Slickpeter posted an article titled "The real reason strippers strip" which gives a top-ten list... except that all ten reasons are "for the money". He then goes on to say that people on this site who complain about this just aren't being realistic or consistent with the way they treat other service providers (waitresses, doctors, etc.). I completely agree.

On the other hand, however, there is a very wide range of behaviors on display in SCs. I think us PLs are justified complaining about certain things from ROBs... miscounting songs, doing extras without discussing the price and then insisting on an above-market fee, demanding a bigger tip, etc. But I also have a couple of favs who will sit with me for hours, even after I've told them I don't have any money and won't be getting any dances. I've had dancers offer to buy me drinks after they've cleaned my wallet. It's a small thing, but it shows that they at least have the marketing savvy (just like a waitress does) to know that being nice might lead to future business. Definitely a step above the ROBs.

Obviously money is the driving tool. But there can be other reasons. My 1st ATF, the most popular girl in the club,said that she also needed to be wanted. She was single. No kids. No steady bf. "I need to feel wanted and loved for myself." Hard to believe that a girl that attractive didn't have a regular BF but I believed her. We carried on a GFE relationship for 2 years.She claimed to be BI-Polar.She finally came to her senses and quit the business. shekitout and I still wonder what she is doing now.

Some years back they had a talk show where a stripper who was a genius and her father was a genius were featured. I believe the lady's IQ was something absurd like 190.

Did she need the money? No. Do customers want to believe she dances for the money? Could they think otherwise even if she was worth tens of millions? I doubt it. Once people are programmed it is almost impossible to change their opinion.

Anyway, the host kept focusing on 2 facts: First she was too intelligent to take her clothes off for money. Second she was too hot to need the affirmation customers could provide. In his opinion it was insane for her to subject herself to being treated like a sex object.

Basically her articulated reasoning was something like she was tied of being appreciated for her mind. She wanted pawing and drooling men who didn't give a bit about her advanced degrees or mental abilities or career; boys please just appreciate this fine ass and titties.

Strippers wouldn't do it if weren't for the money, but that's completely different from saying they only do it for the money. They obviously don't. They strip for a thousand different reasons. Each girl gets something different out of it (or hopes she will). Money might be the only motivation they all have in common, but for some, it almost becomes secondary.

Strippers who act like money is all they're interested in aren't giving their customers value and deserve to be scorned.

agreed chandler

And here I thought they did it to meet guys...

And here I thought they did it to meet me...

I'm thinking now there are three types of strippers... actually, that reminds me of a joke. There are two types of people, those who divide people into two types and those who don't... okay, end of levity break. My three types are:

(1) ROBs who treat each customer like they will only see him once, and therefore must extract the most $$$ by any means - the pages of this website of full of such examples.

(2) Marketing savvy ones who at least understand that being nice and treating the PLs like they are important brings in more $$$ in the long run - again, many examples on this site, like the dancer who greets a guy as he comes in with "honey, i've missed you!" and a big kiss, then later tells her fav custie that the first guy is an asshole;

(3) Those who are open to forming actual friendships with regulars, and not just so they can take advantage of them. One of my favs likes to take me to the VIP just so we can talk and she can avoid the "finales" every 4 songs where all dancers who aren't in the VIP have to get up on stage. It doesn't hurt that I rub her back and shoulders while she's sitting on my lap. She doesn't charge me by the song, but just says "whatever you want to give me." Recently she's acted like she didn't want to go... the day shift would end, but she would stay with me well after, knowing it wasn't going to produce any more $$$. I thought that was sweet. Okay, I'm a rank sentimentalist... cut me some slack.

Because they dropped out of high school, on meth, have no morals, and are whores

What greenvegas said + they got knocked up early on and have screaming babies to feed.

I know that my current ATF dances mostly because of the sexual satisfaction she obtains from doing dances with me. She told me so.

One thing my first ATF, the one who made her own outfits, said was that part of the reason she danced was because she loved the artistry involved. She certainly could have done something other than dance naked for men (and she did, unsuccessfully, for a time), but she loved that aspect of the job. Another of my favorites is a pure exhibitionist and has to show off, even though she is probably too fat for her own good. I doubt I know anyone who does it only for the money.

