Living The Life /// Brook - It's My Job (Part 1)

Written by Empress Magazine /// Find in Interviews

I have been reading Brook’s blog for some time now and if you don’t know anything about her, let me break the news-YES she is a stripper in Atlanta. I found her to be very real and very honest on her blog about life and the exotic dancing industry.

I consider myself very open-minded and yet I still always had this pre-conceived idea of what a stripper was. Questions like, who actually are these strippers?, what made them get into the industry?, etc. While some might consider their work degrading, I actually find it somewhat empowering for a woman to be so confident without her clothes on, all while seducing/interacting with customers to earn a living. It doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with their lifestyle but it means that I respect the right for other people to make their own choices.

With all that said, I thought it would be good to interview Brook and ask her some questions about her job. Hopefully it dispels myths or at the least provides insight to women in the stripping industry.

Part 1

Empress- What’s the best part of your job, the worst part?

Brook- The best part is the money. The worst part is the money. It’s an impractical cash flow. This makes it incredibly hard to ease out of. When you’re used to seeing the kind of money you can see on good nights, it makes it very hard to just walk away. It’s the gift and the curse.

Empress- What gives you the “umph” to be so confident with your body? Is this confidence just natural or do you have regular body issues like any other women, that you still need to work on?

Brook- I absolutely have some places on my body that need work! But it varies in point of view. The club may think I need to work on something that I like, or vice versa, even customers may have an opinion on a part of my body. But, I learned I have to assess what it is that I like and dislike with my body in order for me to be comfortable. A nice body is different to different people. But, working in the club it gives you a huge boost of security. Looking around and seeing so many different kinds of women and different types of bodies, makes you appreciate your own that much more.

I don’t look like anyone, and no one looks like me, but I’m someone’s preference if I am making a living off just my physical attributes while in the club. No one is perfect, and there is no “prototype”. With that being said, when you’re amongst so many different types of beauty, you can’t help but fit in!

Empress- Is there a lot of stealing or money issues when collecting your money after a night of work? Where does all the money on the floor of the strip club go? How does it get divided among the dancers? Is it just known not to pick up money you did not work for?

Brook- It’s not an obscene amount of stealing, but any theft, great or small, is enough. Things come up “missing“, dance outfits, money, flat irons, make-up. I have had my makeup bag stolen TWICE. And we are talking hundreds of dollars of makeup. Things like that can ruin your day. As far as the money on the floor, it’s tips. People throw money in the air, and wherever it falls is generally where it goes. If it’s on the stage, it’s the stage’s money.

If you’re dancing for a gentlemen and he decides to tip you in ones, on the floor, it’s yours. Sometimes theses puddles of money on the floor belong to different people which can cause confusion, fights and everything else. The customer will never see that though. Our strippers are classy, we fight downstairs. Ha, kidding.

Empress-  Do you find a lot of men front and say “I would never wife up a stripper” because they think it’s not that status quo or do you find that men are much more accepting of your lifestyle than women?

Brook- No, I don’t think they’re fronting, because a lot of men would not-or better yet could not. Unfortunately, I’d say we have just as many male adversaries as we do female, but for very different reasons. The women that dislike strippers usually are just being very open with their judgmental side- which shows their character. They say you should judge the sin, and not the sinner, so if my industry is full of sin, then instead of throwing stones, just don’t patronize it.

These women who are our critics would rather enable stereotypes and remain closed minded, then try to understand differences in life choices and/or lifestyles. As for the male adversaries, they usually won’t “wife” a stripper because of a common insecurity with men, which involve their ego. They are most likely worried about the most general idea of a dancer, like promiscuity, and what their friends or family will think. At the end of a day, a female critic is everyday to us, and the same man who will not wife a dancer, still dances a dancer, so it’s a wash.

But, just like we have great female supporters, there are great men too, who have managed to not really give a fuck about what someone thinks about the person they choose to be with. It’s clear that we are more than our job status. But, once you start dating a stripper, you are opening yourself and the dancer up to a lot of scrutiny. Not a lot of men can or even want to deal with that.

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check out Part 2 of our interview to find out what Brook has to say about dating & relationships and her thoughts on women who judge her employment choice.