His Reputation Precedes Him: Examining the Construction and Management of the Pimp in Strip Clubs

ABSTRACT

Narratives of dancers and managerial individuals working in strip clubs in Ontario, Canada, reveal that even within the sex industry the dominant image of the pimp—as an exploitative, racialized, underclass villain—informs the perception of certain men, characteristics, and relationships. To make sense of this phenomenon, this article applies Baudrillard’s concept of simulacrum to examine the circulation of the pimp trope amongst strip club workers. In so doing it argues the pimp stereotype deviantizes dancers’ relationships, and black men, as the same time as its narrow focus diverts attention away from various personal and professional challenges dancers may face.

Notes

¹ Another (albeit relatively marginal) figure described by dancers, but not third parties, was the female pimp. Most dancers (except Carrie) in focus group B had “seen girls pimping other girls” (Leigh) meaning they “[t]urned them out and took their money” (Brigitte). As a new dancer, Ashley had been approached by a woman whom she framed as “as much of a pimp as anyone else” because “she made it seem like [escorting] was easy and glamourous and I’d be like raking in the cash.”

² In turn, third parties’ discomfort with prostitution influences how they perceive dancers—as “girls” rather than workers (see Law 2016).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tuulia Law

Tuulia Law has been involved with community and academic research on the sex industry for a number of years. Her other research interests include: theoretical and preventive approaches to sexual violence on university/college campuses; and gendered violence. She is a contractual Assistant Professor at York University, Toronto, Canada.