The Self-Concept as a Side Bet: How Stripping Enhances the Self-Views of Men who Dance for Women

Abstract

Because stripping is considered a form of “dirty work,” it has the capacity to negatively influence exotic dancers’ self-definitions. While some researchers have looked at the ways in which stripping impacts the self-concepts of women who dance for men and men who dance for men, there have been very few studies of the self-views of men who dance for women. Using qualitative methods, I examine how stripping shapes the self-concepts of male strippers. Overall, I found that the positive effect on dancers’ self-definitions was an important side bet that kept them committed to the occupation.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

A special thanks to William A. Corsaro for his helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article.

Notes

¹ AC/DC is a rock band from Australia that was formed in 1973.

Additional information

Funding

Support for this study was provided by a Student Research Grant Award from the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction at Indiana University.

Notes on contributors

Maren T. Scull

MAREN T. SCULL is an Instructor at the University of Colorado Denver. Her research interests include sexualities, deviance, social psychology, gender, and qualitative methods.