17 Truths About What It's Like to be a Stripper

from #17:

"You come into contact with a lot of strange characters"

Yeah, if this board is any indication...

The Playhouse Lounge in NJ has doorbell panic buttons in each LD room. A dancer I was with elbowed one while getting dressed and it made an audible sound over the club, but I was already standing outside the LD room, so the time keeper saw it was an accident and waved off the bouncer. We had a good laugh about it afterwards. I was told that if the LD room's door was closed, the bouncer would kick the door in.

You can do a search on line and about once or twice a year an article similar to this one is released. Typically they come from a very specific point of view and in some instances they are written with a certain purpose in mind.

I've never seen a customer hit a dancer---I have seen a dancer hit another dancer and I have seen a handful of heated discussions between staff.

I think the culture of each club has a lot to do with how many of the girls do extras, how well they get along, the level of support they are given, etc. Same with how customers are treated.

Finally, an honest more detailed article that doesn't sound like it was written by a stripperweb girl. She's right about the stop dancing when it's no longer "fun" part. The more experienced and regular PLs can definitely tell when a dancer is just mailing it in.

I have seen the help/panic buttons (at 390 in Chicago Heights in the regular LD booths) but nowhere else. Usually the bouncer presence is close enough or common enough that it isn't necessary.

Also i think she meant the obvious addicts when she said a few girls with problems. The girls that couldn't function without it and needed help/intervention but no one cared and they were left to themselves, because just one point down she talked about the prevalent nature and use of alcohol and drugs.

I do agree that the culture (nationally/regionally as well as club specific) does play a part. Prostitution is legal in Germany so dancers probably look at extras a bit differently. The strippers (extras friendly) don't seem to make that much either (250 Euros average a shift for her).

-->"Because I had a boyfriend, I quickly ruled out getting intimate with guests. Before then, I did it with two or three men who I found attractive. I found them cool, so I wanted to do it. Strippers usually do more though. I'd say that 60 percent of the girls would regularly also go to a room with men they didn't like."

First time I've ever seen a girl admit to what we all know. No posturing about no sex in the champagne room, no insisting "we're not prostitutes" or posturing about how one should NEVER ask their stripper for sex. She's already 1000% more realistic than the by-rote articles that appear all over, by strippers. Of course, she's in Germany where things are a bit more understood -- most of what she said applies to many American strip clubs, too, we'll just never see an admission of that

"But they can still be pretty unpleasant to deal with."

The consistent story from girls who have moved from stripping to elsewhere in the sex industry, or vice versa, is that as a group SC customers are the worst. Perhaps street-walking crack whores have worse customers, but beyond that, strippers put up with the worst customers. Not tuscl SCers, of course, we're awesome LOL

"There are a few girls with drug and alcohol problems at the club, and they're left alone."

Agree with comments above that this is a massive understatement. However, I expect she might have a different definition of "problems" than me. For a strip club, the girl has problems if she can't do her job or she drives customers away or assaults other strippers. For most people, addiction and problematic behavior happens far before those things.

"SC customers are the worst"--I've always understood this to be based more on a screening problem. Escorts can screen as tight as they want whereas just about anyone with a few dollars can gain access to the club--and then this gets back to the clubs culture, they can turn down the guy or call for help if he really gets out of line but do it too often and depending on the is considered acceptable they can find themselves on the outside of the main group of other dancers and staff.

For most people, addiction and problematic behavior happens far before those things.

First hand one of the recurring comments I heard from my ex when we were together and-- she was not a dancer was that it is a good thing for that "bitch" or "jerk" I'm not dancing or I would have tore into her/him. I always thought her temper was bad enough when she wasn't dancing but to think it came to the surface more and seemed to be acceptable behavior when she was dancing backs up your comment.

so what is it that makes strip club customers the worst? because when i go to clubs, i don't see the customers acting a fool. is it what they say to dancers during conversations? is it getting too handsy and trying/doing things they shouldn't during lap dances?