Strip club dancers and sex workers in New Zealand are defying the silencing of stigma by speaking up about the issues they face in the adult entertainment industry.
The "girls' room" in a strip club is like a sports locker room — except with fewer boundaries. If someone feels self-conscious or uncomfortable, at least five dancers will scream across the room and "gas them up" — telling them they are a bada-- bitch or that they look hot. Some may help another insert their tampon — "hiding their threads for them" — while others will be completely nude, doing their makeup.
Conversations about their sex life or laughing about what customers have done or said fill the room as women and gender-diverse people from all walks of life gather to get ready for the night. For Renee, a former club dancer who wants only her first name used, the ''girls' room'' provided a real sense of unity and solidarity, regardless of who you were. No topic was off limits behind the changing room doors.
Renee is one of 19 dancers recently fired from Calendar Girls in Wellington after 35 of them signed an email to collectively bargain for better work conditions. As independent contractors, dancers earn money through private dances and tips. They must give a percentage of their earnings to the venue — a percentage that has continued to increase over the years.
A decade ago, it was 20 per cent to the venue and 80 per cent to the dancer. In the latest contract at Calendar Girls, it was more than 60 per cent to the venue. The aggrieved workers formed the Fired Up Stilettos collective and in the weeks since dancers from across the motu have joined to lift the lid on what they say is exploitative and abusive behaviour by venue management. Renee describes herself as a "real people pleaser" before she entered the adult entertainment industry.
