Naked Lives

Download or read book Naked Lives written by Mindy S. Bradley-Engen and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-07-26 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is stripping good or bad for the women who do it? According to sociologist Mindy S. Bradley-Engen, there's no simple answer. An exotic dancer's experiences can be both empowering and degrading: at times a dancer can feel like a goddess, at times ashamed and dirty. Drawing on extensive interviews as well as her own experiences as an exotic dancer, Bradley-Engen shows that strippers' work experiences are shaped by the types of establishments—the different worlds—in which they work. 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 offers a fascinating, thought-provoking consideration for both academics and general readers.