Exotic Dancing in 2003: Identity and Compromise
An essay titled "'Where am I going to stop?': Exotic dancing, fluid body boundaries, and effects on identity" provides research based on interviews with female exotic dancers in 2003. Author Jennifer K. Wesely explains that “female exotic dancers earn a living through particularly objectified and sexualized constructions of their bodies. In order to increase cash reward, dancers may allow their body boundaries to be 'fluid,' deciding on a customer-by-customer basis how they will interact physically. These body compromises can lead to a variety of identity problems for the women” (Wesely 483). She explains that “a need for early independence” was the most influential factor in choosing an exotic dancing career and that the alternative for most dancers would have been homeless (Wesely 490). Dancers explain that once they turned 18 coming out of foster homes, their options were either homelessness, prostitution, or dancing. Many of them had intense pressure to earn money to support themselves or family members. Some side effects that emerged out of the industry were dancers turning to alcoholism as well as self-resentment and shifts in the way they viewed their bodies. It was the quick money that compelled them to remain in the business and the financial reward which became both comfort and justification. Wesley explains that when “money and body are linked in a transactional relationship” identity problems occur when separating the work from the body from the self (Wesely 500). This dissertation gives a lot of insight into a dancers’ justifications for entering the business as well as identity problems that came about from separating their body from self and the body from making money.
Works Cited:
Wesely, Jennifer K. “'Where am I Going to Stop?': Exotic Dancing, Fluid Body Boundaries, and Effects on Identity.” Deviant Behavior. 24.5 (2003): 483-503. Proquest. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
