# Would You Be Proud if Your Sister was a Stripper? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 8, 2004, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-proud-if-your-sister-was-a-stripper/273564 "2004-11-08T00:42:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-proud-if-your-sister-was-a-stripper/273564/81 "2004-11-09T14:21:21Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > It is hard to understand because I really don’t see how someone could put up with the things that are said to them, or crawling across a bar naked to pick up a dollar, or PAY the people who “employ” them, unless they actually HAD to. > > I think some people have a romantic notion of a girl dancing sensuously in front of gentlemen, wearing pasties and losing her top for 2 seconds before the song ends, and raking in $500 in cash night after night. > > What I’ve seen is girls sitting on a drunk guy’s lap who is rubbing his boner against her crotch while he tells her things like “wouldn’t you love to be fucking me?” And she has to do that about 6 times in a night just to make enough money to pay the club. Then, she gets to slide on a pole for another few bucks several times per night. > > And, she’s over the hill by the time she’s 30 with shit-all to show for it. > > I get that there’s much classier clubs than the ones I’ve been to in Baltimore. But, I’ve also been in clubs in Vegas, and somehow I suspect that the girls aren’t really getting a taste of the $45 I pay for 3 beers, but are more likely making their nut from the “party” back at her apartment she invites you to. I wouldn’t want my sister doing that, either. You’re talking about grind houses. In Atlanta they have a “no touch” rule. Does make for a classier experience. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-proud-if-your-sister-was-a-stripper/273564/82 "2004-11-09T16:26:22Z")
> [@Indygrrl](#): > > So, six figures isn’t impossible, but it’s probably not that common here in Indy. I would say the average stripper is not going to be happy with less than $200 a night. If you aren’t making at least that much a night, you should find a new job. While Googling I came across a thread about money matters on a message board for strippers, and the experienced strippers all said exactly the same thing. There were one or two just starting out who said that $200 a night sounded like darn good money and they weren’t sure they could make that much. But those that seemed to know their business said that anything less than $200 a night wasn’t worth it, considering both their own effort and the fact that they had to deduct stage fees and tips for the DJ and other club staffers from that amount. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-proud-if-your-sister-was-a-stripper/273564/83 "2004-11-09T16:58:19Z")
I don’t have a sister, but heck, I’d be proud if my Brother was a stripper if it was what he wanted to do. A cousin who is an ex Jehovahs-witness missionary afterwards was a male stripper for a while, I was prouder of his stripping than his missionary work. ---
**Author:** ![auntie\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-proud-if-your-sister-was-a-stripper/273564/84 "2004-11-09T17:52:05Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > While Googling I came across a thread about money matters on a message board for strippers, and the experienced strippers all said exactly the same thing. There were one or two just starting out who said that $200 a night sounded like darn good money and they weren’t sure they could make that much. But those that seemed to know their business said that anything less than $200 a night wasn’t worth it, considering both their own effort and the fact that they had to deduct stage fees and tips for the DJ and other club staffers from that amount. I worked in a restaurant that hired a couple of ex-dancers who’d decided to get out of the business and wait tables instead. But at the end of the night, when the rest (or at least one or two) of us were like, “Woo-Hoo! I made $100 bucks tonight! Drinks on me!”, they were like, “Man, I only made $100 tonight–I can’t afford to go out!” One of them told me that she managed to _put away_ over $20,000 a year as a dancer, and that wasn’t with a Ramen Noodles/Thrift Store Clothes/Bicycle As Trasnportation existence, that was with a new clothes, going out, nice car and apartment lifestyle. Eventually they both went back to it. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-proud-if-your-sister-was-a-stripper/273564/85 "2004-11-09T19:52:10Z")
Yes, I would be very upset and ashamed if my sister were a stripper. She’s an incredibly bright girl currently lodged at one of the nicest medical schools in the country. My opinion would be that she could do better with her life than get dollar bills stuffed down her panties. Even if she hadn’t gone to medical school she could have easily made money with her brains, no need to dance for scrotty guys. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-proud-if-your-sister-was-a-stripper/273564/86 "2004-11-09T20:59:49Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > Just as proud or ashamed as I would be if I found out that my brother visited a titty bar. > Yes, I’m very unconfortable with the double standard in this thread. An interesting point…I am subscribing to this thread in hopes that someone will address it. As for the OP, I am still feeling ambiguous about the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-proud-if-your-sister-was-a-stripper/273564/87 "2004-11-09T21:28:10Z")
