i was once voted most likely to succeed

October 14, 2015 3:46 PM

I want to give stripping a go to save up some money while I write my dissertation. How do I do this right?

I'm in the UK. I'm young, charming, reasonably attractive and have some dance experience (albeit mostly in ballet and contemporary, with only a few months' worth of the pole variety).

After giving this some thought, I'm quite keen to do this. My only concern is that because I'm here on a visa, I can only work 20 hours a week and I'm not legally allowed to be self-employed. I'm not sure if there are clubs that would employ me with these restrictions.

Given this information, what advice do you MeFites have for me on making my way into the wonderful world of exotic dancing? (If my work restrictions are too prohibitive, what suggestions would you have if that wasn't an issue at all?)

posted by quadrant seasons to Work & Money (5 answers total)

In Australia we have the Sex Workers Outreach Project and the Scarlett Alliance for just such questions. The U.K. has their local versions. Perhaps a Brit can chime in with their favourite.

Ask the professionals.
posted by taff at 4:47 PM on October 14, 2015

This forum might give you better answers : ).
posted by cakebatter at 5:35 PM on October 14, 2015

A dear friend worked at Spearmint Rhino for years while doing her medical degree. Asked her male friends including me for our names which she posted on the door to bar us entry. Had a long-term boyfriend who was used to it. Now lives in Devon married to same. No long term effects.
posted by parmanparman at 10:14 PM on October 14, 2015

A lot of clubs in London charge their dancers for renting a space. Be really careful about this as a friend of mine got into huge debt to the club she worked at, and it was very hard to get out. She was essentially giving all her earnings back to the club to pay the debt.
posted by Dwardles at 1:54 AM on October 15, 2015

Not in the UK, but once knew several exotic dancers who worked across Europe. Not one of them had a penny to show for it when they pensioned themselves from the business. It's a tough trade. You may get large tips, but you have to give huge pay-backs ("rents") to the club. Anything outside the club/venue can lead to rape or worse. Some places, you may be required to drink with customers, and while there are of course ways to deal with this, and no one I knew drank what customers drank, they still drank a lot more than is good for anyone.
Most women with a similar intention to yours moved on all fine, but as I said, there was no net earning.
posted by mumimor at 2:40 PM on October 15, 2015