Why Would Anyone Want to be a Stripper in the First Place?
By: Erin Taylor
Tags: Sexuality, Society, Work, Sex, Feminism

Why Would Anyone Want to be a Stripper in the First Place?

Honestly, it’s about so much more than money

Photo by Marcus Santos on Unsplash

The moment I tell someone that I used to be a stripper in my early twenties, the questions pour out of them, a little at first and then all at once. It makes no difference that this person is an old friend or a new one, people can’t get enough of living vicariously through me and the most unconventional (and exciting) phase of my life — the stripper phase. I don’t mind the questions; truthfully, I’ve become so comfortable answering the same few questions that I wrote an article about it titled, “What Most People Ask Me About Being a Stripper.”

But since I’ve started writing about stripping, I’ve noticed there is one really simple question that I see often in the comment section of my articles. This one question is frequently written by well-intentioned curious minds that, after reading so many of my negative experiences as a stripper, (like the time a customer stole my wallet, or the time a customer took a photo of me topless, or the many times different customers tried to finger me while I danced) they really can’t understand one thing:

Why I (or anyone else) would ever want to become a stripper.

“If you have to fake smiles and enthusiasm during conversations and lap dances, if you have to strip off your clothes for strangers, if you have to work odd hours of the night, and if you ostracize yourself from friends, family, and society as a whole by doing this job — why would anyone want to be a stripper?”

Of course, the obvious answer here is money. Strippers, for the most part, make serious cash, sometimes in just a few hours. Depending how hard you work, how busy your club, and how lucky you get, you could see anywhere from a couple hundred to a couple thousand dollars per shift. And even more if you’re working at a gentlemen’s club where professional athletes and rappers spend their time.

And what makes our level of income even more fascinating to any regular observer is that to be a stripper, you don’t need a degree, special training, or prior experience. You don’t need to look like a supermodel or even speak the language of whatever country you’re working in. I’m not sure how many other jobs allow women to make thousands of dollars in a single night shift, to eventually pay off all debt, invest in stocks, and purchase a home in cash, but I know the options are slim to none.

If money was your first guess as to why anyone would ever want to be a stripper, you would be correct, but not entirely.

For many women, myself included, money was the initial motivator. Who wouldn’t be interested in making six figures a year for working 3–4 times a week, right? But even money loses its shine eventually. And after learning how often we get disrespected, belittled, photographed illegally, sexually harassed and assaulted, you may wonder if money is really worth it?

It’s not. Money is not the only reason so many of us women choose stripping.

For many of us, it’s about control and empowerment. It’s about feminism and separating ourselves from a workforce saturated in inequality. It’s about taking charge and answering only to our inner voice. It’s about immersing ourselves in our sexuality and sharing it with the world on our own terms.