NCJ Number
197165
Journal
Violence Against Women Volume: 8 Issue: 10 Dated: October 2002 Pages: 1182-1207
Date Published
October 2002
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This article investigates the ways that exotic dancers were sexualized at a young age.
Abstract
It is the sexually objectified view of female bodies that gives women the most attention. Exotic dancing reflects the ways women try to attain some form of power in a phallocentric society. The phallus symbolically represents patriarchal male power and excludes women from this power. Exotic dancing is defined as sex work that involves either topless or nude dancing. The primary source of information for this study consisted of qualitative, in-depth interviews with 20 current and former exotic dancers in a southwestern metropolitan area. Snowball techniques were used from March through November 2000 to reach women by phone or in person at local exotic dance clubs. The women recalled learning at an early age that acting provocatively and emphasizing their sexuality garnered them attention and sometimes a feeling of power. Nearly half of the women were molested or raped as children or teenagers. Others were traumatized by sexual violence that happened to family members. They described situations in which they felt powerless. Some aspects of sexualization that they experienced as girls and adolescents taught the women how to use their bodies to manipulate men, get attention, and feel powerful. Many of the women found the money they received for their sexualized bodies a powerful reward that allowed them to escape an abusive environment. However, not all customers responded with adulation; some ignored and denigrated the women. The dancing environment, with the focus on the exchange of women’s bodies for money, can clearly exacerbate feelings of confusion about power that already exists. These feelings are related to the realization that customers pay only for sexual bodies, which have little to do with a dancer’s individual personality. The experiences of the dancers are an illustration of what occurs in the lives of many young women in a modern patriarchal culture. 37 references