SOC-S320 1nd Edition Lecture 8Outline of Last Lecture I. Strip Club Basicsa. The Toll of StrippingII. Resistance StrategiesIII. Research SubjectivityOutline of Current Lecture IV. Finish lecture on exotic dancingV. Sex work and ProstitutionCurrent LectureColosi – “Just Get Pissed (drunk) and Enjoy Yourself: Understanding Lap-Dancing as Anti-Work”Anti-Work: As well as being tied with the ritualistic pursuit of fun, a resistance strategy against managers, customers, and rules more broadly. - Motivation – builds social relationships, improved dancers status. - Resistance – objects to rules, norms, and social stigma.o Work that ironically resists workDvina was always having fun at work, laughing with the girls…for her coming to work was not about working ridiculously hard, it was about so much more. Involves leisure activities associated with a night out, alcohol, drugs etc. Dancers are intensely socialized into the unwritten rules of the club through their active engagement in social ritual- Drinking alcohol and taking recreational drugs- Desensitization: affects even though who came in without drug use, end up participating- Double edged sword , used to cope with stress, further fun, harm to the body. - Informal rules tend to override formal “house rules”, drugs are illegal and may not be promoted by the club but the dancers continue to engage in this activity Dancer motivation, is it all about money?These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.- What has remained consistent Is the contention that women’s involvement in stripping is primarily financially motivated, pursuit of fun, job flexibility. - Slow nights vs. good nights. If you have a really good night that’s the only night you may have to work all month Anti-Work in summary: Themes that remain consistent- Personal Autonomyo A desire for personal autonomy underpinned the tacit rules and therefore part of their self regulation- Resistance toward internal rules and disciplineo Tacit rules present managers as easy targets for manipulation and further reduce their image of professionalism, deepening the dancers lack of respect for club authority and the need to comply with house rules- Self respect and Preservationo Instead of being directed at the managerial hierarchy within the club, respect was turned inward, with dancers admiring the established old school workersmore than the managers and club owners. What do you think? Is exotic dancing exploitative, empowering, both, neither?Stigma vs. CarnivalIdentityHow is a dancers sense of self constructed? Who gets to construct what it means to be a dancer?- Stigma: Other people construct their identity- Carnival: They get to create their own identityLanguageWhat does it mean to be an exotic dancer? What does it mean to take drugs and drink on a regular basis?- Ritualistic pursuit of fun, getting paid to do what others do for funOrganizationAre dancers allowed in mainstream society? Is mainstream society allowed in the strip club?- Not formally banned but there is a stigma surrounding the industry. There is not a fluid back and forth, mainstream society allowed in the strip club but society does not fully accept them. - Once you do enter the strip club, you pretty much have to take on the rules of the carnival, you have to be tolerant of what is going on around you. Prostitution and Sex Work Williamson and Cluse-Tolar – Pimp Controlled Prostitiution- Do we have a human right to own our own bodies? If so, do we have a right to sell them?o Renting vs. Selling the body. You can buy other peoples property, becomes tricky wen you try to buy other peoples bodies. o- Should Prostitution be legal? Why or why not?Street Level Prostitution- Sexual acts for money or for barter that occur on and off the streets and include sexual activities in cars and motels as dancers in gentlemen’s clubs, massage parlor work, truck stops, and crack house work. o Segment of prostitution with the most violence. - Pimp: one who controls the actions and lives off the proceeds of one or more women who work the streets. Pimping: Rules of the Game- The game: sector of the underground economy involving prostitution related activities- Hierarchy of pimpso Tennis Shoe Pimps( only a few women) < Players < Macks (most dominant) - Ways to refer to prostitutes (farm animal analogies)o Stableo Bottom bitcho Thoroughbreds- Code of Conduct: Pimpologyo The pimping game requires strict adherence to the rules Rules1. Must be Paida. No shame in the game – must not be afraid to demand money 2. Must be Secretivea. Sold and not told – must not be afraid to recruit and must no reveal too much information3. Must Have Supportive Employeesa. Image production important “Turning a Woman Out”A pimp must be skilled at assessing a woman’s needs and vulnerabilities in order to exploit them. Woman become excited about a future promised to them and a sense of belonging. Pimp Related Violence: Physical control of women- Each woman in the study had a pimp who set the rules- Violence was a threat realized by all of the women in the industry, often unpredictable and took many forms. Emotional abuse and control of women- A pimp-prostitute relationship often lacks cognitive and behavioral consistency - A pimps success is dependent on arousing love and fear in his woman - The primary means for leaving a pimp-controlled prostitution was escape Major differences between elite escorting and street prostitution- Autonomy- Organization- Control/Decision Making- MotivesKey: stratification within prostitution mirrors strat in the larger society and this face in turn suggests that prostitutes work ep may cary widely from stratum to stratum Prostitution vs. EscortingProstitutes can include housewives, nurses, teachers, college and graduate students, secretaries, single mothers, etc. Fees: range from as little as five dollars for ten minutes to five hundred dollars an hour or more- Can include arrangements such as dinners and weekend getaways, to just about anything imaginableNearly all women arrested for prostitution in the US are street prostitutes, even though street prostitutes likely only comprise 10-20% of all prostitutes. - Women of color overrepresented among those arrested and given jail sentences. Challenging Major Stereotypes -