- Society says that women
can move seductively. It is sexy. It is looked at as beautiful. When a man does it, it's
looked at a little of feminine. - Gyrating like this? - Yeah, it's thought of being-- - Like this?
(Chris laughs) - Feminine.
- There you go! - Yeah that's--
- Give us an example. (upbeat synth music) - [Prompter] I consider
myself a sex worker. Three, two, one, go. (footsteps plodding) - I think there are varying
degrees of sex work. I think that there's a
spectrum and I think that as a stripper, I was on the
spectrum of being a sex worker. I wouldn't necessarily have
called myself a sex worker in the past because I
didn't have enough education on what a sex worker was. And I also feel like
I've not earned the right to call myself a full service sex worker. So, that's why I just prefer sex worker because there's a higher degree of sex work above stripping I think. - I don't find myself to be a sex worker. I find myself to be creative. When I'm on stage performing,
even though it's sexual, you're creating a whole act. - I agree with that it is an art form and that you are creating a whole persona. Whether it's the fireman act or your cop act, cowboy,
something like that. But it's still in the sex industry. And you're a sexy ass
dude. Don't try to deny it. And you out there being
sexy for the ladies and that's why they're there to see you because it's sex. Sex sells. - For me a lot goes
into what I do at work. The way that I put myself together, the way I present myself, the way that I do hair and
makeup and glam and outfits and all that kind of stuff goes into it. And I think that goes
more into entertainment than it would sex work. - But don't you think
that when you're out there that the majority of your
clientele is men, right? - Yeah.
- They're out there because they fantasize about being with you, specifically, you know what I mean? So I think that you should
be considered a sex worker cuz that's what your clientele's
thinking when they see you. - Well that would be the same way that they see Angelina
Jolie as well though. They go see her movies because
she is a great actress, but she's also an
extremely beautiful woman. So a male can go and
watch her movies and say, "God I wish I was married
to Angelina Jolie." But she's a bonafide movie star. - [Prompter] My career is
misrepresented in the media. Three, two, one, go. (footsteps plodding) - Magic Mike and Chippendales
are two most iconic figures for males stripping and I don't think they misrepresent males stripping. If anything I think they're
pretty on point because I actually started dancing
because I watched Magic Mike. Yeah. That's what got me
thinking I could do this. Yeah, I wanna be a male stripper and since I've started dancing it is very similar to the movie. You got the review, you
got the house parties and that's pretty much, it's cut and dry. But we got a lot of people that think that we gay too a lot of times. And I get women all the time saying, "Are you gay or you're dancing gay?" I have nothing against gay people. - Where does that media come from though? You know? Like, where
do they get that idea? - Society says that women
can move seductively. It is sexy. It is looked at as beautiful. When a man does it, it's
looked at a little of feminine. - Gyrating like this? - Yeah, it's thought of being-- - Like this?
(Chris laughs) - Feminine.
- There you go! - Yeah that's--
- Give us an example. - This is gay?
- Not that it's gay. - This is gay?
- It's just, most men do not have that kind
of coordination and rhythm. Okay. - It's wild cuz customers will talk to me or talk to dancers for a little bit and then they'll be like, "Wow, you're kind of smart." And they're surprised or they're
like, "Wow you're funny." - But they say that to us too. They don't think we're
smart at all either. They just think we're muscle in a body. That's all they think we are too. - Jokes that I see all the time is that we are supporting our drug
habits and our children and we're just turning
tricks all the time. Yes, some of those things are
true but that's not all it is. And then on "Family Guy". Is it "Family Guy" or "American Dad" where they're basically like
strippers have no souls. And I've actually had
people say that to me because they're learning it on TV and I told her very kindly, don't ever say that to someone ever again. You learned the wrong information.
That is not how we are. - [Prompter] Sexual
harassment comes with the job. Three, two, one, go. (footsteps plodding) - For example, the DJs
that that we have sometimes they're really touchy with the girls and if you're not the
type of girl that likes to get touched, then you tell them no, they won't put you on stage
and they will skip you and they will put girls ahead of you. So it's either you're
gonna really tip them. - That's crazy.
- And I tend to tip them a lot.
