The regulatory dance: sexual consumption and the night time economy

1. The regulatory dance: sexual consumption and the night time economy International Labour Process Conference, The University of Leeds, April 2011 Teela Sanders and Kate Hardy School of Sociology and Social Policy The University of Leeds

2. Structure of paper • Analysis of dancers’ surveys and interviews • Regulators and club workers in final report • Overarching findings from survey • Three key conclusions • Policy implications • Recommendations

3. Previous research on lap dancing • Focus on micro politics • Gendered power between client and dancer • ‘Objectification’ debates: wider social impact • Detracts attention from key issues around labour process and labour issues

4. Background to study • Expansion/rise of lap dancing • ‘Mainstreaming’ • Object • Policing and Crime Act 2010 • Moral concern: no space for working conditions

5. Methods: survey • 12 month project • 197 questionnaires • Recruited through: clubs, peers, internet • Questioned about four clubs they’d worked in • Questions: motivations / journey into lap dancing; other forms of work; education; feelings about work; earnings; fines; fees; demographics; unions; tax

6. Methods: interviews and observation • Interviews: • 35 dancers • 15 regulators • 20 industry (managers, owners, bar staff, doormen) • Observations: • 20 clubs across the UK • Licensing Committees; Hackney Dancers’ Alliance; TUC

7. Methods: visual - photography • In partnership with Liz Lock • Two photoshoots with three dancers • Lap dancing club and strip pub • Participants described the photos, relating them to their experiences • Not for sensationalisation / voyeurism, but to add another dimension to understandings of workplaces • More ‘sociologically comprehensible’ (Harper 2004)

9. Mobility “ • Reflected broad base of data • Also indicated very high levels of geographical mobility amongst dancers I’ve worked in two in Leicester. I’ve worked in Peterborough, in Stoke, in Manchester, in Leeds, and I’ve worked in two in Manchester. I’ve worked in Marbella, where else? I’ve worked in Northampton. I’m just trying to think… then I’ve worked in Harrogate. I tried Blackpool the other weekend. Terrible, absolutely awful! I think I’d say over 10 clubs I’ve worked in… ”

10. Findings: media reporting

11. Findings: socio-demographics • Relatively young • 60% (n=105) aged 22-29 • 93.2%(n=151) started dancing under 29 • Single, non-mothers • only 30.3% were living ‘as married’ • large majority did nothave any children (82.9%, n=141) • Majority British - 60.5% British; 28.6% EU; 9.6% non-EU - Main migrant groups: Romanian / Brazilian

12. Findings: education and employment Educational Background Other employment - • 73.4% had completed further education • 23.2% had Undergraduate degree • Similar across nationalities • Fewer than national average of young women (40%) • Few women gave up high paying jobs / careers to dance • Most were already in low paid and unskilled work (hospitality; retail; beauty etc.) • 21.4% said they started dancing ‘because they wanted to become a dancer’

13. Findings: lap dancing and life strategies Education (14.2%) Only dancing (40.2%) Other forms of work (32.6%) Other forms of work and education (10.6%)

14. Findings: direct sexual services • No evidence or anecdotes of forced labour / trafficking • ‘Extra services’ anecdotal by several dancers (1 said she did) as individual entrepreneurship and where managers ignored rule breaking. • Pressure to do extras came from ‘race to the bottom’ and not management pressure • Although managers sometimes turned a blind eye • No evidence of connections to organised prostitution • Does reflect largely the clubs we had access to…

15. Findings: customer harassment • High levels of verbal harassment reported • Few women said they had not experienced verbal harassment from customers • Interview data describes unwanted touching and pestering as a frequent behaviour • Dancers had strategies • In disputes with customers, 85% said they were mostly or always supported by managers

16. Findings: temporalities of lap dancing Patterns and routine The five year myth • First job: 41% introduced to by a female friend • Second job: word of mouth • Time in dancing: less than 5 months to over 15 years. • Most (62%) worked between 3-5 shifts per week • 6+ shifts usually migrant workers • 70.9% had been dancing for less than 5 years • Some talked about working for only 5 years to achieve goals, but then getting used to the money and lifestyle • Few said this would be a career for forseeable future.

