Stripped


Book Description

Discover the complex work and personal experiences of women in the exotic dancing industry What kind of woman dances naked for money? Bernadette Barton takes us inside countless strip bars and clubs, from upscale to back road as well as those that specialize in lapdancing, table dancing, topless only, or peep shows, to reveal the startling lives of exotic dancers. Based on over five years of research and from visiting clubs around the country, particularly in San Francisco, Hawaii, and Kentucky, Stripped offers a rare portrait of not just how dancers get into the business but what it's like for those who choose to strip year after year. Through captivating interviews and first-hand observation, Barton recounts why these women began stripping, the initial excitement and financial rewards from the work, the dangers of the life—namely, drugs and prostitution—and, inevitably, the difficulties in staying in the business over time, especially for their sexuality and self-esteem. Stripped provides fresh insight into the complex work and personal experiences of exotic dancers, one that goes beyond the “sex wars” debate to offer an important new understanding of sex work.




Think You Want to Be a Stripper?


Book Description

Think you want to be a stripper? This book was written with you in mind. Having over 20 years' experience as an exotic dancer, I offer my advice and opinions on the industry. I entered the business at 18 with almost no guidance at all and have somehow managed to make it through with most of my sanity. I hope to shed some light on the industry and help the future generation of ass shakers do the same.




Scars and Stilettos


Book Description

Fear of being abandoned keeps nineteen-year-old Harmony Dust trapped in an abusive and cruel relationship. She thinks she has hit bottom--tens of thousands of dollars in debt, struggling to get by, and so controlled by her boyfriend that she doesn't protest when he begins openly sleeping around. Things can't get worse . . . until someone tells her how much money she can make as an exotic dancer. For the next three years, Harmony lives a double life as Monique, a dancer in a fully-nude strip club. Scars and Stilettos is Harmony's stark, honest, and ultimately hopeful story of how God found her in that dark, noisy place and led her out. She has since married, completed an MA in social welfare, and now leads Treasures, an organization helping women in the sex trade discover their true worth. "Harmony wrote her story so that you and your friends may get help out of whatever dark tunnel you find yourself in. I know her heart, and it is to see all of us live our lives in the very purpose for which we were created. I do want to warn you . . . once you start this book, you will not be able to put it down. You will laugh, you will cry, you will be encouraged, you will fall in love with God all over again . . . and you will want to get a copy for every person you know." --Holly Wagner, from the preface "Harmony's story is compelling evidence of how far the love of God reaches to heal broken lives and restore all that has been stolen." --Nancy Alcorn, Mercy Ministries




Seven Years of Skin


Book Description

At age 21, following Canada's economic downturn, I entered the world of male exotic dancing, I was a stripper. This book is a collection of my memoirs spanning 7 years as one of the top Canadian male entertainers. These years would prove to test my very soul and challenge my integrity and heart. I was challenged again and again to stay true to myself, to ultimately avoid the detriment of life in the spotlight, surrounded by all of life's temptations. To ultimately accept ourselves, we must accept the accumulation of who we have been, this is my journey to becoming AUTHENTIC.




Dance to Despair


Book Description

Based on the memoirs, of a beautiful woman's 23 year journey through the doors of Chicagoland's most infamous strip clubs that operated from the mid 1970's through the 1990's. A native of Illinois, seventeen year old, Rebeckka Black segued into a life of rootless wandering. Besieged by emotional problems, the distraught, young woman is propelled into a relationship with a dangerous ex-convict. Restless and impulsive, she decides to accompany her companion to San Francisco. Realizing that she had made a serious mistake, Rebeckka hooks up with an unsavory couple who offer to drive her back to Chicago. Shortly after returning to her hometown of Glencoe, Illinois, she searches for another port in the storm. In a futile attempt to escape, Rebeccka, inadvertently makes a life altering decision that seals her fate...




Strip City


Book Description

Lily Burana had given up on stripping years before she accepted a marriage proposal-but decided to strip her way from Florida to Alaska before settling down. Lily, now a successful journalist, looks back at stripping with a writer's perspective. Her humorous yet hard-edged memoir deftly describes funky clubs and offbeat characters, the exhilaration that overtakes a dancer on stage-and the darker realities that assail her heart when she's out of the spotlight. Strip City is both a hugely entertaining insider's account of a hidden world and a moving voyage of self-discovery. Lily Burana has written for The New York Times Book Review, GQ, New York magazine, The Village Voice, Spin, and Salon. She lives in New York State. This is her rst book.




The Life of a Stripper


Book Description

For 17 years (and counting), Romana Van Lissum has been a cocktail waitress in a popular Vancouver strip club. In between slinging brews and burgers, Romana decided to get some answers to the questions we all want to know about exotic dancers. As a fixture in the industry, Van Lissum has the unique position to capture the stories of three generations of strippers both working and retired in a candid, confessional style. The stories range from drug addiction, sexual abuse, psycho boyfriends, crooked clubs, and prostitution to homelessness, porn and hustling. Van Lissum has collected 50 true stories from BC's top feature entertainers, from the heartbreaking to the glamorous; from the legendary to the comedic. "The Life of a Stripper" gives a vivid glimpse into the mystery of exotic dancers. Welcome to the inside view of the world of exotic dancing. Get ready to find out the secrets, mechanics and drive behind the beautiful women that take their clothes off for a living.




The Ethical Stripper


Book Description

‘As educational as it is enlightening ... Read this’ SARA PASCOE ‘Passionately argued, meticulously researched and angry as hell ... leads the reader beyond the strip club and on to the battlefield where sex workers fight for their rights’ KATE LISTER ‘Deeply impressive ... An important book, sorely needed’ CAROL LEIGH 'An unflinching takedown of inadequate working conditions ... A must read’ JUNO MAC, co-author of Revolting Prostitutes Forget everything you think you know about strippers In this powerful book, Stacey Clare, a stripper with over a decade of experience, takes a detailed look at the sex industry – the reality of the work as well as the history of licensing and regulation, feminist themes surrounding sex work, and stigma. Bringing her personal knowledge of the industry to bear, she offers an unapologetic critique and searing indictment of exploitation, and raises the rights of sex workers to the top of the agenda. The Ethical Stripper rejects notions of victimhood, challenges stigma and shame, and unpacks decades of confusion and contradictions. It’s about the sex-work community’s fight for safety and self-determination, and it challenges you to think twice about every newspaper article, documentary and film you have seen about stripping and sex work.




The Stripper Next Door


Book Description

Living as a university student by day and a stripper by night, this is a memoir written in a fun style with an insight into the world of stripping, pole dancing and wearing nothing high hells. Beneath the glittery eye shadow and girly charm is a savvy business woman at the head of a successful business empire while she lives a double life and becoming one of the most sought after strippers in Australia. While Emma dreams of living a simple life and being a wholesome person she builds her empire and gets a degree at university while having many funny moments living a double life.




Bare


Book Description

This riveting, firsthand account of women in the world of stripping is written by a young feminist journalism major who took it all off in the name of research.