- I've never experienced that. - Yeah, and I have always
kind of bumped heads with some of the DJs because of that. I mean, it's wrong. And then sometimes the
customers are really touchy and it's kind of like--
(exhales) You know? I don't know. - I've never personally
had that experience. Customers, they can get drunk. But I've never had anything outlandishly disrespectful happen at work. I've been recognized by
people at the mall and stuff and I've had really
nasty things said to me. - So would you say outside work you get harassed more than inside work? What do you think?
- Yeah. 'Cause I mean, I'm free game at the mall. I'm shopping, I'm on my phone and I just hear somebody
down the hall screaming, "You strip," you know,
they called me the B word. And I'm like who is this
person and then I turned around and he was like, "When you in the club, "you act like you don't know
me, you can't dance with me "you don't see me, you
think you too good." And stuff like that. I've been cursed out malls,
parties, all kind of stuff. Called slut, all kind of
stuff. So that does happen. - There's a difference
between male stripping and female stripping
because you got bouncers, you got security, you've
got your employer. Male stripping is independent contracting. So when we show up to a party,
it's usually house parties. It's the majority of our
work. There are reviews. But you're only there for
what like one to two hours at a club and we're men. It's just like a classic case, I don't know since way back
when, since the beginning of time that women have
always been victimized and sexually harassed and it's kinda hard to sexually harass a man I feel like. - I've had people punch
me when I was on stage. I'd have people try to
finger me during a lap dance. I've had everything. People untie your bikini,
people touch your boo. Like, everything. Touching
your face is gross. But I think you should expect somewhat of some sexual harassment from a situation that's that sexually charged. Especially if you add alcohol to it. - Sometimes I like the sexual
harassment, I'm not gonna lie. - Well I'm not saying
that you should like it or you should have to
like it, but you should kind of expect it sometimes or
be prepared for it at least. - [Prompter] My job affects my ability to maintain a romantic relationship. Three, two, one, go. (footsteps plodding) - I am a dad of three kids. When they come see me
and Cali, I don't dance. I shove it to the side
for three, four weeks. But at the end of the day it's important that I maintain a single life so I can make the utmost money for them. And being single is better because if I have a woman,
she's gonna tell me, "Well I don't want you
to go out this tonight. "I want you to perform tonight," and stuff like that and
it's gonna hurt my stuff. - I was with someone for five
years and it was all fine until one day he just
wasn't okay with it anymore and started slut shaming
me after five years. But, the dude I'm with
now just doesn't really, not that he doesn't pay attention to it, but he doesn't come into the club. He doesn't really have
to see what I, you know. I don't know, I guess it would bum him out if he saw the amount of flirting. - [Chris] Like outta sight, outta mind? - But it's different flirting than how I would flirt with him. But it's weird cuz people change. Like, they think that they're fine with it or they pretend like they're fine with it and they're really not. - For me, it's not that I can't find someone that'll accept me. I wouldn't want to date
anyone while I'm stripping. Because I mean, the
things that we have to do, it's like we're acting
like if we're interested in the customers or flirting. And I feel like in a way that's to me, I'm not saying for everyone. To me that's like cheating. Like I can't, I can't. And then when they ask you,
"Do you have a boyfriend?" And then if I say yeah, then it's like that's already kind of
like a deal breaker. You know? - [Prompter] I've dated or
gotten intimate with a customer. Three, two, one, go. (footsteps plodding) - In my 10 years of dancing,
I had one guy come in and try to actively pursue me. So it was like every
shift he was coming in and he wasn't totally haggard. So, after a while I was like, all right I'll go on a few dates with you. But, he turned out to be
a total fucking weirdo so it didn't have to last anyway.
