Dancing on shaky ground: the power-laden interactions between exotic dancers and their customers

There are three major sociological approaches to studying exotic dancers: the traditional 1960s and 1970s deviance perspectives; newer and conflicting feminist views; and the most contemporary approach, that of examining dancers and others who work within the sex industry as workers. For this thesis, I interviewed twelve women who are exotic dancers, three male customers, two male bouncers, and a male police officer to tell yet another story about dancers. I follow the model of Robin Leidner in examining the interactions between dancers and customers as an integral element of service work. I detail the strategies that dancers utilize in order to control their interactions with customers. These interactional strategies include methods that dancers employ to generate tips and to manage customers who are non-compliant. I demonstrate that to fully understand exotic dancers, it is best not to construct them as social deviants, patriarchal pawns, or powerless service workers. Instead, I construct dancers as possessing a great deal of personal agency that is reflected in their interactions with their customers. I conclude with an examination of how the personal power that exotic dancers possess mirrors that of other service workers and conclude that the real power may lay within larger, capitalist patriarchal systems