Well, I’ve had a good laugh, picturing _any_ of my sisters stripping for money; our whole family. . .well, there are folks who would pay us to _keep our clothes on_ 😉 . But I _will_ tell you this (because I think it’s related): for several years, I worked as a phone sex operator. I did it for the same reason a lot of strippers strip. The money was very good, considering that I didn’t have an education beyond a high school diploma. I made $8.00/hr. plus bonuses (I got bonus money for “requests”); it wasn’t unusual for my take home to come out to $15.00 an hour, and this was back in, oh, ‘95. Now, by the time I did this, my mother was dead (she would have been horrified), but my sisters were all okay with it, and my MIL knew about it, and she was okay with it, too; not proud, but okay. We had a mortgage payment and two kids, we needed the second salary. I couldn’t have made nearly as much doing anything else that I was qualified for. But there was one woman who worked for the same company (we occasionally met at functions the company had, plus sometimes we would do “two girl” calls, and I got teamed with her a lot because we were both very popular), whose mother had disowned her because of her profession. For her, it was more of a necessity than it was for me. For me, it allowed us a nicer standard of living than we would have otherwise had. For her, it allowed her to support her daughter, who she was raising alone. Nonetheless, she was _very_ good at her job, and I find it shameful that her mother had disowned her over it. I mean, it’s not like she was a drug dealer or somethin’. ---
**Author:** ![kka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/54ee81/32.png) [@kka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kka)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-proud-if-your-sister-was-a-stripper/273564/88 "2004-11-09T21:41:05Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > I worked as a phone sex operator. I did it for the same reason a lot of strippers strip. I have to ask, did you go into a workplace to do this, or were the phones rolled over to your home. (I don’t know why, but I have always been curious.) ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-proud-if-your-sister-was-a-stripper/273564/89 "2004-11-09T21:48:04Z")
> [@kka](#): > > I have to ask, did you go into a workplace to do this, or were the phones rolled over to your home. (I don’t know why, but I have always been curious.) You know, so many people always had so many questions for me that I often thought of writing a book, and in fact, saved my work records so I could do that very thing; never got around to it, though. I actually worked at home. The customers would call the toll-free number, tell the operator what they were looking for, and buy a “block” of time (my company didn’t do the per minute charge) of 15-30 minutes; the operator would call me, tell me what the customer wanted, how long it was for, and patch it through. When the call was done (often before the time was up), I’d call the operator and let them know I was available again. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-proud-if-your-sister-was-a-stripper/273564/90 "2004-11-09T22:10:46Z")
> [@Dung Beetle](#): > > An interesting point…I am subscribing to this thread in hopes that someone will address it. As for the OP, I am still feeling ambiguous about the whole thing. Maybe guys know how he himself feels about strippers, and thinks other guys are the same? So a guy who respects the girl might not see such a problem with his own sister stripping. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-proud-if-your-sister-was-a-stripper/273564/91 "2004-11-09T22:59:38Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > As a stripper, no, but everybody does distasteful stuff for a living: I wouldn’t hold it against her, even if it is about 2nd to last on the _legal_ professions I have respect for. I second that I have less respect for telemarketers. > > But if my sister were a prostitute, and made just as much money as you can make as a good stripper (as opposed to being a drug-addled street girl,) I’d have more respect for her than if she were a stripper. Something about strippers, and Hooters girls and the like, just seems, I don’t know how to put it, but that feeling isn’t there as much with prostitutes. Boy I don’t understand this attitude at all. 😕 Why would you be prouder if your sister was a prostitute (against the law) than if she were working at a legal job as either a dancer or say a Hooters girl? I cannot wrap my mind around this. Paticulary a waitress at Hooters. I some times eat at Hooters, and girls are pretty much a slice of American girl next door types. To me at least these girls have never come across as sluts, just girls working for a living slinging low grade grub. (You don’t go to Hooters for the food! 😃 ) Getting back to the OP, I would have no problem if my sister danced, maybe not proud, but for sure not ashamed. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-proud-if-your-sister-was-a-stripper/273564/92 "2004-11-10T02:15:24Z")
