Two Christian ministries, Hookers for Jesus and JC's Girls aim to "save" Las Vegas sex workers from their professions by introducing them to Christianity. [more inside]
posted by zarq on Apr 14, 2009 - 35 comments

No, I am not just trying to get your attention - there is a Vegan Strip club in Portland. Very much a clash of ethics for some, a great opportunity to 'spread the message' for others. [more inside]
posted by Megami on Mar 27, 2008 - 91 comments

Some blogs written by strippers (and a strip club DJ), focusing on their work. [more inside]
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim on Dec 30, 2007 - 85 comments

The Work of Carol Rambo. (Warning, these articles are all PDF or .doc format.) Carol Rambo is a professor of sociology who paid her way through school by working as an exotic dancer. Rambo has written articles on the sociology of strip clubs, drawing upon her own experience as an exotic dancer. In one article, Rambo writes about "the discourse of deviance" that exotic dancers use to "organize their identities" in a process Rambo calls "narrative resistance." In another article, she writes about the concept of old age as it affects exotic dancers. In a third article, drawing upon her own experiences as a "table dancer," Rambo writes about "Interactional strategies that table dancers use to cultivate counterfeit intimacy," and she concludes that dancers manage to "carve out an autonomous niche in an otherwise oppressive context." Also interesting is her article on growing up as the daughter of a mentally retarded mother, "On Loving and Hating My Mentally Retarded Mother."
posted by jayder on Oct 4, 2006 - 54 comments

Some vintage photographs of ladies trying out for dancing jobs at a South California club. They were taken from the late 1960s through to the early 1970s, and are part of a larger set of 400 or so Polaroids. There are some cool photos here. (No nudity, but it's probably not safe for work.)
posted by chunking express on Aug 25, 2006 - 24 comments

The lap dance deconstructed: It’s a relationship built on deception, of course, but the con at its center exerts a serious, subrational pull.
posted by oldleada on Apr 20, 2005 - 47 comments

The Moral Values Party With thousands of Republicans set to invade the city this summer, high-priced escorts and strippers are preparing for one grand old party. Agencies are flying in extra call girls from around the globe to meet the expected demand during the Aug. 30-Sept. 2 gathering at Madison Square Garden. "We have girls from London, Seattle, California, all coming in for that week," said a madam at a Manhattan escort service. "It's the week everyone wants to work." "It's going to be big," agreed one operator at a midtown escort service.

Now that's what I call moral clarity!!
posted by nofundy on Jun 30, 2004 - 64 comments

Pole dancing? It's the new Yoga. Just ask the people behind PoleTricks 101: "Women all around the country are finding out that pole dancing is a sexy way to entertain your man (or men!) Not only that, it's good exercise and just plain fun. PoleTricks 101 is dedicated to bring you the training, the equipment, and the satisfaction of dancing with the sexiest of all props... the pole!" Just $549.00... [via linkdump]
posted by feelinglistless on Mar 7, 2004 - 14 comments

Forget scholarships and pell grants, there's a new way to pay for college. For all the nubile college co-eds out there wondering how they are going to pay for their schooling with student aid being under-funded and costs increasing, strip clubs in Windsor, Ontario and in Detroit, Michigan are paying the way. The clubs will pay $1,500 to $2,000 in educational expenses per year to women or men who work three or four seven-hour shifts in their clubs. The money is on top of the $10 an hour that dancers are paid; in addition to cash they get from tips and private dances.

There's a catch though. In addition to jiggling more than their required class work, the dancers must also maintain a healthy, robust and voluptuous B average to receive the financial aid. Obviously this program is sexist in more ways than one, but Robert Katzman, owner of the clubs offering the program feels that "A girl who wants to better herself, who wants to progress, makes for a higher level entertainer."
posted by DragonBoy on Sep 17, 2003 - 39 comments

Koleen Brooks, in getting elected mayor of Georgetown, CO, was hardly the first to successfully transition from the stage to politics. But what makes her story unlike the high-profile successes of Ronald Reagan (and perhaps more akin to the that of Gov. Ventura both in notoriety and for their "independent" political affiliation) is that her stage had a metal pole and lots of nudity (NSFW). In a recent interview, Koleen Brooks discusses her political forays cut short for now by a recall election last month.

There is certainly nothing new about controversial celebrity characters being elected to office, especially local office, and as the mayor of Inglis, FL has demonstrated with her anti-Satan proclamation, it is easy to obtain national notoriety while remaining well within the bounds of "traditional conservative values". Nevertheless, might Brooks's successful candidacy be the beginning of a more significant trend within American politics as the sons and daughters of the Sexual Revolution bring their sexual dilettantism into the dominant elderly voting bloc?
posted by tiny pea on May 8, 2002 - 9 comments

Now here's some useful information for the frequent traveler! It was only a matter of time. The Ultimate Strip Club List is basically MeFi for the Jiggle Room set. The reviews are all user submitted, and considering the subject matter, somewhat thoughtful and informative. It includes a lengthy MeFi style debate about the merits of my local favorite. I imagine you hometown joinys are here as well.(Not Safe For Work mild nudity)
posted by jonmc on Mar 9, 2002 - 71 comments

Man, I need to go back to college! Berkeley students go to strip clubs and play "The Match Game" in a male sexuality class.
posted by MikeB on Feb 19, 2002 - 15 comments

Lisa Gier King - 'clearly willing and consensual sexual intercourse'

'Yahraus has consistently maintained that his sexual relations with King were consensual, a view shared by the police, the state attorney's office and the court'

or institutional misogyny?
Difficult to comment without seeing the film. Will releasing this film help either case? Hard to find anything online from the alternative viewpoint
posted by asok on Jan 30, 2002 - 4 comments

"Those breasts were lethal weapons," he told reporters. Greene's father, George, won't specify the amount they are suing for, but claims that it isn't about the money. 'Mind-boggling drama,' indeed! (via FC)
posted by scarabic on Jan 27, 2002 - 11 comments

Strip tease for the trees. Now this is environmentalism that every red-blooded American male can get behind. What next, "Chippendales Say Earth First!"
posted by MAYORBOB on Nov 11, 2001 - 13 comments

Stripper, Reinstated. -- The stripper who posed for Playboy and went on national TV after she was kicked off the Cal State Fullerton cross-country team has been offered the chance to wear a Titan uniform once again.
posted by fooljay on Jul 2, 2001 - 10 comments

Alleged FBI Double Agent's Stripper 'Friend' Talks: No easy way to put that, sorry. So this is what Robert Hanssen did with all that money from spying? Or allegedly did? He really was just trying to "rescue" her? Goodness, what a bizarre and disturbing story. Please be warned that this is dizzyingly strong material, especially the part about the fate of the subject's false teeth. It's "Pretty Woman" without the sex, but with the Soviet Union and crack.
posted by raysmj on Apr 29, 2001 - 4 comments

Why can't I get a job like this?
posted by Steven Den Beste on Jun 14, 2000 - 10 comments

Damn Supreme Court. Just when you thought this was a free country, now they're telling strippers to keep their G-strings on.
posted by veruca on Mar 29, 2000 - 10 comments

You couldn't plan a funnier headline than this. This is another keeper quote "[one of the employees] said she resented being treated like a sexual object." Treated like a sexual object in a strip club? Who would have thought that'd happen? I'm sorry, I'm all for worker's rights, but in a strip club? You gotta draw the line somewhere.
posted by mathowie on Mar 1, 2000 - 29 comments