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"The Perfect Patron: Strip Joint Pointers
I find that often when people visit strip joints for the first time they're actually pretty nervous - either that or their behavior is unintentionally offensive simply because they have no idea what kind of environment they're really in. In light of that, I thought I'd try to give you a head start so you can have a great time - and so can the dancers.
First of all, budget your money carefully. Plan on spending some. This is a service we provide; sitting around gawking without ever tipping or buying dances is kind of tacky. You don't go to a restaurant if you can't afford a meal. What you're doing is taking advantage of someone's services without compensating them for a job well done. Along the same lines, sit at a table and not at the stage if you don't plan to tip. Sitting at the stage forces the dancer to perform for free - it's mooching. If you catch the wrong dancer on the wrong night of the wrong week of the month it may get you a lapful of whatever you're drinking.
Remember, you're not the first. A sincere compliment really is appreciated. Sure, we all hear how beautiful we are whenever we work, but if you mean it we can tell, and it can still make our day. However, you're not the first to tell us we're smart or to look at our eyes instead of our bodies (it's a titty bar, not an eyeball bar, for Pete's sake. When I was working nude I used to occasionally yell "LOOK AT IT!!!" to the eye-gazing Lotharios), or to 'treat us like a lady' (please...) or to respect us for who we 'really' are (peddle that 'I see the real you' stuff at the church singles social). Not only are you the thousandth person who's told us that, you're the seven-hundred-and-fiftieth to assume they were the first. We just laugh about stuff like that. Don't tell a stripper how surprised you are at her elegance or intelligence. All that really says is that you had such a low opinion of her and everyone like her to begin with that even her being functional is a surprise. DO tell her what you like about her. DO chat with her, tell her jokes, ask her about her day. Chances are she's in the business because she's a people person. You'd kind of have to be, wouldn't you think?
The stripper doesn't lose her hearing (Stripper-pattern deafness) or become stupid (the tragic Top Down Syndrome) when she's onstage: her IQ doesn't go down when her clothes come off; whether yours does or not is another story. She can tell you're talking about her, and turning slightly away and saying things about her to your friends under your breath won't hide what you're doing. She's not a zoo exhibit. She's a person, and someone who is providing you with a very specialized service - one you should appreciate, because it's a privilege. If you don't like the way one dancer looks, that's no reason for you to stop treating her like a human being. Not being physically attractive to you is not a transgression. If another girl is more your type, go tell her so, and buy a dance.
If you appreciate her beauty or sensuality enough to want to tip her, don't hold on to the dollar and tell her to 'work for it.' Shouting commands at her won't go over very well, either. She's not a trained seal. You've paid for her time and attention; now let her do her job. Where else would you hold someone's wages just out of their reach until they pleased you? If you want her to come over and dance for you while she's onstage, put your bill up on the rail or hold it up between two fingers, where she can see it. She'll give you a better show if you haven't put her on the defensive.
If you don't want to buy a dance from someone, don't duck your head and try not to make eye contact. We're just like your third-grade teacher: we can still see you. Don't say "maybe later" unless you mean it. All that does is make the dancer waste her time and yours getting rejected by you over and over, which no nice guy intends. Instead, a polite smile and "No, thanks" work splendidly. We hear 'no' all the time, and it doesn't bother us. What does bother us is someone who never intends to say yes but keeps us coming back because he can't bring himself to turn us down. We're there to do a job. We don't need to be humored.
Some dancers don't mind talking about their private lives or their sexual preferences, but it's just as intrusive to ask a stripper about those things directly as it is anyone else. Assuming that my life is an open book because you can see my breasts is quite a large and reckless leap of logic. "Are your breasts real?" is the single most frequently asked and most presumptuous question I can think of, followed closely by "Is that your natural color?" or its bastard cousin "Does the carpet match the drapes?" It's not a matter of vanity or shame. It's about not liking for people to assume that they have the right to ask a stripper questions that they wouldn't dare ask anyone else. For the same reason, it's also very bad form to ask one dancer personal questions about another (i.e. "How old is she?" "Are her breasts real?" "Is she married?" "Does she have kids?").
Probably my biggest pet peeve: DON'T ASK A DANCER HER REAL NAME. Not because she's afraid to tell you or ashamed of who she really is, but because prying for information that isn't given is rude. "What's your real name?" really says, "Don't feed me that line, sister. What you've told me isn't good enough. I want special treatment. I'm not like the rest of these easy targets. I see through you stripper types. Drop the act, cookie." Stripper names are part of the fantasy. You don't somehow reach a more genuine plane of interaction with a stripper by asking her to divulge all of her personal information when you've barely been properly introduced. All you do is insult her by blundering up to her and letting her know you've already assumed that she's a fraud. If you're so bent on cutting through the crap and not respecting people's nicknames, try the same thing on a Hell's Angel sometime. If you spend some time with her, though, if you buy a few dances and talk a little about yourself, there's a very good chance she'll tell you on her own. Part of what I love about my job is meeting people. I'm just as likely to make a friend inside the club as out - and bare, glitter-covered breasts are great icebreakers - but relationships can't be forced. If it makes you feel better to start out on more even footing, ask her to call you Diesel, or Turbo, or Thorax.
