"Pump up the volume and let's rock this place!"
Posted on 03/18/2008 8:42:27 AM PDT by Toddsterpatriot
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - When dancers at San Francisco's Lusty Lady turned the exotic club into an egalitarian co-op, they found it tough to reconcile their lofty ideals with the aesthetic realities of the sex trade.
One of the first things the dancers did was to toss out rules about maintaining the same body type as the day they were hired, and ones regarding height-weight proportion. A list of acceptable hair colors was scrapped, along with a policy regulating the quantity and location of tattoos.
Now, larger dancers and those who might not be stereotypically "pretty" are welcome on the Lusty stage, but this emphasis on inclusion has brought difficulties for the 60 or so dancer-owners.
The performers -- many of whom take on stage names -- run from tall to short, and thick to thin.
Lilah Mayhem is pale with long dark hair and a thin frame, while Cinnamon Rose has shorter, red-streaked hair and a darker complexion. Wendy works the stage in striped pink knee socks and glasses, while another dancer wears old wedge sandals and a cheerfully curling brown wig. Many sport multiple piercings and tattoos.
After buying the club for $400,000 in 2003, the next step was to put themselves through guerilla business school.
The Lusties, as they call themselves, enlisted the help of other local co-ops such as Rainbow Grocery and Good Vibrations, a local female-run sex-toy shop.
They learned the ins and outs of running a collective business and hammered out articles of incorporation within days.
Seven committees were created to oversee mundane but necessary business items such as insurance and licensing, finance, incorporation, bylaws and media relations.
All new proposals, from bylaw modifications down to buying new carpets, would need approval from general co-op membership and the board of directors. Every worker, whether support staff or performer, had the right to submit a proposal, and decisions would be made by majority vote via paper ballot.
But the theater's mission statement, which seeks to break down hierarchy, made the creation and enforcement of managerial policies difficult.
"It's hard, because we'd elect people to enforce our performance standards, but we hadn't yet decided on what those are," said former dancer Lili Marlene, who was involved in the transition. "Hygiene rules are easier."
Dancers learned how to take disciplinary action against each other via new policies such as peer-based performance reviews. Each week performers evaluate their onstage colleagues, considering general appearances, customer interaction, and levels of eye contact.
The first years of self-governance were the most difficult.
"On a good day, it's like Peter Pan," said Lili Marlene. "On a bad day, it was like Lord of the Flies. We can do whatever we want, and there's nobody to tell us what to do."
(Reporting by Erin Segal; Writing by Scott Hillis; Editing by Eddie Evans)
Ping!
No pictures, I beg of you!
Good for them! I hope they do quiet well-— and as for the larger dancers,
Golly,,, in most parts of the world, hips and flesh on a female are considered sexy ;)
Especially not the two “babes” on the back of the pick-up!
As with most co-ops, the (ahem) more productive workers will “subsidize” the less productive. But I wish them well. I would even visit if not for the cover charge and the expensive, watered-down drinks, but that’s another issue.
If the pole dancers ever get unionized, even her thighness could get a job there ;)
If any business fails to cater to the marketplace, they will go bankrupt. Except for a few chubby chasers, most American guys want their strippers hot, not corpulent. If patronage declines maybe they can move their club to one of these other countries you’re speaking of.
"Pump up the volume and let's rock this place!"
Yeah! Especially ones like this...
Get out there and shake that thang!
F you - I’m on break!
They aren’t running a strip club in most of the world. They will end up with the same rules they had before, only this time they will understand why they have them.
Believe it or not,
I think you’re wrong....
I’ve seen bright, warm ‘heavy’ girls bring down a house and a boy-hipped cold chick do nothing.
A lot of it depends on the confidence of the performer.
Lastly,
sometimes ya just gotta do what’s right ;)
I honestly hope not—
These are women after my own heart, again, I wish them well.
Reminds me of that commercial where the Russian women were on the runway in their tattered garments. The gals were a tad overweight and stern looking
Seriously (though this is a family setting) the most popular and best dancer is 20# heavier than the others-— it’s like watching a Goddess peform next to mannequins. Mostly its her face, smile and confidence.
Like in all things, there are gradations etc...plus, there is that hard, harsh, seen to much look that can make even the thinnest fake chest girl repugnant. That’s life also.
And, heck, being San Francisco and all, they don’t even have to be female!
This thread involves boobs, therefore attracts boobs...
Boobs unite!
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