Remember when we all said that we were going to drop out of school and become strippers because they were making tons of money. — Well things have completely changed.
Last Sunday during girl talk, one of the older ladies asked the table how each of us felt about strippers versus bottle service girls. As we know, strippers are rained on with money all night as they entertain the crowd by dancing from the stage to the pole. Well these new Instagram hired bottle service girls go into their shifts with the same goal in mind, “they want to make it rain cash, on them,” says Amber Ferguson, a writer for The Washington Post.
According to Sean Simmons, a promotional director for Aces New York, “the whole industry itself has changed.”
Since Instagram has become globally popular, strip clubs have begun to use the app as a tool to hire bottle service girls for the clubs.
Most of these women hired from Instagram have huge followings. Some of which are described as even being Instagram famous or models. Kate Taylor, a writer for Business Insider, said that some of these women’s followers will even “show up to the clubs just to see them in person.”
Now, this is great marketing for the clubs, but not for the strippers that work at the clubs.
Former New York City stripper by the name Panama Pink says that strippers have gone from making $1000 a night to a new average of $400 a night. This being a huge result of newly hired bottle service girls that dress like the strippers, dance alongside the strippers, and even take strippers cash off the stages.
Strippers are not only unhappy with the bottle service girls, but they’ve also noticed many problems with strip club policies.
Last year in October, strippers and entertainers from clubs all over NYC came together to form the #NYCStripperStrike. Which seeks to address “colorism, racism, and unfair labor practices” that are present in the industry says Cierra Williams, a writer for Vibe.com
Brenden Gallagher, a writer for The Daily Dot, says that the movement is working with SOAR Institute (a sex worker advocacy organization) and Women’s Strike USA, “on a strategy that could include organizing class action lawsuits, and potentially collective bargaining.”
Antonia Crane who has been a stripper for 25 years wrote an article for the Huffington Post on an inside look of the stripper strike.
In the article, Crane lists demands of the strippers and entertainers of the movement. Which include, stopping all racist hiring and firing policies, doing away with house fees, stage fees, or any mandatory tipping, giving them rights and treating them as employees, and letting strippers be strippers and bartenders be bartenders.
Among myself and the table of women, we were all pretty much on the same page.
Which is that strippers should strip, and bottle service girls should serve bottles. There should be no such thing as preferential treatment and racist or cruel policies within the strip club industry. And strippers should be paid fairly and given rights — because I mean after all there’s no such thing as a strip club without strippers.
So we’re all for the #NYCStripperStrike movement, what about you?
My fave bartender actually travels back and forth between NY and DC for work in bars and strip clubs. Last weekend she showed me video on her phone of people making it rain on her and the other bartenders instead of the strippers. There was money all over the floor behind the bar. I actually kind of feel bad for the strippers, lol. The bartenders are definitely taking their shine along with their money.
The life of a stripper and bartender is hard work… Both have the potential to yield a lot of tax free money; however, both profession are short lived. Therefore, for them bicker over the shift in entertainment, they should both enjoy the money that they are receiving before the next new thing hits the scene.