Don't assume that just because a woman is naked in front of you that she's willing to go further if you raise the price. Just because she's willing to do some things that civilian girls aren't doesn't mean that she's willing to do anything for money. Asking to break the rules of the club by allowing you to touch her or asking her to touch herself and telling her that you won't tell is also very rude. You're assuming that whatever integrity she has is enforced from outside and that she would break the rules if she knew she wasn't going to be caught. Strippers do have boundaries. Don't violate them. That's not how you treat a lady - and if you've been treating her as if you assume she is not a lady that simply shows that you aren't a gentleman. The true measure of a person is how they behave when no one is watching. Just because you're in a place that's unlike your daily life, throwing your manners away only paints an unflatteringly accurate self-portrait. It's really just a matter of respect: if you don't believe that what they're doing is respectable, then what are you doing there?
There is, however, no such thing as respecting her 'too much' to keep availing yourself of her services. When a customer gets to know a stripper and then suddenly tells her that he's grown to think too highly of her to get dances, it doesn't flatter or touch her. That customer immediately becomes a total disappointment, someone who has completely missed the point. Do you respect your waiter friend too much to let him serve you? Do you refuse to eat what your chef friend cooks? A customer who becomes a real friend never loses sight of the fact that she's got a job to do and that it isn't degrading to her at all. He appreciates and respects what she's good at. Even if he grows to like and admire other things about her he still remembers that she's a good dancer and appreciates watching her. She's your friend now, yes - your NAKED friend! How great is THAT?
A friendly tip: Don't blow on her. It sounds strange, but you'd be amazed at how many people think of it all by themselves. First of all, it's ridiculous (think how you'd feel if you asked for a blow job and your girlfriend actually blew...). Second of all, it says loud and clear, "I know I'm not allowed to touch you but I just can't rest until I stimulate your skin somehow." It's unpleasant, and the reactions you're going to inspire range from amusement or apathy to pronounced irritation and perhaps even murderous rage. Arousal isn't in there, and here's another hint: if you've had even one drink, chances are you have that sexy, rancid alcohol/vomit breath the ladies swoon over. Yummy. That's the way to stand out from the crowd: "Girls, as soon as I smelled his reek I knew he was different from the other guys..."
If the rules of the club say not to touch the dancers, don't do it with your money, either. Don't stroke her with the bill. Again, it's a violation of her body integrity - assault, in other words. You've gone from being a nice guy to a sneaky, feel-copping sleazebag. You're observing the letter of the law but still trying to insinuate yourself onto her. Don't. For the same reason, don't lick your dollar. Think about this next time you want to 'seduce' her by putting your money in your mouth (like drooling on a dollar bill makes her hot - please): one of the larger news programs did a study a while back and came up with the statistic that something like 96% of money has fecal bacteria on it. It's like licking the wet, grimy floor of a bus station bathroom. Mmmmm...
Things dancers think are ridiculous:
1. Clacking the barbell in your tongue over your lips and teeth as if to suggest that you might assume that I would find the idea of you dragging it across my body arousing;
2. Licking or performing fake fellatio on your fingers, the mouth of your beer bottle, the rim of your glass or a dollar, or simply flicking your tongue obscenely at me in the universal "cunnilingus" motion. It's offensive, it's disgusting, it's silly, and it's never going to happen;
3. Bucking your hips at me like a boar in rut while you sit in your chair (many people like to add to the effect by incorrectly mouthing the words of the song to which they're humping);
4. Any other sex-related gesture you might be tempted to make - no matter how original or clever you might think it is. It doesn't make me think of sex - it just makes me think less of you.
5. We also don't want you to take your shirt off and parody our dancing. Leave that to the professionals. We don't come to your job and pretend to squeegee the windshield back at you from the inside while we sing along with the radio, after all...
Things dancers think are fabulous:
1. Spending money. We love that.
2. Telling jokes. Having a good time. We love that, too.
3. Order a couple of pizzas. We'll all sit at your table.
4. Money. Spend it. We love that. Did I say that already?
5. Bring girls. Buy dances for them, and drinks for everyone. Everyone will love you, and you'll die of happiness.
It's really pretty simple: the bottom line is that you've come for a specialized service and a good time. You're not slumming. The dancers deserve the same kind of treatment as anyone else. We're not servants, we're not second-class citizens, we're not stupid, pathetic or deaf. If you come into the club looking to be excited by women you can't respect, it reflects poorly on you and on us not at all. We're not violating our moral codes. Are you?
The best-equipped dancers have thick skins and warm hearts. The bullshit rolls right off, and the good shit stays with us forever. We LOVE our customers. We love to make you laugh and to turn you on, to throw our arms around you when you come in the door and to know that we stay with you long after you leave. Sometimes I look around the bar at everyone and it looks for a minute like one of those old-time photographs: I see everyone laughing and raising their drinks, money changing hands and beautiful women everywhere I look, and I stand there in the middle of it and think, it doesn't get much better than this. Not really.
If you go about it right, you can have some of the best times of your life and meet some amazing people in your local strip club. Or it can be a crappy, degrading experience - for you. It'll just be a minor nuisance for her, even if you are a jerk. Sexual recreation is about delight and pleasure, not degradation and shame. As long as you know you're not doing anything wrong, then just sit back and enjoy the show. We're good at what we do."
Copyright 2000 - 2003 Alysabeth Clements
Alysabeth's Feminist Stripper Site: The Perfect Patron: Strip Joint Pointers