Flesh for Fantasy Producing and Consuming Exotic Dance

by Egan, Danielle; Frank, Katherine; Johnson, Merri Lisa

• ISBN13: 9781560257219
• ISBN10: 1560257210
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-12-21
• Publisher: Seal Press

Summary

With a recent burst of feature films, documentaries, and books on strippers, the business of exotic dancing is hotter than ever. Over the last decade there has been a steadily expanding interest in exotic dance, from its role as an "art form" to its benefits as a means of exercise. While the breadth of discussion generated on this topic has expanded, the fundamental debate remains the same: are female strippers empowering themselves or allowing themselves to be exploited? With her follow-up to Jane Sexes It Up: True Confessions of Feminist Desire, M. Lisa Johnson moves beyond the old debates and gives the reader a glimpse of what exotic dancing is like through the eyes of the stripper. The essays in Flesh for Fantasy cover everything from workplace policies and conditions, legal restrictions, customer behavior, and the struggle to overcome the stereotypes associated with the profession.

Author Biography

R. Danielle Egan, PhD, a former exotic dancer, is an assistant professor of sociology at St. Lawrence University Katherine Frank, PhD, is currently a research fellow in the Sociology Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Merri Lisa Johnson, PhD, is an assistant professor of English and women's studies at Coastal Carolina University

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction Third Wave Strippers: Flesh for Feminist Fantasy	xi
R. Danielle Egan
Katherine Frank
Merri Lisa Johnson
SECTION ONE: Friction
Treading Water: An Autoethnographic Account(ing) of the Lap Dance	3	(16)
Shelly Manaster
The Phenomenology of Lap Dancing	19	(16)
R. Danielle Egan
The Grind	35	(18)
Susan Bremer
The Lap Dancer and the ``Business Man''	53	(10)
Shelly Manaster
How You Got Here	63	(22)
Allison Fensterstock
Whipped Cream, Fire Eating, and the Other Delights of Feature Dancing	85	(12)
Jo Weldon
SECTION TWO: Flirtation
Why I Go to Strip Clubs	97	(4)
Emile Blauche
Becoming a Regular	101	(10)
John Smith
Observing the Observers: Reflections on My Regulars	111	(28)
Katherine Frank
Wet Confessions: Autoethnography of a Peep Show Customer	139	(20)
Jamie Berger
SECTION THREE: Reformulations
Stripper Bashing: An Autovideography of Violence Against Strippers	159	(30)
Merri Lisa Johnson
Stripper Chic: A Review Essay	189	(14)
Allison Fensterstock
Keeping Her Off the Pole? Creating Sexual Value in a Capitalist Society	203	(10)
Katherine Frank
Labor Organizing in the Skin Trade: Tales of a Peep Show Prole	213	(8)
Miss Mary Ann
Bibliography	221	(4)
Contributor Bios	225	(4)
Endnotes	229	(4)
List of Copyrights	233