Oddly enough, no, but if any of my brothers were, the answer would be yes!! ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-proud-if-your-sister-was-a-stripper/273564/93 "2004-11-10T02:27:55Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > Boy I don’t understand this attitude at all. 😕 Why would you be prouder if your sister was a prostitute (against the law) than if she were working at a legal job as either a dancer or say a Hooters girl? First of all, prostitution should be legal. Second of all, I would be more proud of her if she were in Vegas or some other place where it’s legal. As for the Hooters thing, I can’t really explain it. > [@Maastricht](#): > > Visitors to such bars can’t have it both ways. > > If strippers are troubled, exploited girls, what does that make their customers? Their rescuers? > > If the girls are immoral lowlife, what does that make the guys who pay to go see them? Oh, so it’s okay to be a immoral lowlife if you’re a guy? > > No. Customers to titty bars are guys who pay a professional for her services, in much the same way they would pay an actress (for making them feel romantic) or the hairdresser that touched their heads and chatted with them. If that’s okay, so is being a stripper. I don’t recall anyone saying anything about the customers. That’s a straw man you came up with. Both client and worker are equally sleazy to me. And I can’t explain that either. I guess it has to do with the fact that in both instances, there is a cash transaction to take the place of something that I, personally, would prefer not to get cash involved in. I guess I don’t mind prostitution as much since it’s more honest (and I would get more out of it if I were a customer.) I don’t really agree with this emotion, but that’s how I feel. Prostitution and titty bars should have fewer if any restrictions on them than they do now. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-proud-if-your-sister-was-a-stripper/273564/94 "2004-11-10T03:48:54Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > You know, so many people always had so many questions for me that I often thought of writing a book **norinew** , would you consider hosting a thread about your experiences? I’m fascinated. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-proud-if-your-sister-was-a-stripper/273564/95 "2004-11-10T06:30:32Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > First of all, prostitution should be legal. Second of all, I would be more proud of her if she were in Vegas or some other place where it’s legal. [It’s not legal in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas.](http://www.campusprogram.com/reference/en/wikipedia/p/pr/prostitution_in_nevada.html) If you’re interested in the ins and outs (heh) of legal prostitution in the less-populous counties of Nevada, [this borderline work-safe site](http://www.sexuality.org/l/workers/nevada.html) provides plenty of detail. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-proud-if-your-sister-was-a-stripper/273564/96 "2004-11-10T07:40:01Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I don’t recall anyone saying anything about the customers. That’s a straw man you came up with. Nobody said anything about the customers, but the customers themselves spoke up. Although I much appreciate their honesty, I felt they didn’t seem to realize how their opinion of strippers reflected back on themselves as customers. > [@Ludovic](#): > > Both client and worker are equally sleazy to me. And I can’t explain that either. > I guess it has to do with the fact that in both instances, there is a cash transaction to take the place of something that I, personally, would prefer not to get cash involved in. I guess I don’t mind prostitution as much since it’s more honest (and I would get more out of it if I were a customer.) I think it’s telling that in the Netherlands, where prostitution is legal and flourishes, places that _only_ offer striptease or “hostesses” (so, not including sex) are extremely rare. A few strippers are employed to embarass people in the workplace, or bachelors on stagnights, “American Style”, but that is an imported thing that never really took hold. ---
**Author:** ![passengerpigeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58f4c7/32.png) [@passengerpigeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/passengerpigeon)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-proud-if-your-sister-was-a-stripper/273564/97 "2004-11-10T09:11:42Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > No…When I girl becomes a stripper, it’s a sign that something has gone pretty much terribly wrong with her life. I don’t have the energy to Pit you for this. Some people like stripping. I have a friend who became a stripper because she thought it would be exciting and fun. She found it exciting and fun, and also surprisingly lucrative. Nothing went terribly wrong with her life. –p ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-proud-if-your-sister-was-a-stripper/273564/98 "2004-11-10T09:19:04Z")
I’d be more proud if she was a stripper and making money and doing what she wants with her life than smiling at strangers and wearing a silly uniform at McDonalds for minimum wage because she might be afraid of what people would think of her. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-proud-if-your-sister-was-a-stripper/273564/99 "2004-11-10T09:28:42Z")
> [@passengerpigeon](#): > > I don’t have the energy to Pit you for this. > > Some people like stripping. I have a friend who became a stripper because she thought it would be exciting and fun. She found it exciting and fun, and also surprisingly lucrative. Nothing went terribly wrong with her life. > > –p Agreed. I just saw a girl on an HBO special who was a stripper AND also had a MBA in psychology. Imagine that. she was hot too… ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-proud-if-your-sister-was-a-stripper/273564/100 "2004-11-10T12:42:21Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > **norinew** , would you consider hosting a thread about your experiences? I’m fascinated. Later today, I’ll see what I can cook up. What forum do those threads belong in? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-proud-if-your-sister-was-a-stripper/273564.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-proud-if-your-sister-was-a-stripper/273564.md?page=6)