- Oh no. - I performed in New York City in Webster Hall and I
met my ex-wife there. - Oh wow. Oh! - It was a blessing because
I have three beautiful kids and we are still friends and it's cool, you know what I'm saying? Because I did meet a
good person at the time. - Sometimes you meet someone
just like you would out at the nightclub or the
bar and you're like, yeah let's go home and do stuff together. I mean, yeah. I'm a person, I'm
attracted to other people and sometimes it just works out. - [Prompter] I would support my child if they wanted to become a stripper. Three, two, one, go. (footsteps plodding) - [Jacob] Whoa. Whoa. - I didn't have the greatest upbringing. My mom was pretty terrible to me. Everybody was. So I grew up kind of like loner. Oh my gosh, to even think
about like my daughter... I feel like I'm there. I feel like she can do so much more than dancing,
than what I'm doing. I'm not saying that stripping is bad because it pays my bills
and there's beautiful women that you meet and they're there
because they're single moms. But, I just feel like my daughter would, there's something so much better
that she can do than this. - I mean I didn't have a bad childhood and I ended up in something like this. I was actually very well
supported my entire life as a child and given every opportunity and I still did it and it was my choice. - But this is something that
you're not gonna be able to do when you're 40 really
50 years old, 60 years old. It's a shelf life. That's what it is. You do this right now that you're young, you get as much as you can. But what's to say that if
something happens to my daughter, she's not gonna make money
at 40, 50, 60 stripping. - If had a girl, I'd be scared. You know? I'd be really scared. - Scared of what? - Scared of her being taken advantage of. Scared of her having bad experiences that you've experienced dancing. You'd probably have them even
whether or not you did dance. - I was date raped when I was 18 by a coworker and I
wasn't at a strip club. - I'm not saying it can't happen. Just because you're not a stripper doesn't mean you can't get raped. I'm just saying that you
come across and put yourself in a lot more difficult
positions being a stripper, I would imagine being a woman from what I've heard from other girls. - No.
- You don't think so? - To her point I had the
complete opposite upbringing. I'm third generation college. I had a great middle class upbringing. I'm in the situation I'm
in because I put myself in that situation and I made
the adult choice to dance. However, I'm not saying if
my child chose to dance, just like my mom, I would demonize them or love them any less. I just would want more for them. - But would you support
them is the question? - Yes, yes. My mother supports me. Would she rather me not
be a stripper? Of course. - I think that it takes a strong person to be an entertainer or a
sex worker on any level. And if I had a child that grew up to be any of those things and
if it wasn't right for them or if they felt like it
was too much for them, I would hope that they would
recognize it and get out of it. 'Cause I've seen girls kind
of be emotionally crippled by this job and that's really hard to see. 'Cause it's not made for everybody. I would just hope that my
kid would be aware enough to be like, "This sucks for me." - [Prompter] If it wasn't for the money, this would not be my job. Three, two, one, go. (footsteps plodding) - It's strictly cuz I make decent money. That's just the bottom line. I mean, have I had
really fun times at work? Yeah, I've had some great times at work. But, at a point in time it
does start to wear on you. Like I said, the late nights. There are just certain things
and aspects about being in the club that just really
can wear on you over time. So yeah, it's definitely cuz of the money. - There's times where
it's real dead at the club and you have to go up and
you make like two bucks. You're like, damn that was brutal. But you still had fun looking
at the ceiling mirrors, laying there doing nothing. - I mean what man wouldn't want to go to a party that, there's only women. - That's right.
- And you're out-numbered, and you're like 20 to one and you gotta take your clothes off. Like, it doesn't sound pretty. It's not bad at all to me.
- It's fun for us. It's fun.
- It's fun. - We like it. - [Prompter] Stripping is empowering. Three, two, one, go. (footsteps plodding) - [Chris] Strongly agree baby. - Stripping's the best.
You get people's money. (group laughing) You stand over a sea of dudes and then their wallets fly towards you. It's amazing. - Until you had like
money just fall over you. It's like an adrenaline
you can't get from. - Yeah, the sound of singles.
- I mean, maybe like skydiving or jumping off of. That feeling feels like yes. You're like, oh yes I can
pay this bill tomorrow. - When I'm on stage doing a show. Do a towel act, pull the G-string off. Just hearing women scream
at the top of their lungs, not because somebody told
them, "Hey make some noise," but just because they couldn't
control themself enough and they just had to scream. They just had to just let it out. And I hear all of them
do at the same time. That's very empowering. - I mean, being able to
make your own decision about your body, that's the number one. When it comes to feminists and being like, "You're
not empowered doing this." It's like I made the decision to be here. Nobody's making this decision for me. It's my body and my choice.
And that's empowerment. - Yay.
(group clapping) - [Bonnie] Thank you guys.
- That was awesome! Okay, so that episode totally had me rethinking
my career choices. - I was obsessed with that episode. - I know. - We hit on so many different topics. It was so much fun. It
was such a great cast. I was obsessed.
- It was great. But we just love talking to
people and we love talking to you guys and we love
hearing from you guys. So leave us a comment below about what you thought about this episode. Also send us a DM on Instagram but you have to be following us. And as always, we'll see you next time. - Bye guys. (chill piano music)
