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given them a fake real name. Every dancer I knew had
an onstage name and a fake real name for when she
really wanted to sucker a guy. But he would actually
believe that you shared that information with him because
he was so chivalrous and truly respected women.
You know, “I can earn her trust.” A lot of guys just want
to be the white knight, that’s the persona they assume
when they walk into the club. Like they’re going to find
some poor little lost girl and save her.
What do you think about what Ariel Levy has
called “the rise of raunch culture”, and the argument
that the phenomenon of women visiting strip
clubs is regressive rather than empowering?
I guess I’m emblematic of this raunch culture she
talks about. I’m the foul-mouthed, trash-talking, salty
sex worker who has a lot of fun with that stuff. And I
guess I don’t read that deeply into it. I think that any
time people get to reverse roles it’s empowering, and
for women who get to objectify other women it’s a role
reversal, it’s empowering and it feels good. There’s
just no way around it. For me, from a purely hedonistic
standpoint, I find women attractive, so it’s fun to go to
strip clubs and it’s fun to watch porn.
In the book you describe meeting a high school
girl who’s working in a strip club, and for her it was
a regular part-time job, no big deal. What does that
say about American culture?
I mean, just equating material things with sexuality
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has become a totally mainstream concept. You hear it
in the music … stripper culture is totally mainstream
now, obviously. Now there’s stripper aerobics, t-shirts
for girls that say “Porn Star”, all that kind of thing.
And it’s not the world I come from. I came of age in
the 90s, when we had Riot Grrl music and it was just
a more feminist time. I know I’m being a hypocrite
by saying that I don’t think a high school girl should
be involved in the sex industry, but at least by the age
of 24 or 25 I had lived enough to be able to make that
decision for myself.
What would you say to a woman who’s read your
book, thinks it sounds like an interesting job and is
going to try it?
I would say try it, slowly. And make sure that you
maintain control of yourself in the situation at all times.
That includes maintaining some level of sobriety.
Because honestly, the people who fall down the rabbit
hole are the ones who get involved with drugs.
And the ones who cross the line into prostitution?
Exactly, yeah. You really have to know your boundaries.
In a lot of cases I think that escort work and prostitution,
to me that’s just another more extreme form
of sex work. I don’t beat around the bush. I knew a
lot of strippers who were really quick to point out the
difference between them and prostitutes, but honestly
I don’t see that big of a difference. It’s a controversial
viewpoint, but I know that I was selling my body and
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