Imagine going to work and having to work alongside people who look down on you for doing nearly the same job as them– but under a different title. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what dancers in many New York City gentlemen’s clubs have been dealing with for about five years now. Clubs have been bringing in bartenders who’ve been performing almost all of the the same acts as the dancers, while dressed identically, and get this– stealing the dancers money in the process.
People come from far and wide to major cities like New York City to spend their money at the top gentlemen’s clubs. As intended, the money thrown on the stage rightfully belongs to the dancers; but a lot of bartenders seem to think otherwise. As dancers dance on stage, bartenders will dance at the bar as well. Having the bartenders dressed like the dancers as well as dancing in the bar area, as you might imagine, cuts from the amount of money that customers spend on the women dancing on stage. Instead, the money is thrown for the bartenders, creating their own pile of money at the bar. In greed, a host of deceitful bartenders have brushed many dancers money off the stage and into their own personal money pile on the floor. Once the money falls into their pile as intended, the dancers can no longer retrieve that money back.
You’d think that these dancers could simply go to the club managers to complain about their money being stolen, but it’s not that simple. A lot of clubs have been accused of discrimination and colorism as a result of most clubs only hiring bartenders if they have a high follower count on social media sites and if they are lighter in tone. Basically, they have to be actual models. Their high follower count brings the club more business, which may be a reason as to why the club managers favor the bartenders over the dancers, but is their lighter colored skin also a reason? Regardless, because of this discrimination towards the dancers, if complaints are made to the club managers about the actions of the bartenders, dancers run the risk of getting their hours cut or even getting fired. Many bartenders are aware of their privilege and as a result, look down on the dancers.
Dancers are finally fed up. Many women who dance for these clubs in the New York City area have band together and organized to fight back. Through social media conversations among these women, they found that they all shared the same discrimination and concerns. They then formulated a movement known as NYC Stripper Strike which sprung up late last month.
M. Marie, the woman who hosted the first NYC Stripper Strike meeting has been dancing for over a decade. She told Complex, “It’s like: Are we a gentlemen’s club? Are we a bar? Are we a regular bar with bartenders, or are the dancers like go-go dancers and we’re just here to entertain the people, but the bartenders are the main attraction? You’re allowing bartenders to swipe money off of your stage, or distract the customers from paying the strippers for the entertainment; that’s literally taking away a person’s salary. I have to literally stop my show just so I can get to the ground fast enough so that my money don’t end up in the bar pile.”
You can see an example of a dancer’s money being swiped by a bartender here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6UtYxZyzk8
Dancers are considered independent contractors rather than employees. Thus, they lack the means to protect themselves from any form of discrimination or firing for unjust reasons. Elizabeth Shepard, an expert on strip club-related labor issues, is in support of these women. To fix these lack of rights, she says, “The solution would be to extend rights and services to all workers, regardless of status, because everybody is gonna be an independent contractor soon. We should ensure better treatment for workers, regardless of their classification.”
The women apart of NYC Stripper Strike have plans that will extend far beyond fixing the discrimination against dancers. For Panama Pink, a dancer and early supporter of the movement, it will also allow information to be shared about finance, as well as spreading light on ways to make money once dancing is no longer apart of their lifestyles.