modestyisawasteoftime:

Yes, I’m a stripper. Cat is out of the bag. Technically though, my title is a dancer/entertainer.

It’s disrespectful to hear people say “fuck this, I’m dropping out of school to become a stripper.” Let me tell you why:

1. This makes being one sound like a complete last resort brainless job. This job is flexible enough for me to go to college full time AND work, it provides money for me to continuously put away to save for my education. I know many other girls I work with have kids and their own place that they work for. Face it, we all have stuff to pay for. We’re not just working for a new designer purse.

2. It’s not a brainless job at all either. To me, brainless would be punching numbers into a computer all day or ringing up customers. I have to have good one-on-one people skills to be able to talk to customers about anything and everything, even if I’m not feeling it or if I disagree. Basically, I have to make each customer who walks through the door feel like a prince. That’s why they pay me. It’s also VERY physically demanding. My body aches from dancing a total of 24 hours straight a week, given that I don’t take an extra shift. My legs have eternally turned into two massive bruises that are painful and don’t heal quickly. We also work night hours, leaving the day to sleep. By the time I actually wake up, I only have a few hours before I have to get ready to leave again.

3. Not everyone would be able to do this job. You need a heck of a lot of confidence and patience. Catty coworkers and disrespectful customers are ALWAYS going to be there. You need to be able to handle the stress of it all and know how to deal like a mature person. Also, not be able to fall into drugs and alcohol or breaking the no contact rules many clubs have set, including my own. This means no dirty business in the VIP room besides dancing! You also have to be comfortable enough to show your body to complete strangers of all ages.

4. We all don’t make oodles. Each person dictates their own income by how well they present themselves, their manners, and their ability to pursue their customer into getting a dance or three or four from them. You can be crappy on stage, but as long as you have a good attitude and treat your customers right (don’t get up and leave to sit with someone else if they’re paying or bought dances from you). You might find you make more money in a certain outfit or when you do a specific pole trick. It all depends on the night, weather, month, type of guys that comes in. It has a great fluctuation.

5. We don’t have names that are a combo of your street name as a child and your pet. New girls come in wanting to be Blondie Marshmallow Fluffy VonBubbles or some shit and we all just laugh.

My stage name is Ivy. The poisonous kind of course.