Stripping the Illusion Lap Dancing: Exposing the Reality of ... - Object

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Object: Challenging Objectification “If the managers liked you then you‟d be put in one of the central clubs, where all the lawyers and businessmen and city boys go. That‟s where you can make real money. But it‟s also where you find more than just lap dancing, if you know what I mean. It‟s a competitive environment, not a very nice environment. They always have more girls working than they actually need. So loads of the dancers get pissed or wasted on coke before their shift so that they lower their inhibitions and perform better... The people who run these clubs, they‟re not nice people. They‟re scary. From time to time these shadowy figures would come in, and you just knew that they were the people in charge of it all. I never wanted to rock the boat.” Karen 31 Links to Prostitution “There was a clear link between the lap-dancing clubs and the brothels, although not formal. It is known that taxi drivers (including licensed black cabs) can receive commission for taking groups of men to lap-dancing clubs... I think that the fact that the men had come from the lap-dancing clubs meant that they had already stopped seeing us as human or individual... [...] There was a very aggressive „pack mentality‟ and they would often be very rude and would be grabbing, slapping and touching us in the main seating area... The overwhelming feeling that I got was that they really hated us I was contacted by the brothel owner and she told me that she was planning to open up a lap-dancing club. She had previously been prosecuted for running brothels so she was aware that it was risky to continue operating her saunas.[...] Her proposal was that, once opened the lap-dancing club would act as a front for prostitution and it 31 From the forthcoming book Stripped: The Reality of Lap Dancing. Jennifer Hayashi Danns with Sandrine Leveque. 12
Object: Challenging Objectification was made very clear that the women would be expected to have sex with punters either on or off premises." „Liane‟ ex-prostituted woman 32 “It‟s the same as going to a prostitute, but [men] wouldn‟t think of it like that. They just think, it‟s what lads do, and their girlfriends think it‟s OK, and society thinks it‟s a bit of fun... And it isn‟t. But because everyone thinks it is, how can they see it isn‟t?” „Ellie‟ 33 “Club regulations stated that it was necessary to remain one foot away from the customers at all times. But it‟s laughable to suggest that this was abided by... Not touching, not exposing your genitals, not allowing men to touch you is the exception rather than the rule. [...] In a culture where you are literally selling yourself for cash and you are working on commission, then you‟d have to work very hard indeed to stop people going for extra money if they know they can make it. Since there are no incentives to encourage dancers not to break the rules, and the customers are always prepared to pay more to get more, then licensing terms will always be broken.” „Lucy‟ 34 “The fact is that if you break the rules, you make more money. If one dancer starts breaking the rules then the pressure is on other dancers to do the same. Otherwise a bloke would think, „Well, that dancer charged me £20 and stayed three feet away, but that one charged me just the same and she put her breasts in my mouth and sat on my crotch‟...Eventually you start to wonder, „what is the difference between me and a prostitute?‟” „Elena‟ 35 32 OBJECT interview 33 Walter, N., 2010. Living Dolls. London; Virago Press. p.46 34 OBJECT interview 13
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Stripping the Illusion Lap Dancing: Exposing the Reality of ... - Object

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