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To The Strip Clubs Who Don't Hire Plus-Sized or Alternative Women

...We might not be your favorite type of dancer. But is there any real reason why you still treat us like garbage?

By Mardoll GatsbyPublished 5 years ago 5 min read
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Last summer when I got fired from my job as a server, I was restlessly searching for another one; not only in the food industry but the retail one too. I was searching for anything I could get my hands on, but I decided to branch out. I thought that maybe I should get back into sex work, just in case. I wasn't aware of phone sex and filming being options at the time, so I decided to check out the closest strip club I knew. See, I’ve been dancing for years and at the time I really didn’t want to go back, personally because I was still burnt out from doing it a year before that. However, I wasn’t going to turn down a possible opportunity to make money the best way I knew how. I’m a veteran stripper, I’ve been in several clubs. I’m a money maker. I’m a business woman. I know what I'm doing.

When I stepped into this one club, I walked in, looking and feeling great. I had a beautiful lacy headband, my hair was freshly dyed; I wore a beautiful mini dress that was white lace at the top, black on bottom, I wore a pair of heels and some pearls too. My makeup was also on point--I looked fantastic and professional. However, when I walked in, I asked the front desk manager if he was hiring for dancers and he looked at me with tension. I could tell he was trying to be professional despite his obvious disgust. He had that ‘Jesus Christ, someone get this seven on a scale from one to fifty out of my club’ look. He wanted to save face and not give off the wrong impression but he told me, with annoyance, the same line that every restaurant and retail store has told me when they don’t or can’t say no:

“We’re not hiring right now, but feel free to fill out this application and I’ll give it to the manager.”

Whenever you hear this, it means they’re trying to make sure you don’t get offended and broadcast on the internet that they’re discriminating against you. They can't give off the impression that they personally don't want to hire you. To add to his other microaggressions stacking up on each other, when I asked him if they were also hiring for cocktail waitresses, he stared at me, still tense but let out a quick and small ‘you have to be kidding me’ mixed with a disgusted type of chuckle and said “No we’re not.” as he handed me an application. I’m not stupid, I could catch on to what’s going on. I’ve been in nine to eleven clubs the entire time I’ve been dancing. I’ve danced in horrible clubs, I’ve danced in high-class clubs. This one was a high-class club. I know the stripping world almost inside and out. There was no reason for this behavior. I've worked with every single type of dancer you can imagine. Hell, I've even seen classy, prissy Barbie type of dancers working in average clubs. The problem is not females, but the fact that male managers expect us all to look like that. The manager at this club obviously was offended by my body type. Honestly, thinking about it now, I wish I didn't take that sort of behavior. I mean he couldn’t even pretend to be nice to me. I realized he was treating me like this because I didn’t look like a Barbie doll. I’m a curvy girl, I’ve got wide hips. I’m not really big, but I do have a full, healthy body. This man acted like I had some nerve to apply to his club. The disgust alone radiated off of him.

It was inappropriate. Whenever I work as a dancer, I understand perfectly how to make money. I know how to carry myself, I know the deal. It’s not my first rodeo. However, he couldn’t stand the fact that I wasn’t stick-skinny and traditionally attractive. I have tattoos, my hair was blonde at the time, but it was short too like it is now. I’ve never been the ‘preppy’ type either. I’ve always been an alternative girl. So on top of being practically a whale in his eyes, I’m also too ‘goth’ too. Which is insane. I get the fact that certain clubs, business, etc, have brands. But this type of response is absolutely gross. With every business when they’re looking for talent, they’ll state exactly what they’re looking for. This is the problem with clubs like this, especially when they’re run by men. They don't do this. They just wing talent-scouting. They don't take in consideration that even though they know what they want, they could be wasting the potential talent's time too; especially if they're travelling or low on money and time to come out to their club. They want to run their own adult business but they mistreat the talent that doesn’t make the cut. They want to be in charge of a bunch of women they get to see naked for free but they have no problem shitting on the talent that comes to them that doesn't exactly make the cut. It’s not like a movie role, it’s a position in an industry that’s already brutal enough to be in.

So to the clubs that don’t hire alternative and plus-sized women, I personally can’t think of a single reason why you wouldn't want to. A lot guys love BBW’s and dancers who are inked and pierced. There’s been a couple times where I’ve had clients pass me up to talk to other dancers that are bigger than me because that’s what they’re into. Frankly, I'm all for it. If I'm not a client's type, that's fine with me. I'm happy for her to earn her chance to make good money. Plus-size and alternative isn't the same as ugly. We know just as much, if not more, about how to bring in business. Not every guy is into the cookie-cutter stripper look. But I understand, you have a certain appearance that you want your club to maintain. That's fair. But is there a reason to act terribly to the ones that don't make it? No. Do better. Reference other clubs that might be interested in us. Support sex workers of all kinds; not just the ones that you like. Don't make this job harder on us, despite your personal opinion.

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About the Creator

Mardoll Gatsby

27. Metalhead. Libertarian/Feminist. Comedienne. Luciferian/Heathen. Witch/Seer. Queer Domme. SW. Former Extremist. Champion of Love. Pop Culture Fanatic.

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  • Wonttakenoforananswerabout a year ago

    THANK YOU FOR THIS!!!! I’m writing this 20mins after being told for the 8th time that”sorry we aren’t hiring” even after calling the day before to find out what days there were auditioning. Thank you for writing this article, you said the EXACT words I’ve been feeling and frustration toward pure hiring ignorance. I’m literally at a loss similarly to how you said “traveling and low on money” because I keep getting played around once I show up to audition. Were you able to find place to dance? And how did you keep your spirits up??? Last night after hearing the same thing from a different club and having a breakdown in my car, I’ve realized it literally cannot be me and I CAN NOT be the only one who has experienced discrimination based off bs reasons.

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