Exotic Dance: The Economics Of Stripping

When it comes to the world of economics, there are always the same old topics: supply

and demand, inflation, surplus’s ect. Many industries are explored within economics as well;

fashion, food and beverage, and the auto industry are some of the most popular. While these

topics get discussed quite often, there are many industries that essentially get ignored by the

economic world. One of these topics is exotic dancing, better known as stripping. Throughout

this report, I will explore the economics behind stripping; how the failing economy affects it,

supply/demand, and many other subjects.

One of the most interesting things behind the economics of stripping, is what the

dancers are selling. Essentially, they are selling a depreciating

asset; their body. Youth, energy,

and beauty never last forever. While in the eyes of America (specifically American men), a

woman’s body is incredibly valuable, even though it has a shelf life. The “shelf life” of a

woman’s body does not really effect anything however. This is because as soon as one dancer is

unable to work anymore, another woman is there to take her place. There will always be a

plethora of beautiful women willing to remove their clothing for money.

Another thing that is not explored very often within the stripping industry, is how the

money moves. How does the money move within the club? What percent do the girls get? The

dancers are not even really considered employees, more independent contractors. This is

because although the club provides the necessities (a stage, dressing rooms, bouncers ect.), the

girls often have to pay a fee to use these facilities. These fees can range from $5.00 a night, to

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$200.00 a night; it all depends on the prestige of the club in question. In laymen’s terms, they

are freelancers who are renting the space for the night. This ties into the economics of strip

clubs because essentially, they do not even work there. It is because of this rule that the club

does not really even have to pay them. The club can decide who to hire, and who to fire at any

given time. More or less, the dancers are just another subset of customers.

You may be asking, if the dancers do not get paid, then how do they make money? The

answer is simple; they get paid through their tips.

What is not discussed very often however, it

where the real money comes from. Even though people think of poles and stages when thinking

of exotic dancers, this is not where the good money comes from. A good dancer makes more

than half her tips from lap dances; the stage is simple a form of advertisement.

Okay, back to the original question: how does the money move throughout the clubs? It

is true that the strippers make their money in tips, it is often overlooked how much money this

actually is. One stripper who was profiled in Forbes magazine, stated that she could make up to

$30.00 an hour; that is on the low end of the spectrum. Another stripper named Piper, stated

that she could make a full weeks pay from her desk job, in only eight hours when she was

dancing. At the end of the night, the girls give some of their tips to the club, bouncers and

bartenders, and yet still walk away with an impressive amount.

Stripping is one of those professions that never seem to go out of style. No matter how

the economy stands, strip clubs always seem to stay in business. This is because there is always

a demand for it. There has never been a time (and probably never will be) that a man

didn’t

yearn for a beautiful woman to look at, or for a beautiful woman to show affection to them.

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Not only this, but there is always a supply. As I stated before, there will always be beautiful

women willing to take their clothes off for money, and good money at that.

The demand does

in fact reflect the supply. The more demand there are for dancers; i.e. the busier a particular

club gets, the more strippers the club will contract. This is simple economics; the more demand

there is, the more supply there will be.

One of the more complicated parts of the stripping, is the taxes. How do strippers pay

taxes? Do they declare their tips? The answer is simple. They file their taxes under

“independent contractor”, or schedule C forms. All the dancers have to do is report how much

they made, and how much they paid out to the bouncers, club, bartenders ect. Although this is

true, and many dancers file their taxes as they should, many don’t. Exotic dancing is one of

those professions where you are more or less getting paid under the table. It is actually quite

common for dancers to have a day job, and simply file taxes from that job. That means that no

taxes have to be paid from their night job, and they can keep all of the money. Although this is

a common practice, it is not advisable. The IRS will audit women who are thought to be doing

this, and trying to get away with

it.

When it comes to economics, from the outside it is all very simple. When you delve

deeper however, it is anything but. Stripping for money is one of the economic subjects that is

rarely discussed, yet oddly unique. It is a subject that should be talked about more often, and

just maybe people could learn a thing or two.