Ethnographic Examination of the Attitude,

Ethnographic Examination of the Attitude, Involvement and Experience of Young Female Exotic Dancers

The recruitment of exotic dancers is a bit of a mystery, but for the most part many in interviews found in empirical and qualitative research express that the goal of becoming an exotic dancer was not demonstrative of a desire and often not something they ever expected to be doing. For the most part these dancers express that they sought out exotic dancing as a bridge to other pursuits in the entertainment industry or as an economic pursuit to fulfill higher education or simply to make more money than they could make at a low skill level job. (Lewis 1998, 51) Most are between the ages of 18 and 30 and most will express that their work is simply a temporary transition to another job or lifestyle.

Exotic dancers have become a serious topic of discussion in a culture where challenging the social taboos is occurring more rapidly than ever before and where the backlash of challenging just what these social taboos says about individual and culture pervade the academic world. Yet, there are clearly only very few research-based works on exotic dancers and how they see themselves, feel culturally supported or other ethnographic issues alone or in comparison to other women and men of their age and demographic. Limited research offers limited but interesting insights into the culture of the young female exotic dancer.

There are in fact only a few demographic studies of exotic dancers and only a few researchers who are specifically looking at this aspect of the entertainment industry, as it effects women in and outside of the industry. (Benoit, and Shaver 2006, 243) Downs, James & Cowan have developed a seminal work that compares feelings like body objectification and social and personal support of a comparison of dancers and non-dancing college women. The work demonstrates a significant insight into the manner in which female exotic dancers perceive themselves and feel more or less supported by society, culture and family. The work is also significant in that many dancers express the idea that their experience is significant but separate from the non-contextual objectification experienced by many women on a daily basis in inappropriate settings. In fact the authors felt so strongly about this sentiment that they opened the work with a quote from a seminal book on the subject of sex work, with regard to body objectification (Downs, James, and Cowan 2006, 745):

concerning the objectification of women. Dancing nude is the epitome of women as sex objects. As the weeks passed, I found I liked being a sex object, because the context was appropriate. I resent being treated as a sex object on the street or at the office. But as an erotic dancer, that is my purpose. I perform to turn you on, and if I fail, I feel I've done a poor job. (Sundahl, 1987, p. 176) (Downs, James, and Cowan 2006, 748)

The work's message then become some of similarities and loss not being experienced by the social cultural experience of the dancing per se but of the fact that the individual women had lower self-esteem and limited socialization because of the isolation and lack of support they experience from their normal social network including family and friends outside the industry. (Downs, James, and Cowan 2006, 745)

As is expressed by those in other studies the work itself does not always feel demeaning, as the support networks they experience are isolated and inclusive of the lifestyle of the dancer. The culture becomes one that is expressive of only dancing, in much the same way that individuals who are in highly time intensive professions experience, such as attorneys and doctors, especially in the early years of practice, but not for lack of time simply for limited rejections associated with the stigma of their work, and the lack of knowledge about it. The "family" and social network then becomes one of a chosen network of friends who are a part of their circle, share similar attitudes and do not judge one another based on their chosen profession. This may be a circle of both dancers and patrons of the establishment where they work as well as support staff. Additionally, most of these individuals work late night shifts and this also limits traditional social and cultural opportunity. (Lewis 1998, 51)