The Subsistence Stripper
In most clubs, dancers set their own schedules. In Phoenix and Las Vegas where I dance, I just have to show up whenever I feel like working. If I don’t feel good, I don’t go in and I don’t have to find another stripper to cover my shift. The Subsistence Stripper shows up the day before rent is due or the day after her car breaks down. She only works when she needs money. The Subsistence Stripper could not emotionally handle a job with schedules and responsibilities. If she was forced to get a “normal” job she would fall into the broader category of “people who can’t hold down a steady job.” If she was not a pretty girl she might be homeless. Subsistence Strippers don’t generally pay taxes, and may even collect government benefits. Their tax evasion is unlikely to ever be detected since they don’t actually make (or spend) very much on an annual basis.
The most ironic thing about the Subsistence Stripper is that she represents a minority of strippers, but somehow is the poster child of the “Stripper” stereotype.
The Student Stripper
Student strippers fall into two categories: students who strip and strippers who go to school. The superficial difference is which activity a dancer was doing first, but the bigger difference is in her attitude towards stripping. Students who strip have other income sources to fall back on, whether that is parental support or student loans. Some of them just do it for fun – a rebellious lark. Most do it for spending cash or to offset school expenses not covered by loans. Either way, they don’t have a real, pressing need for money and a lot of them don’t take the job seriously. These are the girls who are most likely to treat the job like a big party and get drunk at work or spend their money on drugs.
Strippers who go to school tend to be more serious about work, since the reason they are going to school is because they’ve been stripping awhile and want to get out of it. They are women who support themselves and are paying their tuition with the cash they earn stripping. They’re usually balancing pretty heavy schedules and want to maximize their time at work.
Students who strip can have all sorts of career aspirations, but I’ve noticed that a few professions seem to be very popular among strippers who go to school: nursing, cosmetology, massage therapy, and real estate. This makes sense, as these careers require certifications that can be achieved in much less time than a B.A.
Either way, The Student Stripper views stripping as her job for the moment – a means to an end – with the end being some sort of professional career.
The Job Stripper
The vast majority of women who strip fall into this category. For that matter, most workers in any industry in any part of the world fall into this category (that is say, the broader category of Job Workers.) The Job Stripper works 4-5 shifts a week, just like she would at any other job.
Depending on the particular town and club where she works, and her own skills, she is likely to earn anywhere from what your average college graduate working in a professional field would make to what your average doctor or lawyer makes. In other words, the Job Stripper makes enough to comfortably support herself. Like most people, however, she spends virtually every dollar she earns and then some. Like most people, she has anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars in the bank, but never enough to withstand any real financial hardship. On the plus side, a lot of strippers don’t even bother with credit cards, so she may not have any credit card debt. On the negative side, she’s also unlikely to have bothered with health insurance or even the most basic retirement savings, since Americans are trained to think these things are the responsibility of the employer first, the government second, and the individual last.
A Job Stripper may think that since she makes as much as a doctor does she should live at the same level a doctor does. The flaw in this thinking is that while a doctor can easily practice medicine well into her sixties or later, strippers have a relatively shorter shelf life of about 20 years (age 20-40). Even in a best-case scenario, most women have to retire from dancing by the time they hit their mid-forties at the very latest.
In all honesty, the Job Stripper who faces retirement isn’t really much worse off than your average American who is downsized and faces a forced career change at midlife. Most Americans are woefully unprepared for retirement and saddled with massive debt to boot. The biggest disadvantage the retiring Job Stripper faces is that she may never have learned how to deal with petty, demanding bosses, boorish, judgmental coworkers with whom she’s expected to cooperate (not compete), get up at 7 AM, AND she’s going to have to take a pay cut and downgrade her lifestyle. This is the eventual unglamorous fate that awaits most job strippers.
The Supplemental Stripper
A decent number of women with professional jobs strip one or two nights a week for extra money. Some of them are former Student Strippers. I have encountered women with a variety of day jobs (including multiple women with Masters degrees) who dance for extra money on the side. It’s interesting to note that most strippers who do have day jobs have a job they went to school for. You don’t meet many strippers who also work at McDonald’s because those girls realize very quickly that their day job isn’t worth keeping.
Women in professional jobs tend to keep that day job because it’s hard to explain to your loved ones that after four years of college and another five years of building your resume you’ve decided to quit so you can strip full-time, even if it does mean doubling your income. Some keep their day job for the benefits, like health insurance, stock options, 401(k) contribution-matching, etc. Some eventually just quit their day job because it’s kind of depressing to work in a stuffy office all week for what you can make in one or two nights of stripping. Many of those who do find themselves moving to the next category:
SuperStripper
This is the category I fall into. We’re a small minority, but more numerous than most people would expect. We work as much as or more than Job Strippers. I work 4-5 days a week. Some very ambitious SuperStrippers work 6-7 days a week. SuperStrippers treat stripping like a business, not a job or a party. We declare our income on our taxes and maximize our deductions by incorporating or forming an LLC. We have health insurance, SEP-IRAs, brokerage accounts, rental properties (and accountants.) We know how to maximize our time in the office by working extra hours during the busy season and take vacations to recharge our batteries during the slow season.
I’ve worked with one SuperStripper at Christies for 5 years. When I first met Elizabeth she worked every day/ 7 days a week. She saved her money and opened up a clothing store in Scottsdale. She is now in the process of opening up her second location. She owns several properties and travels frequently to New York to buy clothes for her stores and while she happens to be in town, she visits her NY clients at Penthouse. The most inspiring thing about Elizabeth: she’s from a rural town in Mexico. She is completely self-made: everything she has she worked for. No wonder people will risk their lives to have a piece of the American dream!
My goal is to continue dancing until I am Financially Free. This means that I have enough passive income from my investments to cover my living expenses. Becoming a SuperStripper has been a life changing experience for me. When I’m old and bleached blonde, I’ll reflect on my stripper experience with fond memories and positive thoughts. Despite the social stigma of being “a stripper” (anyone who knows me knows I love to challenge stereotypes) the best revenge is proving them wrong 
I have said for years now, stripping is what you make of it. You can grab this instant cashflow business by the balls and use it as a springboard for better things….or you can be a subsistence stripper. The choice is up to you.
[...] financial track, but swore that there was just no way she could save money. Admittedly, she was a SubsistenceStripper in the sense that she worked just to pay her bills and didn’t have much left over to save. A few [...]
Aw, this was a really good post. In theory I’d like to write like this also – taking time and real effort to make a good article… but what can I say… I procrastinate alot and never seem to get anything done.