Corporate Dream Dancers

A few weeks back I wrote about how adult entertainment clubs had morphed into franchises. I’m torn on the effects of that. I’m not judging the environments or the people involved. I’m just surprised about the culture of it. 

Once these clubs were seedy and men that went there rushed through the doors to avoid being seen. Later these clubs became blue collar hang-out places and the parking lots had pickup trucks. There were televisions playing sports and rock music.  Pool tables were put in. It seems like "man-cave" with bikini-clad women and guy things. 

Clubs were often opened in towns that had seen better days. These clubs proliferated in Manhatten when Manhattan went bankrupt in the 1970s.  They were mentioned in the same breath as pawnshops and liquor stores.  Today these clubs are being bought out by corporations. 

Corporations were supposed to be the epitome of successful capitalism. 

Corporations own adult clubs.

In an earlier time, the dancers were struggling and desperate for money. They abused drugs just to get through the day. Since drugs are just parasites, it became a cycle of dancing for the drugs and not the other way around. The women were exploited and discarded when they hit a certain age. 

In this new environment, the women are still exploited, but there’s a different component to it. I’ve read books about dancers that saved their money and went to college. Dancers that hated the customers instead of themselves. They could take all that money from just a man and feel that the guy is a sleeze. 

In this new environment, dancers have makeup people, lockers, they are taught to up-sell personal dances. They get costume help. The deejays are professionals. The clientele are wealthy and in the corporate world themselves. 

I’m not saying the new world of the dancer is better for them or worse. It’s just surprising how the culture looks now. In Dream Dancing, no one cares about Stacy Ann or Francine. Maggie’s opinion of Abby was a common opinion. Carla’s dancing fantasy had dire consequences for her. That world has changed in some aspects.