“Behind the Curtain”: Strip Clubs and the Management of Competition for Tips

Abstract

Ethnographers have amassed a large body of literature on exotic dance and strip clubs. However, this literature contains little information about strip club managers and the work they perform "behind the curtain." This article draws on participant observation in strip clubs and semistructured interviews with managers of strip clubs to explore how managers must work to mitigate the consequences of a payment and staffing structure that exacerbates competition between dancers for tips. Managers are keenly aware of the negative effects of competition between dancers, and they employ motivational tactics to manage the dancers through economic precarity, such as normalizing uncertainty, encouraging self-blame, and using "teamwork" discourses to inculcate a sense of solidarity among dancers and to diffuse the competitive environment in strip clubs. This article reveals how managers strive to normalize and legitimate the precarious work of exotic dancing, contributing to the literatures on exotic dance and tipped employment.

Negotiating racialized organizational spaces and intimacies: An ethnography of playpen strip club

“…Recent literature from the organizational lens focuses on stripping as both sex and service work in the global economy (Grandy & Mavin, 2014; Hardy & Sanders, 2015; Mavin & Grandy, 2013; Mount, 2018; Sanders, 2005; Sanders & Hardy, 2012, 2014). In the United States, stripping can be informally organized but generally occurs within strip clubs, a multibillion dollar sector of the sex industry (Thomas, 2021).…”

“…In the United States, stripping can be informally organized but generally occurs within strip clubs, a multibillion dollar sector of the sex industry (Thomas, 2021). While they may vary in size, location, and clientele, these venues are mostly patronized, owned, and managed by men (Mount, 2018). Furthermore, Whiteness as the standard of sexual attractiveness in stripping is well‐documented (Brooks, 2010; Egan, 2006; Frank, 2002; Trautner, 2005), demonstrating how strip clubs and dancers exist in a racialized and classed hierarchy.…”

Undue harms against adult dancers: Regulation of strip club labor based on spurious research, claims, and stigma

“…More importantly, alcohol regulations may also limit a dancer's ability to be protected by the clubs and to secure financial freedom; an ironic outcome of regulations meant to protect instead of harm, due to being based in bad science. In one study (Anasti, 2018), a dancer participant discussed how she believes that alcohol prohibition materially limits a dancer's ability to make more money—an especially crucial factor considering that most dancers are independent contractors and pay the clubs to work every shift (Mount, 2018; Person, 2016). When alcohol is not a source of revenue, dancers become the primary source of revenue and commodity for clubs (Anasti, 2018; Deshotels & Forsyth, 2008), putting them in precarious relationships with clubs.…”

“…When alcohol is not a source of revenue, dancers become the primary source of revenue and commodity for clubs (Anasti, 2018; Deshotels & Forsyth, 2008), putting them in precarious relationships with clubs. Dancers report multifarious examples of financial exploitation by clubs such as indebting dancers, forcing payment of tips to club employees, and disparate treatment of dancers of color (Deshotels & Forsyth, 2008; Law, 2012; Mount, 2018; Silva et al, 2022). Financial autonomy is an essential moderating factor against trafficking, coercion, and abuse (Amnesty, 2016; The Centre, 2020), and when dancers have both power in their financial relationship with clubs and more general financial stability, they are more protected from exploitation (Vanwesenbeeck, 2017).…”

“…Financial autonomy is an essential moderating factor against trafficking, coercion, and abuse (Amnesty, 2016; The Centre, 2020), and when dancers have both power in their financial relationship with clubs and more general financial stability, they are more protected from exploitation (Vanwesenbeeck, 2017). Likewise, in another study (Deshotels & Forsyth, 2008), an interviewed strip club manager expressed that because the club's profit is generated from alcohol sales, this source of profit motivates him to protect and side with dancers on his shift: “I make my money off the drinks the men buy, but they will not be here if the girls aren't here.” Dancers rely on management and club staff to enforce rules and security, and without that support, they are left to be their own security (Mount, 2018). In two studies (Anasti, 2018; Deshotels & Forsyth, 2008), participants also stated that alcohol creates more avenues for generating profit, like talking with customers over drinks and giving dancers more autonomy and freedom in their work.…”