Spy, you may be onto something there ...

I think it's "all about the money" only as much as any of my past jobs were. I hated having to get up at dawn, give over my entire day to some Dilbert-Pointy-Headed-Boss type dude, and never have a social life. And yet I did, and sometimes I even did it when I didn't HAVE to, and sometimes I even did it when I just forgot that I had already done it. I got into the groove, got resentful, but saw no way out. I just kept on doing what was familiar, what was easy to arrange, what I found a little bit of success at, in the first place. I "fell into" it, hated it, but continued to do it only because I was "all about the money."

If you combine the following characteristics, you'll get a stripper in most North American contexts.

++ Female, physically at least "appealing enough"
++ Able to "stomach it"
++ Lack of any other longer-term career opportunities or plans
++ Greater interest in "social control" tactics than the average person, and probably a greater skill in it
++ Monetarily needy (perhaps because of an addiction, or simply because she has no other income); the "degree" is all relative, and some girls "need" $20 so bad they'll do four blowjobs for it, while others "need" $100,000 and consider anything less to be chump-change.

I would also suggest, the following have something to do with it:

++ Family / upbringing / acculturation that subtly approves of, or pushes toward, the idea that she is not a worthwhile human, except when she is using her body to please males (nobody ever valued her opinion)
++ Childhood / young adult-hood lack of capacity for longer-term programming and planning, because of (A) financial hardship or (B) lack of belief in self, or lack of belief that "the system" would allow her to bring about positive change


Subsequent to getting STARTED in stripping, then she gets ADDICTED to it, sometimes. The quick cash, the fact that she gets APPROVAL automatically while also getting paid; and, best of all, the fact that her hours are roughly her own, and her "party time" out with alcohol and strangers (mostly men, mostly trying to grope her) are money-INcome rather than money-OUTgo propositions.

For most, it's a fall-back position. But it still might be a fall-back that they use for 99% of their employment.

Of course it's about the money.
It's their job.

But there are many complexities and nuances as we've all found. Where else could a dancer match the money on a cash basis? No where (although some bartenders and waitresses come close). Dancer's I know who've left the business frequently complain about their low wages regardless of whether they end up in a low skill job or something requiring a degree!

Talking with former dancers who are contemplating returning for the big payouts I've heard two common themes when they hesitate about getting back into it:
1) they can do something better.
2) they don't want to degrade themselves anymore.
Both answers sound similar but reveal a different mindset.

From many long, drawn out, often drunken conversations (getting beyond the stripper shit), here are some of the other reasons they've told me they like to be dancers:
1. Bored at home.
2. Drink for free.
3. Flirting with men.
4. Being around other women so they can flirt with them.
5. Like controlling and manipulating men.
5. Don't like desk jobs (i.e. secretarial).
6. They like to show off or be or be an exibitionist.
7. Access to drugs.

But the most common rationale expressed about their work:
"Feed my babies." How more natural can you get?

Most of the successful dancers I've met have a good work ethic and skills that are transferable to other professions. Some take advantage of this--some don't.

all this time I thought they were stripping to help improve our economy

A new favorite of mine were talking in generalities when she volunteered "I really can't imagine going back to a real job because I make so much doing this. I know I should be saving but somehow you just keep living at a level like the money will be forever."

It struck me that she was more intelligent than the average stripper, and that I wanted to have sex with her for money.

If I'm ever a solo practicioner and looking to staff my office, I may consider hiring current- or ex-strippers. I don't think it would be a negative on a resume, depending on how she presents it. And since a lot of my work would be NOT behind a desk -- running errands, making sure big clients feel happy and comfortable, keeping the plants watered -- I don't really see that a stripper-type would bridle against it. And then, for me, it would be great to have "access" to the inside stories about where, when, how to get the best entertainment in a sector which I am known to patronize. :)

Then again, ya play with fire, ya might get burnt ... :(

"all this time I thought they were stripping to help improve our economy"

I wonder how sales of clear heels were before they became normal stripper shoes?