Strippers are Entrepreneurs

Some people can go a lifetime without thinking about the strippers. I guess I am just not one of those people.

I switched elementary schools in the second grade and while there are a lot of wonderful memories from my time at that school, the fact that our cement playground looked directly across from the parking lot of a well-known local strip club was something that felt unavoidable. Strippers were a type of entrepreneurial worker that was hard to ignore in the community.

Perhaps not all Catholic elementary schools were zoned next to Gentlemen’s Clubs but for some strange reason, the two that I attended seemed to have been closely connected to them. I guess you could say that might have given me a sense of familiarity when I decided to later attend Ryerson University, block buddies to one of Toronto’s oldest strip clubs, Zanzibar. In a sense, I guess you could say, education and stripping go hand in hand from my personal experience.

While I have not personally worked in the industry my coincidental proximity to these entertainment businesses made me curious about the profession from a young age. What I understood about strippers and strip clubs was loosely strung together from schoolyard gossip and earnest untruths from grade-schoolers. Being funnelled through the Catholic school system gave me a warped understanding of sex, consent and representation. How could women want to work in a system where they were consistently objectified like that?

I just had to learn more.

After several trips to various strip clubs (including my childhood alma mater), instead of feeling educated, I left with a deeper sense of confusion. I didn’t understand much, the only thing I took away was the fact that they were selling a fantasy. This complicated industrial system of nudity and monetary value felt like something I understood, but at the same time, I felt foreign to it. It prompted an urge inside of me to look deeper. So, I jumped down the digital rabbit hole… With one targeted YouTube search, I found it. “Day in the life of a stripper.” Immediately I was met with a barrage of women from around the world filming and discussing their lives as strippers. I struck gold.  

Now to those who are unfamiliar with the term, stripper vlogs or stripper videos, are the YouTube genre dedicated to people who film themselves and their lives as strippers. Not to be confused with the popular PornHub search terms, stripper vlogs and videos are compelling content that showcases the creativity, resourcefulness, and entrepreneurship of strippers in the sex work industry.

When you search stripper vlogs you are met with a myriad of thumbnails for various women working in the industry offering tips, tricks, advice, and on-the-floor footage for both market and educational purposes. In this sense, stripper vlogs provide utility to a variety of people.

Seeing all the women discussing their experiences working in the industry provides a human touch to an industry that otherwise feels guarded with secrets. Stripper content offers a fascinating take on an industry otherwise shrouded in stigma, secrecy, and shame.

Pole dancer performing aerial moves on the pole. I couldn’t do this stunt on a normal day. How these women manage to make it look effortless is beyond me. Black and white photo by Alexsandr Kichigin

Exotic Entrepreneurialism

You might be aware of the common attitude many young people have expressed when life gets too stressful or financially draining. In these moments, it is best to throw in your cards and consider sex work, or as some would say it’s that, “F--- this I’m going to be a stripper,” attitude. Now for some, that’s just a saying, but for others, that’s a reality.

There is much more to stripping than simply buckling up your platform heels and getting on stage. While performance is important to the profession, stripping includes additional duties performed off stage.

In addition to stage performance, strippers entertain guests with both public and private dances where guests can engage with their favourite performers in a more intimate setting. This client-worker business relationship is at the heart of the stripper industry.

Pole dancer upside down in leather pants performing more aerial stunts. How these women manage to look cool doing this is beyond me. Respect where respect is due. Black and white photo by Alexsandr Kichigin

Strippers ride solo

When people sign contracts with strip clubs they don’t become hired as full-time workers at the club, instead they become independent contractors. As independent contractors, they have the opportunity for more control over their workflow and workload. Depending on the personal and financial preference, strippers can create their own schedules while also having the opportunity to work at multiple clubs simultaneously. This complete control over one’s job can be incredibly exciting and alluring as many people report stifled freedoms while working directly under an employer.

It doesn’t matter what industry is offering the opportunity, many people want to work for themselves. Independent contractors work in a variety of settings, it is a common job title. The benefit, for strippers, is being an independent contractor allows a relative amount of room for workers to market their individuality in their trade. Independent contractors can not only market themselves outside of the strip club, but they can also expand and differentiate themselves in their business offerings carving out a niche in an otherwise well-established and often times saturated market.

Strippers are connected to a different lifestyle

Working in the industry often equates to working in nightlife culture. This entertainment-heavy, fantasy-driven environment is incredibly alluring to anyone who wants to move away from a traditional 9-5 job. Working at night means the dress code or work uniform requirements might be different. Working in the strip club can be incredibly fun for those who enjoy the change of scenery.

Like many others in the nightlife/entertainment industry, strippers get paid in cash. In this sense for a stripper to be successful at their job, they need to provide a seamless entertainment experience for guests that entice them to spend more. If a stripper is good at marketing themselves both on and off the stage, while also maintaining good relationships with the rest of the staff at the club, they can have a better likelihood of increasing their daily income. For this reason, successful strippers create high daily earnings without putting in the same number of hours of labour as a traditional job. Strippers can set rates for dances and earn extra income depending on their established relationship with the guest who made the purchase. Working a night in the club can earn someone as little as $200 to as much as $1000 or more, rates incomparable to most average day jobs.

Strippers can use this job to build something better

Not all strippers stay in the industry for decades doing the same role. Many who enter the profession often cite the decision being connected to an opportunity to work on something else. Just as many waiters are actors and many baristas are artists, many strippers are also working on multiple passions and dreams outside of the strip club. For some, that may mean working part-time while balancing post-secondary education, or another similar commitment.

The persistent idea for many is that no one becomes just a stripper. For many, being a stripper allows someone to build financial freedom and work on other projects. From stripper to reality tv star, Cardi B is a prime example of a recent celebrity who transformed her career with the help of working in the strip club.

Pole dancer performing more aerial moves on the pole. I would be holding on for dear life. Hats off to her. Black and white photo by Alexsandr Kichigin

Where does stripping go from here?

The stripping industry has seen many changes over the past 2 years and beyond. With technology advancing and social media developing beyond Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook, many are now seeking new opportunities to incorporate the consumption of stripper and sex content into their media diets in new and exciting ways. Who knows, there might be a good chance you will google stripper content after reading this post.

Stripping is a dynamic career connected to a long history of established sex work that has existed throughout time. But of course, stripping is more than skin-deep.

By that token what is your perspective?

Is stripping a good career?

Surely there are problems with it… perhaps I can unpack those in the future…

Maybe you will find the answer here.

Or see what’s in a stripper’s bag…