the seemingly popular modern idea that women are always poor, helpless victims and men never are.