The Truth About Exotic Dancing

There are a lot of misconceptions about exotic dancers (or strippers if you prefer). It can be hard to tell the facts from the myths and looking online isn’t really helpful a lot of the time. When you search for the truth about strippers, you often just find a lot of degrading comments, false information, and a holier-than-thou discussion about morals.

The thing is, most exotic dancers aren’t that much different from the rest of us. They are smart and goal oriented and full of personality and charm. They have lived a variety of different kinds of lives and not all of them come from low-income backgrounds.

If you really want to know the truth about exotic dancers, start here!

Myth: Strippers hate their job and just do it for the money

Some people think that exotic dancers only do this job as a last resort. But the truth is, many of them do it just because they love dancing. The money is a bonus. For some, it’s because they didn’t like their old jobs, but for a good majority of them, they just have a good time doing what they love to do and the fact that they get to make good money at it just makes it an easy choice for them.

Truth: Some strippers are parents and married!

Not all dancers are crazy and wild single women who love to party and stay out all night. Of course, some are like tht but about 10% of strippers are married and a little more than that (13.5%) have children.

Myth: Strippers are uneducated and this is the only job they can do

It’s long-standing “joke” that all strippers claim to be doing this job to pay for college. But, in fact, 1 in 3 erotic dancers really are going to college during the day and dancing at RI Dolls and other strip clubs at night. Dancers are often very well educated!

Truth: Dancers sometimes get health care benefits

For some reason, most people have the impression that strippers make millions, but don’t get the benefits of a “regular” job. Neither claims are true. The average stripper doesn’t make millions, and about 1 in 8 strippers get health insurance. An estimated 4% of erotic dancers also get vision insurance.

Myth: Exotic dancing is a temporary job

The average age of female strippers is between 23 and 24 yrs old, though there are dancers who stick it out much longer. Professionals have noticed a trend in the strip club industry, which is if a stripper continues dancing for more than 5 years, then she’ll never get out of the business. To break it down further, at any given time:

• 12% of strippers are in their first year
• 55% have been in the business for 1 – 5 years
• 19% of strippers have been dancing for 5 – 9 years
• 6% have made it through 20 or more years as a stripper

Truth: Not all exotic dancers make great money but lot of them do!

While strippers often make more money in one night than the average person does in an entire week, their pay isn’t always consistent. A girl’s pay at the end of her shift varies greatly by the time she worked, the day she worked, the customer turn-out that particular shift, and other variables. That’s why when you look at websites like PayScale.com, a stripper’s average salary is between $19,590 and $138,250 a year. Now that’s a wide range!

Myth: Stripping isn’t a real job

 86.6 % consider stripping to be a legitimate line of work. Considering the flack that strippers get sometimes when they tell someone what they do for a career, or the stripper-bashing that can be easily seen online, this statistic surprised me the greatest. Though, it makes me happy to know that deep down, the majority of citizens understand that stripping at RI Dolls or other strip clubs is a real job. Especially since it puts real money in the pockets of many girls each night!

Truth: Many dancers recommend stripping to friends

8 out of 9 strippers would recommend this gig to a friend. This goes to show that strippers really do enjoy their job, and think it’s good enough to get their friends in on the action!