The Gaudie spoke with a 3rd year student who also works at one of Aberdeen’s main strip clubs. Whilst the original article was a look into the day of a dancer the plans to ban strip clubs in Aberdeen city by “phasing them out” broke during the writing of this article.
The Press and Journal reported at the beginning of this month that new policy will stop strip clubs licences being granted with already existing clubs unable to be sold as strip clubs.
This policy comes as a result of pressure from NHS Grampian and violence against women campaigners as they warned that strip clubs “can help to normalise the objectification of women and men’s power over them, and contribute to a culture of sexual exploitation.”
The Gaudie spoke to Lena who works at one of Aberdeen’s strip clubs about what a day looks like for them. They said most of their nights centre around waiting with business being inconsistent but “enough to live off”.
Lena finds it easy that at the end of her shift she can leave the stress and work behind. That stress is plentiful for Lena who said “working as a stripper is just generally being harassed and getting assaulted almost everyday you’re working and for sometimes no pay.”
It’s the community within work clubs that helps them to put up with the stress of the job, they share common stories and experiences. Lena compared their experience and perspective on customers to that of hospitality workers “they don’t like being there, they don’t like dealing with customers but they have to… I’m thinking about the money the entire time”
Lena doesn’t see a destigmatisation of sex work happening in their life time. They want it to be seen as just a job, though you don’t get the “experiences and confidence you get through stripping through other jobs.” For Lena who wants to be a therapist they think the experience of talking to customers has been very valuable to them.
After our interview I followed up with Lena to see if they’d like to comment on the news of Aberdeen no longer licensing strip clubs and what that means for their job security. Lena said they believe there is a “very large disrespect around what’s going on, you can tell that they have not actually spoken to a stripper, at least not one who’s happy in their job”
They said that violence “is not high, at least not in my club.” They said that it feels like strippers are just “not being thought about at all”
For some of their peers who have been stripping for decades with people depending on their income the prospect of losing their jobs is very real. Lena is frustrated with the council’s decision and thinks the decision “really shows the age of the city”.
