Strippers or Dancers?

32 comments

• shadowcat

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  17 years ago

  I use both but I am not concious about which I use most. To me they mean the same thing.
• DougS

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  17 years ago

  In my mind, there IS a slight distinction between the two. I believe the term "stripper" refers to dancers for whom I have less respect. I don't think I've ever used the term "stripper" when talking about any of my faves, or ATF. (gotta add EvilCyn to my list of "dancers", too)
  
  As I contemplate what I've just written, I probably should add that I will use the term "stripper" when talking with non-clubbing friends that wouldn't know that when I say "dancer" I am talking about an exotic dancer.
  
  Good topic... on the surface, it seemed like a simple question, but it is somewhat thought provoking... or maybe it's the three Coors Lights I've injested. I will have to ask my ATF what she considers herself to be "dancer" or "stripper". I'd bet 90% of the strippers would say "dancer", when posed that question.
• DougS

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  17 years ago

  Hookers or Escorts? (again, it seems to me that the term "escort" implies a little higher quality (both looks and personality) than "hooker"... In my warped little mind, I'd probably place "prostitute" in between "hooker" and "escort".
• Yoda

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  17 years ago

  I use em' all. I find it depends on the conversation and who I'm having it with.
• lopaw

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  17 years ago

  If I'm discussing them amongst my friends, they're strippers. To their faces, I refer to them as dancers. The last time I called one a "stripper" to her face, I was cussed out & threatened with a scary 8" shoe.
  
• Clubber

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  17 years ago

  I use them interchangeably. The same to me, although, all dancers can strip, while only some strippers can dance.
• minnow

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  17 years ago

  Are we going to stripclubs or dance clubs? Therein lies the answer.
• casualguy

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  17 years ago

  If I'm talking to one and trying to be polite, I'll use the term dancer. Of course most of the other workers in the club it's ok to call them strippers, but your ATF will be a dancer. I believe the strippers/dancers prefer the term dancer when talking about themselves and maybe their friendly coworkers. A few strippers don't care but I believe most like the term dancer or exotic dancer.
• DandyDan

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  17 years ago

  I had a conversation about this with a favorite the last time I went out to the club. Most prefer being "dancers" because the term doesn't imply stripping and showing off boobies and stuff. (She's especially fond of the term "boobies".) But when I told her I was going on vacation soon, she told me I had to go to the clubs and see the strippers. It makes me wonder what she thinks of her profession. As for myself, I always call them dancers to their faces, but at work, for instance, they are strippers.
• Clubber

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  17 years ago

  minnow post:
  "
  Are we going to stripclubs or dance clubs? Therein lies the answer." Many are called Gentlemen's Clubs, so might they then be called "gentlemen"? I think not!
• evilcyn

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  17 years ago

  I think both fit, most girls I know don't find stripper offensive.
• FONDL

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  17 years ago

  I'm not sure about elsewhere, but here I have usually used the term "dancer" especially when referring to a fave. But my ATF always calls them (including herself) "strippers" - she's not into euphemisms. So now that I think about it, maybe I will too. After all, that is what they are and that's why we go to see them.
• motorhead

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  17 years ago

  Definitely -- "dancers"
  
  I speak carefully around the girls and try never to use the word stripper. I don't know if would offend them, but if I were in their shoes, it might be slightly offensive to me, so I try to be repsectful. Being nice can't hurt.
• shadowcat

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  17 years ago

  I once told a dancer that I could not get a dance from her because her stage name was the same as my daughters. She said "You can call me anything you like". I said "How about Bitch?" She replied "That'll work". Actually ITC I usually refer to them as the GIRLS.
• Book Guy

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  17 years ago

  Depends on who I'm talking to and how much I want to make sure she likes me.
  
• chandler

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  17 years ago

  They mean the same thing to me, but I prefer "stripper". It's more honest than "dancer", which is intentionally ambiguous. It also sounds a hell of a lot more fun and exciting. Most strippers I know are fine with either term. Any who are offended by "stripper" seem to me like they must be hypersensitive or in denial, but maybe that's making too much of it. I've only come across them online or heard about them second hand.
• casualguy

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  17 years ago

  This discussion reminds me vaguely of a girl who didn't like the term "having sex", it had to be "making love". Of course this seemed to only apply to her. My memory is so vague I can't remember how or why that conversation occurred but I do remember she didn't like me using one term. Maybe it was the same girl who didn't want to be called a stripper.
• Book Guy

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  17 years ago

  The ones who insist on being called "exotic performers" or "burlesque gentlemen's visual stimulation providers" are the ones who do a bad job at performing exotically or providing burlesque visual stimulation for gentlemen.
• chandler

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  17 years ago

  As late as the mid-80s, before I got married, it was rare to meet a girl who was cool with calling sex "fucking". Even most wild, slutty girls in singles bars would insist on calling it "making love". Something must have changed while I spent about a decade out of circulation. By the mid-90s, it seemed that very few girls were shy anymore about calling a fuck a fuck. Part of the anti-PC backlash, I suppose.
  
