Consent in adult work is incredibly important.

Due to the stigma around our work coupled with patriachal values, workers' boundaries are often broken.

Non consensual behaviours are rife at work. Whether that be interfacing with a customer during a service, or in situations where you aren't even actively engaged with a customer.

This breach of consent is assault.

Some important points to consider…

So you want to be a stripper? Okay, let’s get into it…

Most customers are flabbergasted when strippers ask for tips in the UK. Granted, we don't have as much of a tipping culture compared to some other countries. However, I feel tipping your dancers (and any service people to be honest) should be normalised.

Lap Dance & Strip Tease should be taught by strippers wherever possible. Here is why…

People often ask a lot of emotional labour from adult workers. It is definitely okay to be curious and it's important to further your understanding of our work so that you can be a better ally. But there's a way to do this in order to respect the group you're interested in.

Uniting pole dance & strippers: meet Gemma Rose Pole. Sensuali chatted to pole dancer, stripper, sex work activist and all round icon Gemma Rose about her journey from anti to pro sex work, the normalised exploitation of strippers in the UK, and her upcoming podcast, 'The 6am Club'.

It's pride month! Pride isn't all about waving your rainbow flags. It's about understanding queer people's experiences and continuing to fight for gay rights. Let us not forget that pride was started by black trans sex workers at the stonewall riots of 69. And so I thought I'd talk about how queerphobia presents itself in typical strip clubs, as gay rights and sex worker rights are linked.

There are very few spaces where we are free to be who we truly are. This is particularly acute for marginalised and stigmatised groups of people. My job as a sex worker often leaves me feeling isolated and alone.

Those who don't know the realities of what it's like to work as a stripper have the misconception that it's an easy job and easy money. Some pole dancers can be even more guilty of the above to a heightened level, because they think having pole skills would automatically make them a skillful stripper.

One objection against keeping strip clubs open is the exploitative nature of some club systems and working conditions that dancers must abide by. This makes it difficult for dancers to speak freely and honestly about our experiences, as we are afraid of this being used against us and as ammunition to take our work places away from us altogether.

Support comes in the form of action! Active allyship, not performative behaviour. Simply stating 'I support sex workers' or only supporting a glamourised narrative is not enough.

What's the main reason pole dancers don't wear a lot of clothes?

In my opinion, I would never recommend sex work to anyone. It is okay to choose to enter the industry, however we must recognise the privilege in that and be careful to not glamourise the work.

Here are the following steps to being a respectful strip club client! A non-exaustive list to help you out on your visits.

It is not uncommon to get non-sex workers casting their opinion on stripping, with many classifying our job as ‘easy work’. But the truth is, it is rare that they truly understand the difficult nature of our job or grasp exactly what makes our job hard.