Naked Lives : Inside the Worlds of Exotic Dance

Is stripping good or bad for the women who do it? According to sociologist and former stripper Mindy S. Bradley-Engen, there's no simple answer. Her experiences as an exotic dancer were both empowering and degrading: at times she felt like a goddess, at times she felt ashamed and dirty. Using her own experiences and extensive interviews with other dancers, Bradley-Engen shows that strippers' work experiences are shaped by the worlds of exotic dance--by the types of establishments where the dancing is performed. A typology of strip clubs emerges: the hustle club, the show club, and the social club, each with its own distinct culture, expectations, and challenges; each creating circumstances in which stripping can be good, bad, or indifferent. Going beyond the warring rhetorics of exploitation and empowerment, this book provides a rich and complex account of the realities of exotic dance and is a fascinating, thought-provoking read for both academic and general readers.