  A similar change may have taken place with "stripper", and the advent of stripper-chic culture. Although the stigma of stripping hasn't gone away, insisting that they be called "exotic dancers" now seems to be widely considered corny and uptight. I figure any stripper I would offend by uttering the dreaded S-word probably isn't one I'd be comfortable with anyway.
• motorhead

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  17 years ago

  Yeah, I doubt that any girl who has the balls to take off her clothes and grind herself against some guy's dick for living is going to be severely offended by the word "stripper" -- but for me, for some reason the word "stripper" evokes visions of fat, vaudevillian burlesque strippers -- a definite turn-off. That's why I don't like the word.
  
  And exotic dancer just seems to 70's or 80's for me. I'll stick with "girls" or "dancers".
• FONDL

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  17 years ago

  Let's face it, most of the girls we see working in clubs are neither strippers (very few of them strip in a classical sense, they just take off their skimpy costumes and get naked) or dancers (few of them can actually dance worth watching, or are in good enough shape to be considered a professional dancer.) So it doesn't really matter what we call them as long as we give them our money.
• minnow

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  17 years ago

  I agree completely with FONDL's last post. Screw this "dancer vs stripper" crap, just call 'em PEP's (Private Entertainment Providers).
• chandler

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  17 years ago

  Yeah, that sounds about as sexy as an ISP.
• Book Guy

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  17 years ago

  Shoe models.
  
  You can leave your hat on, too.
  
  
• ThisOldManPlayed1

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  17 years ago

  I like minnow's term P.E.P.!!!!! Or just plain old "Entertainers".
  
  At PP in Memphis, they had two types of service girls. Dancers, who danced on stage and gave LDs. Entertainers who didn't dance on stage, but gave ONLY LDs. And they actually called themselves Entertainers.
  
  Now, evilcyn is definately a DANCER, not a stripper. Believe me when I say this, evilcyn does not have to take off one stitch of clothing when giving her LDs. She is just PURE ENTERTAINMENT!!! :-)~
• chandler

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  17 years ago

  Entertainers? Oh, please. That's even more evasive than "dancers". I suppose some clubs feel they can charge a higher cover if they have the DJ call the strippers "entertainers", but I don't see how a customer can say it with a straight face. And where does it end? Might as well just extend this silly vagueness to its logical conclusion and call them "beings" or "entities"?
• FONDL

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  17 years ago

  And most of them aren't very entertaining. Why not just call them naked girls, isn't that why we're there in the first place?
• arbeeguy

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  17 years ago

  None of you previous posters recognized the prevalence of bikini clubs, where no clothing is removed. At the bikini club known as "Dangerous Curves", some of the girls dance on stage and some just walk around on stage. Since none of them strip, it would seem odd to call them strippers. But.... some of these same girls DO strip in other clubs, which allow stripping. There is no one perfect word, but "Entertainer" is probably the most accurate one in this situation.
  
  By the way, some bikini clubs are very boring G-rated places. Others, such as Dangerous Curves, can get pretty erotic at times. Just because a girl has clothes on doesn't mean she can't be pretty dam erotic if she chooses.
• DougS

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  17 years ago

  Arbeeguy: The club that got me hooked on clubbing because of the "outrageous" contact that I received during a night of fun is a bikini club. Even though the bikini (both bottoms AND tops) stayed on, there wasn't anything off-limits!
• FONDL

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  17 years ago

  Arbee, if you're talking about the Dangerous Curves in north Philly, I thought the place was G-strings and pasties. That's not my idea of a bikini club, in a bikini club they were a lot more than that. I haven't been there in years but I used to really like Dangerous Curves, I thought it was the best club within the city limits. I've had some great LDs there. It used to be my kinda place.
• shadowcat

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  17 years ago

  I asked one of my favorites the other day. Which she prefered to be called. She said that it did not make any difference to her but thought that dancer was more appropriate because they don't really strip.
• chandler

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  17 years ago

  Really? They remain fully dressed?