Exotic Dancing Is Not A Career

With such a competitive job market, and unemployment at record highs, many women are considering exotic dancing as a way to keep afloat. As someone who has worked in strip clubs across the country, I would suggest stripping is fantastic, temporary means to earn income, but not a career.

The Pro's
Exotic dancers have the potential to earn an insane about of money in a relatively short period of time. If she is attractive, friendly and a hard worker, she can easily earn a six figure income at a top notch club. Professional strippers also enjoy a highly flexible schedule, and can often choose how many days they want to work. Another advantage to exotic dancing is that gentlemen's clubs offer multiple shifts, which means entertainers can work either days or nights. Lately, the trend seems to be that dancers travel the country, working a few days at each club, and then taking a few days off to relax.

One of the best advantages to working as a stripper is working as an independent contractor. Women who work in strip clubs usually do not have to fill out a W-2 form, nor have taxes taken from their check. However; most adult clubs will provide the dancer with a W-9 form at the end of the year, where she will have to account for a small portion of her reported earnings. The good news is that exotic dancers can write off their costumes, travel expenses, and even gas if they keep track of their records.

The Con's
After working in adult clubs for nearly 15 years as a manager, I can tell you with 100% accuracy that exotic dancing is both a physically and mentally draining job. Imagine working on your feet all night and dealing with obnoxious men, who do nothing but criticize your body. Add to this frustration internal cat fights amongst girls, and intense drama which is highly prevalent at strip clubs. Another sad, but realistic fact about many exotic dancers (not all) is that they rarely move on to do other things.

A lot of girls are so hooked on making fast cash, working a traditional job for less pay is just too much to ask.I can't blame the dancers; it's a pretty difficult transition to go from making $500.00 daily, to a few hundred a week at a corporate job. Of course, alcohol and other drug addiction seems almost the norm at many adult clubs.

Because these women are working in such a stressful and competitive environment, self-esteem and depression are often coped with by non-healthy self medication. I've seen an unbelievably, vast amount of exotic dancers demand a drink from the bar before beginning their shift. One of the biggest con's to working as a stripper is in the area of relationships.

While some girls are married and have kids, a great many dancers are single, or involved in an unhealthy relationships. My theory is that most men who are dating a stripper, and not in the industry, eventually request the girl to quit her exotic dancing job. As a result, the relationship is a non-starter, and the dancer settles for men who are not in her best interest. Finally, another problem which occurs is that it's very difficult to function in the real world, once a stripper finishes her shift.

Because strip clubs are often fast paced, and earning money is the bottom line, exotic dancers can sometimes have difficulty distinguishing between working, and what's appropriate in society.

My Advice:
If you are truly thinking about working as an exotic dancer, look at the opportunity as a temporary way to earn income. For too long, and too many ways, strippers get stuck in the industry, and are ill prepared to face the real challenges of saving money and preparing for the future. Take the money you earn and save up as much as you can. Stripping is also a fantastic way to accomplish short term goals; such as finishing college, and paying off bills.

The last thing you want is to work dancing for years, and have nothing to show for it once you've left the stage for good. Exotic dancing can be a temporary solution to financial obstacles, but can create long term problems if you treat it as a career.