The Relationship Between Exotic Dancing and Alcoholism

¶ … Negative Impact of Alcohol on Exotic Dancers

Exotic dancing and the women who engage in this exercise can be negatively impacted by the effects of alcohol in a number of ways. As Wesely (2003) notes, alcohol can become a big problem for exotic dancers as they attempt to navigate the body-identity/body-boundaries of the world in which they seek to earn a living. By making themselves "fluid" from one customer to the next, they adopt a chameleon-like existence and the use of alcohol becomes a major factor in the facilitation of this character-bending. It is almost like participating in an altered state, and the use of alcohol can turn into a dependency for exotic dancers as they struggle to cope with "effects on identity" that their "fluidity" imposes upon them (Wesely, 2003, p. 483).

Maticka-Tyndale, Lewis, Clark, Zubick and Young (2000) show that the problem of alcohol as it relates to exotic dancers is exacerbated by the environment in which the work commences. For instance, the clubs where these dancers perform can often support negative consequences and threats to health and safety. Especially in clubs where alcohol is sold, hazardous situations can entail for dancers who must interact with customers and clients who may be under the influence. Sometimes, dancers are encouraged to promote drinking as this can lead to bigger tips -- however, with increased drinking, deviant behavior risks rise too, and exotic dancers can be on the receiving end of violence (rape, beatings) from customers who turn aggressive due to the combination of alcohol and sexual deviance.

Alcoholism can also be a source of negative consequence in the lives of exotic dancers stemming from childhood occurrences such as trauma (abuse from parents or others, for instance -- cases where alcoholic fathers molest them in their youth, setting off a cycle of alcoholism that is picked up by the victim). The incidence of alcohol abuse among exotic dancers signifies that there is a cultural/social challenge that is connected to the environment into which the exotic dancer is thrust, and that the challenge can both be located in that environment and/or stem from outside of it (Ross, Durkin, 2005). In other words, alcoholism and exotic dancing are linked in many cases because of some underlying issue (such as abuse or sexual trauma) that has occurred to the dancer at an earlier point in the dancer's life. This, however, is not always the case. Nor is it always the case that exotic dancing leads to problems with alcohol and that alcoholism always leads women to exotic dancing (Wahab, Baker, Smith, Cooper, Lerum, 2011). The actuality of the phenomenon of exotic dance is that it is a dynamic situation that changes from generation to generation and era to era, as it has gone from being "deviant" to being more embraced by the mainstream culture (pole dancing, for instance, is now given as a regularly type of "dance" at dance/workout/fitness centers in urban areas).