Love the One You're With:
Commitment Phobia and the Unionization of Strippers

I make no pretense to being an authority on unions or unionization. My lack of knowledge about unions makes me typical of most strippers, and therefore possibly more valid as a representative on the topic of unionizing strippers.

My purpose here is to describe many strippers' perceptions of unions. My observations stem from over eighteen years spent in the dressing rooms of strip joints, primarily in Atlanta but also in New York, Los Angeles, Denver, Philadelphia, Nashville, Florida, New Jersey, Ohio, Connecticut, and Canada. I have worked in upscale and downscale strip joints, in ones which served liquor and ones which did not, in ones in which the dancers went completely nude and in ones in which they went down only to bikinis, in private clubs and in public bars. I have not worked in peep shows or in Las Vegas casinos or in live sex shows, but I have worked in a wide enough variety of clubs to have met dancers of many different ethnic backgrounds, levels of education, age groups, and earning levels. I have been, for the most part, a stripper, but have also been a strip joint waitress, bartender, DJ, costumer, and even a bar manager.

The reactions of dancers to unionization in 1980 bear similarity to reactions I hear now, in spite of the overwhelming change in public opinion toward strip joints which occurred in the late 1980's (at that time strip joints began to be perceived not only as fronts for other businesses-primarily bordellos and money-laundering enterprises-but as money-making enterprises in their own right). As such, strippers began to be perceived less as fringe criminals and more as laborers. To the extent that this perception of the business has changed, so have the self-perceptions of the women entering the business changed. Some of them now see themselves as entrepreneurs, as free spirits, or as students, rather than as mere losers forced into a semi-criminal lifestyle by economic deprivation. I see a larger percentage of dancers putting themselves through school and investing their earnings, either in stocks or in real estate.

At the first club where I was employed in 1980, there was talk of creating an organization of strippers for the purpose of supporting them in conflicts with management. At that time strippers did not make as much money as they do now. Few of the strippers at that club were remotely interested. Some of them, in fact, were horrified, believing that they would be fired without recourse if they even listened to the women who were trying to organize the group. A few fliers were passed around, but no one urged me to consider it. I was told by other strippers that this had happened before, and it never came to anything. Most of them said, "What do I care, anyway? I won't be working here next year."

Since then I have heard of several other attempts, and with the remarkable exception of the Lusty Lady actions in San Francisco this year, the reactions have remained unenthusiastic. Over the years, although the status of strippers had changed somewhat, they continued to regard themselves as in between real jobs, and few of them were more than cursorily interested in what the advantages of unionization might be, much less what might be required to obtain those advantages.

1. Enculturation. The vast majority of strippers do not come from union families. Most of them know what they know of unions from conservatively-influenced movies and news, where unions are portrayed, at best, as achieved only through deprivation and often violence, and, at worst, as evil influences which put the employers out of business. The end results of unionization are rarely chronicled, although the events leading up to them are.
2. Unwillingness to fight for rights in what is generally thought of as a temporary job. Strippers often perceive themselves as working only until they get an apartment, a car, or an education. Few strippers have any intention of doing the job for more than a year or two after these goals have been achieved. Viewing it not as a career and as only temporary and stigmatized employment, they rarely wish to endure the hardships which are sometimes necessary in order to unionize.
3. Advantages of mobility. Some strippers enjoy the freedom of travelling from city to city to work, or merely from club to club. In this way they get to see the world and to avoid burnout. They do not wish to accrue seniority, benefits, or rights. They wish only to not be tied down. Workers such as these see little priority in banding together.
4. Competitive nature of the job. All house dancers are competing amongst themselves. Although the competition is usually friendly, and frequently thought of as competing with one's own goals rather than as competing with the other dancers, this does not create a bond strong enough to unite them. Many employers exploit this competition precisely in order to maintain division among the dancers, through favoritism and tipout reports.
5. Stigmatization and public record. In some cities, dancers have to register with the city to work. Many dancers will not work in those cities because they do not wish to have a public record of their employment, which can cause problems with later careers or with the IRS. In order to participate in unions, they would have to make a record of their employment.
6. Problems peculiar to bars. Most bar managers are former bar employees and pass down the wisdom they received as underlings-"Don't report more than you have to." (The advantage of this to the bar owner is that he then pays less in social security taxes for employees, which range around 15% on unreported tip income for the employee who does not claim them at work.) This puts dancers in the position of being criticized if they wish to claim their income anywhere near accurately, since no one else does. Bartenders and waitresses experience the same problems. Also, among bar employees, the advantages of working in bars are often stressed by management: relatively flexible hours, easily scheduled vacation time, casualness of the job, freedom from being fully taxed, and great income. The lack of benefits and problems with credit reports and housing acquirement which can result from the same are rarely stressed. Also, few beginning dancers, being mostly very young, have any concept of the power of the IRS to take over their lives if they are discovered to have committed tax fraud.

In short, if dancers are to be unionized, each of these issues will have to be addressed. There is no way dancers will give up the perceived, and frequently real, advantages of their employment the way it is now. Those who desire to unionize would have to point out advantages which would outweigh these concerns. What those might be, I would not know. I am enculturated in the same ways as the dancers I describe. I personally love the mobility and flexibility of my job. I perceive myself more as a salesperson than as an entertainer, more as an independent contractor than as an employee. I would rather make my own investments, pay my own taxes, and endure the mistrust and abuses of my employers than submit to the structure of a union.

I do not claim to speak for all dancers. I know a great deal about the Lusty Lady case, and I applaud their achievement. Strip joint owners are extremely powerful people with respect to their employees, and it is good to see the employees forcing the owners to face their initiatives. I do not think that dancers should always have to quit or move on in search of better working conditions, if stability is what they desire. I do, however, represent the large majority of dancers who prefer things as they are, not because they are perfect, but because the income is relatively good-in fact, extremely good for unskilled labor-and the responsibilities are low. I am not irresponsible with regard to my commitments, but commitment to my current job is out of the question for me. Where I have no commitment, I desire none.

I am very concerned that strippers and other sex workers should have the same employee rights as other laborers in their communities. Because I care, I sometimes worry about my lack of commitment to improving working conditions in my chosen field. I worry not so much about those who are of my temperament and inclination, but about those who begin stripping with the intention to be career dancers, and want the same rights as those other laborers. However, the average dancer never considers herself to be is a career dancer-as I am, although I never intended to be (I am still saving up for my next apartment!)-until so late in her career that her dancing days may be nearly done. Not only that, but it is difficult to perceive, from within this industry, which rights other laborers do have. The greatest concern a union might answer is that of medical insurance, which most dancers can actually afford, whether they choose to buy it or not. Most dancers are aware that people in other professions, most of which are not unionized, can be just as easily replaced, sexually harassed, or exploited as strippers can be. They will take some convincing.

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