Dancing Naked: Precarious Labour in the Contemporary Female Strip Trade

Curtis A. Fogel, Andrea Quinlan

Abstract


This paper explores the precarious labour conditions of the female strip trade in Canada and the United States. In a 2001 study of the feminization of work, Leah Vosko suggested that the current labour market in Canada is characterized by a move towards increased temporary and precarious work. Building on Vosko’s study, this paper explores how the contemporary female strip trade is situated within, and characterized by, these precarious labour conditions. Some of these conditions include: an unsteady income, an undefined and non-regulated employee/employer relationship, physical and emotional exhaustion, as well as an absence of benefits and/or compensation. Drawing on eleven autobiographies of professional strippers, and other empirical studies in the substantive area, this paper unobtrusively explores the precarious nature of the contemporary female strip trade while simultaneously exploring the larger labour trends it is situated within.
Key words: Precarious labour; Temporary work; gender; Qualitative research

Résumé
Cet article explore les conditions précaires de travail du commerce de la bande des femmes au Canada et aux États-Unis. Dans une étude de 2001 de la féminisation du travail, Leah Vosko suggéré que le marché actuel du travail au Canada est caractérisé par une évolution vers le travail temporaire et précaire a augmenté. S'appuyant sur l'étude de Vosko, cet article explore comment le commerce de bande contemporaine féminine est situé à l'intérieur, et se caractérise par, ces conditions de travail précaires. Certaines de ces conditions comprennent: un revenu instable, une indéfinie et non réglementée employé/ employeur relation, l'épuisement physique et émotionnel, ainsi que l'absence d'avantages sociaux et/ ou de compensation. Dessin sur onze autobiographies de strip-teaseuses professionnelles, et d'autres études empiriques dans le domaine de fond, cet article explore discrètement le caractère précaire du commerce bande de femmes contemporaines, tout en explorant les tendances du travail plus elle est située à l'intérieur.
Mots clés: Travail de Précarité; Le travail temporaire; Sexe; Recherche qualitative


Keywords


Precarious labour; Temporary work; gender; Qualitative research;Travail de Précarité; Le travail temporaire; Sexe; Recherche qualitative

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/J.css.1923669720110705.349

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