# What does 'dancer' suggest as a vocation? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 30, 2016, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-dancer-suggest-as-a-vocation/773455 "2016-11-30T14:37:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-dancer-suggest-as-a-vocation/773455/61 "2016-12-01T03:27:01Z")
If she just said “dancer” and left it at that, my first thought is a stripper. People in the arts tend to be passionate about what they do. I can’t imagine any of my ballerina or flamenco friends not wanting to expand even just a bit. Usually when talking, they give the type of dance, too. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-dancer-suggest-as-a-vocation/773455/62 "2016-12-01T03:29:03Z")
actually the new cam girls do more than “dancing” And when they do get paid for it they make way more than say a strip club but the trick is getting someone to pay for it heres the link spoilered to appease the 2 click rule [www.streamate.com](http://www.streamate.com) But i’m told its ok as a hobby but don’t depend on it as a major income because they only get 3 bucks an hour for jut sitting there and chatting private chat is like getting a lap dance and full private is the vip room Pricing is per minute and set by the girls they also do a set price show too say "ill do this and that for 10 minutes for 40 or 50 bucks and every one who tips in the room joins in ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-dancer-suggest-as-a-vocation/773455/63 "2016-12-01T04:54:33Z")
50% Yeah, I’ve known some strippers in my time on Earth but I’ve known a fair number of back-up dancers and more artistic/ballet dancers as well and most of them were from fairly small town backgrounds. So I would be thinking basically a coin flip. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-dancer-suggest-as-a-vocation/773455/64 "2016-12-01T05:29:31Z")
Stripper. They’re _always_ strippers. It’s like a drug dealer identifying as a “businessman”; if you actually _were_ a businessman, you say \*a specific \* business. Heck, at least industry. ---
**Author:** ![Annoying\_Buzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Annoying\_Buzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoying_Buzz)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-dancer-suggest-as-a-vocation/773455/65 "2016-12-01T07:46:39Z")
It’s possible that she dances in a theater troupe (even small cities have them) and considers it her main vocation/aspiration. However, if she was capable of carrying on a conversation about anything other than theater, she’s a stripper. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-dancer-suggest-as-a-vocation/773455/66 "2016-12-01T10:20:31Z")
If I heard her say “Dancer” without any other context or additional info, I’m likely to assume “Stripper” first, “artistic dancer” second. If she was a dancer in musicals or a professional dancer, I’d expect her to say something like “I’m a theatre performer” or “I do ballet dancing” or something along those lines. I should probably clarify I personally don’t consider being a stripper to have negative connotations, too. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-dancer-suggest-as-a-vocation/773455/67 "2016-12-01T14:17:47Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Saying that your vocation is ‘actor’ when it’s really ‘waiter’ is exactly labeling yourself as the promotion you hope to have some day. And yes, I and a lot of other people don’t think highly of people who claim that their job is ‘actor’ when it’s really ‘waiter’. And I have no earthly idea why you talked about people working two unrelated jobs. > > The one that they _do_ to eat is their vocation, the other one is not. Remember the title and OP of this thread, this is about someone who identifies their job, not their general identity or aspiration or whatever else. There are multiple meanings of “vocation”; the most common one is the first yet you’re speaking as if it didn’t exist. Someone who is an actor but who happens to get more jobs (meaning 2) as a waiter has jobs as both actor and waiter, but actor as his vocation in meaning 1: Definition of vocation 1 a : a summons or strong inclination to a particular state or course of action; especially : a divine call to the religious life b : an entry into the priesthood or a religious order 2 a : the work in which a person is employed : occupation b : the persons engaged in a particular occupation 3 : the special function of an individual or group All from [m-w.com](http://m-w.com) I discovered my calling when I was 3yo, and I was able to get jobs that allowed me to live it, but my calling isn’t even for a job: it’s for a way of life and there are multiple lines of work that would have allowed me to have it. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-dancer-suggest-as-a-vocation/773455/68 "2016-12-01T16:13:22Z")
I don’t judge people by their “vocation”. People do what they have to do to keep their head above water, and it does not always reflect who they are. I don’t even care if someone’s vocation is honest or not, since getting by requires a compromise with power/wealth who themselves are not necessarily honest. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-dancer-suggest-as-a-vocation/773455/69 "2016-12-01T17:02:34Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > 50% Yeah, I’ve known some strippers in my time on Earth but I’ve known a fair number of back-up dancers and more artistic/ballet dancers as well and most of them were from fairly small town backgrounds. So I would be thinking basically a coin flip. While they are from small town backgrounds, when you interacted with them…were they currently employed in the small town? Or were they in a big city that can support theater/back up/artistic/ballet dancers? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-dancer-suggest-as-a-vocation/773455/70 "2016-12-01T18:03:56Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > There are multiple meanings of “vocation”;… Agree with your whole post. Having said that, IME in colloquial US English “vocation” = job. Not even career; just “job”. It sure \*ought \*to be used for the other meanings first. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-dancer-suggest-as-a-vocation/773455/71 "2016-12-01T23:48:10Z")
