Is Stripping Empowering?

[note: originally written during midterms of winter 2009]

Stripping has been empowering for me in two ways.

First, it has empowered me economically in a way that few other jobs could do, considering my experience and education level. It has provided means to live comfortably as I earn my bachelor's degree and travel. It provides a level of freedom and financial security that contributes to this relatively comfortable lifestyle. Not only am I able to stay out of debt by paying my tuition in cash each quarter, but I eat out often, drive a cute, safe car, and can afford to pay for perks such as tanning and having my hair done at an expensive Orange County salon. I get massages every week and don't have to worry about satisfying basic wants such as wearing MAC cosmetics or taking trips out of town to see friends and family. I don't have to wait for a paycheck and I almost always have plenty of cash for my weekly expenditures. The self-scheduling process means I can come and go as I please, work until I make "enough" money, and take time off for other priorities (namely, school). As long as I keep myself reasonably in shape, I will always have the option of stripping as a means of supporting myself, which is a security most people my age don't have.

Second, stripping has empowered me in a less-tangible way. I have learned lessons in sexuality and in human interactions that I would never have learned anywhere else. Moreover, because each shift is in some way unique, my body of knowledge on these subjects continually expands. Some of the lessons have been dispiriting: the heart-wrenching feeling of watching an inexperienced dancer struggle against a pushy customer. Some lessons are eye-opening: the realization that many dancers will do anything for the right price, and that many more men do not consider themselves to be disloyal to their significant other when they engage in sexual activity within the confines of a strip club. When looked at exclusively, these types of lessons paint a rather gloomy picture of a world not ruled by love and compassion but by the ruthless pursuit of sex and money.

On the other hand, I have been empowered on a basic level because stripping has given me a forum to celebrate my sexual, sensual self for profit. I really can't explain how I feel when I'm on stage, beyond saying that I feel like the most beautiful, sexy, powerful woman on the planet at that moment. Just in the act of dancing on stage and giving lap dances, I have gained confidence in my sexuality and in my control of my body as a sexual being. I know what sexy is and I can be sexy whenever I want. I can turn it on and off like a faucet, and I can bring people to the brink of their own state of sexual desire without giving anything real of myself.

If a woman is able to abstain from the "stripper lifestyle"--consumption of drugs & alcohol, habitual shopping, promiscuity, and general laziness, much can be gained in this business.