So I fact checked this thing and it checks out, and it’s incredibly INCREDIBLY important, because many clubs use illegal labor practices like charging dancers t work, misclassifying them as independent contractors, demanding a portion of the dancer’s tips, or failing to pay them at the bare minimum minimum wage.
So exotic dancers of tumblr, you need to read this, it is incredibly important and then something needs to be done. File a complaint, file a suit over wage theft, unionize, because they are doing SO MUCH ILLEGAL SHIT.
Please spread this like fucking wildfire.
I see what you are trying to say here but it is extremely ignorant. As a stripper myself I absolutely prefer to be an independent contractor. With the employee title comes schedules, lack of anonymity, and a level of control by my employer that makes me very uncomfortable. I left civillian work to avoid those things. There are downsides to being an independent contractor but I’ll take them over being considered an employee any day. What about traveling dancers who only stay at any certain club for a weekend. Employee status is not beneficial for me as a stripper. The fact that this is being reblogged by civillians who don’t know what strippers want or how our industry works is very disconcerting and worrisome.
I’m an ex stripper, at the club I worked in they already had schedules, our full legal names and a lot of rules about what we could and couldn’t wear. Obviously travelling/feature dancing is different. I do think that there should probably be another legal status that allows for the independance of stripping but also acknowledges that house dancers are not the same as say a graphic designer, and should have benefits and so on.
Not to mention that stage fees and having to “tip out” still fall heavily under “pay to work”. We’re not independant businesses, not even to the extent someone renting a station in a hair salon is.
I respectfully disagree. It is unfortunate that your previous clubs impeded on your IC status so heavily (being honest here, all clubs do a bit) but I have to say that you are the first girl I’ve come across who actually wants to go the employment route with the issue. Even if the club payed you a paycheck (I’m assuming this would function similar to other tip based work i.e. waiting tables) those checks would end up mostly going to taxes. In my club, which is not the most respectful of our IC status, they have a voluntary schedule, no record of my real name or other personal info excepting my dancer licence with the state, and only ensure that we cover what needs to be covered as we are not a full nude club. I would rather keep paying to work (rent the stage and other facilities) and keep the freedoms that I have than tether myself as an employee.
I mean honestly, I’ve seen most clubs impede upon it heavily. What would be ideal, I think is if there were another category, one that maintained the independence (like freedom of scheduling and so on) but also gave us the right to unionize, abolished stage fees, and forced them to provide things like workers comp and benefits.
Also even if minimum wage checks were to mostly go to taxes it would defray the issue of having to pay the extra self employment taxes for paying into social security and so on.
Thoughts From The Peacock Angel 