In my limited experience, it’s not an either/or situation. “Dancers” sometimes work the strip clubs because they love dancing, and it’s the only paying gig they can get. They also do childrens parties, 'cause they loved dancking when they were kids, and it’s a paying gig. They also work as waitressess or receptionist, because it’s hard to get paying work as a dancer. To be honest, I pre-date pole-dancing, and the only specifically “pole” dancers I ever met were circus types. I think they probably would have accepted work as pole dancers if it was on offer, but I don’t know how much cross-over there is now. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-dancer-suggest-as-a-vocation/773455/72 "2016-12-02T00:13:14Z")
Given only the information presented in the OP, there’s a high likelihood, maybe even greater than 50%, that she’s a stripper. But one should still not assume that she is, because there’s a chance she isn’t, and it’s not polite to assume such things about people. And for what it’s worth, one of my cousins married a dancer. As in, she worked in a traveling ballet troupe. Nowadays, she teaches dance, because that’s more conducive to a married-with-kids life than a traveling troupe, but then and now, if you ask her “What do you do?”, she would and does reply “I’m a dancer”. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-dancer-suggest-as-a-vocation/773455/73 "2016-12-02T02:55:25Z")
Overall I think the true dancers don’t want “their” term stolen from them by Those People - the strippers. So at least some of them are aggressive about defending “dancer” as meaning non-stripper and would insist that “stripper” is the word for a, well, stripper. Kind of like how in the Olden Dayes we had “legitimate theater” and “illegitmate theater”. One was respectable. The other not so much. Almost 500 years later we’re still using the terms in the more or less original sense. Because the folks in legitimate theater don’t want to admit Those People into their art form. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-dancer-suggest-as-a-vocation/773455/74 "2016-12-02T03:08:13Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Overall I think the true dancers don’t want “their” term stolen from them by Those People - the strippers. > > So at least some of them are aggressive about defending “dancer” as meaning non-stripper and would insist that “stripper” is the word for a, well, stripper. What makes you say this? Do you actually know dancers who are like this? Or does it just seem likely to you? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-dancer-suggest-as-a-vocation/773455/75 "2016-12-02T03:32:03Z")
My earlier story and Chronos’ just above were about legit dancers who called themselves “dancers” and nothing else. My thoughts about their motivation is conjecture. Our experiences about their actual outward behavior is fact. One’s mileage may vary. ---
**Author:** ![keturah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e95f7d/32.png) [@keturah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keturah)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-dancer-suggest-as-a-vocation/773455/76 "2016-12-02T06:07:24Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > My earlier story and Chronos’ just above were about legit dancers who called themselves “dancers” and nothing else. My thoughts about their motivation is conjecture. Our experiences about their actual outward behavior is fact. > > One’s mileage may vary. What, exactly, do you mean by “legit dancer”? I am very close with two women who danced for their living and/or passion. One was a ballerina and the other was a stripper. Both owned it and both were “legit dancers”. Both have since aged out of the profession because dancing for a living is hard on the body. Both are extremely successful still and honestly if you could tell the difference between the 2 today you would probably missassign their earlier jobs. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-dancer-suggest-as-a-vocation/773455/77 "2016-12-02T07:00:28Z")
Is her name Destiny or Desire? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-dancer-suggest-as-a-vocation/773455/78 "2016-12-02T11:49:49Z")
A comment [here](https://hardforum.com/threads/a-picture-i-took-2016.1887048/page-12#post-1042673276) indicates that dancers are more common in Europe. (There are some awesome photos in that thread.) > [@UnknownSouljer on Hardforum](#): > > I think it’s probably WAY easier to start a dance photography studio in Europe (especially eastern Europe), than anywhere in North America. There are just so many companies and professional dancers you trip over them. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-dancer-suggest-as-a-vocation/773455/79 "2016-12-02T13:00:44Z")
From the title alone, I would not think stripper. With the extra info, I think I would be more likely to; however, I’m not sure how much of that is because you pointed those aspects out. I’m not sure I would think of all those things otherwise. One of my old high school friends is a dancer, and she does belly dancing, fire dancing, a lot of gymnastic work and aerial work, but no stripping. (She is a bartender on the side, to get actual payment) If she ever danced in front of a poll, it would be be for fitness. She definitely lists herself as an “instructor” though. Well, and “owner.” Everything she does, she teaches. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-dancer-suggest-as-a-vocation/773455/80 "2016-12-02T13:26:22Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > A yearish later she was turning 30 and her stripping income was failing as her look aged out the top of the demographic. Then she got pregnant. Once she started showing the growing baby her income zoomed up. She said she had a cast of regular admirers and they came through in spades (and Jacksons) for the baby. Wait a minute - am I understanding correctly? She got better tips as a _pregnant_ stripper? My mind is officially boggled. Regards, Shodan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-dancer-suggest-as-a-vocation/773455.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-dancer-suggest-as-a-vocation/773455.md?page=5)