17. Findings: feelings about work • High levels of job satisfaction (74% scored 7-10) • 80% felt safe in their workplace • Doormen, rather than CCTV • Respect at work: • 44% said they felt respected • 8% that felt disrespected

18. Findings: swings and roundabouts Advantages Disadvantages • Unstable earning - 59.1% • Keeping job a secret - 47.4% • Customer harassment - 40.1% • Lost respect for men - 30.7% • Competition with others - 27.7% • Ability to choose hours - 87.6% • Get money straight away - 81.8% • Earn more money - 80.3% • Be independent - 76.6% • Combines fun and work - 72.5%

19. Findings: money and earnings House fees: • Ranged £0-£200 • Usually £20-30 Average earnings per shift: • 1st club =£284, • Current club = £232. Commission on private dances: • Ranged 0-66% • Average: 30% Fines: • 61% of dancers had been fined. Tipping System: • 50% reported tipping other workers Losing money: • 70% reported losing money by going to work

20. Findings: money and earnings “ It’s £20 for a dance, because you pay a flat house fee. This is the thing, the commission structure will vary and affect how the club is with you and how you all make your money. I worked in a club recently where the owner took a third, which is a lot of money out of the dance fee. Whereas other places where there is a flat house fee are o.k. Clubs where they take a percentage commission, the owners are quite involved, they will encourage you and support you and the will try and make it more fair. ”

21. Findings: The Rules Touching Codes of Conduct • License with conditions • Dancers own interpretation and confusion about rules • Variability between clubs/pubs • Customers confused • No contact lead to harassment? • Made to sign • Confused as a contract • Management discipline. • Lateness/absence/dress • Arbitrarily enforced • Variability • Problem of localising policy….no consistency

22. Explaining the proliferation of lap dancing: key conclusions • Precarity and life strategies • The ‘myth of self employment’ • The economics of the industry

23. Intersectional precarities • Dancing as a strategy for young single women • Intersects with education, debt, other work, further career / future plans • Working towards stability/security in career and life • Migrant workers actively come to dance as a strategy (not multi-faceted strategy)

24. Intersectional precarities • Relates to precarious situation of those in education (likely to increase) • Levels of insecurity in formal labour market • Contradiction: precarity not ‘always and already’ negative: wider political economy and institutional arrangements • Precarious work as a short term strategy for avoiding and managing longer term conditions of precarity

25. From anti-work to strategy “ I went to private school and one of the things that our headmaster said was people learn from their mistakes. But intelligent people learn from other people’s mistakes. And in a way seeing sort of a few of us older – sort of – you know, who are approaching 40 and still have nothing apart from the designer shoe collection sort of kind of forced me to think, you know what; look at the other dancers that were, you know, saving their money, that were coming in, that were on the floor at nine o’clock and were working hard, not drinking. And were tucking their money away to buy a house the following year – Those are the people that I wanted to learn from. ”

26. 2. The myth of self-employment • Core reason women worked in the industry (after money) was flexibility and self employment • Whose flexibility? • Disciplinary measures • Control with management • Compound precariousness

27. 2. Myth of self-employment: control and discipline “ Management come and they say, "do this, do that", but we're self-employed, so they shouldn't be able to. Also, what we wear. We should be allowed to wear what we want, we're self-employed. ”

28. 3. Economics of lap dancing: macro-factors • Colosi – historical context of rise: change from exclusive to mass market • Gentrification • Diversification • Consumption • Enabling NTE • Privatisation of education • Growing disparities of wealth

29. 3. Economics of lap dancing: micro-factors • Supply base • Devaluation of the job – price, accessibility, cater for different markets • From ‘fit and fit’ to deskilling • Disadvantages: financial exploitation don’t put women off • Opportunity for one big spender

30. Declining standards “ Some of them charge extortionate amounts of money to the dancers who are there to work. This is one of the reasons that the industry has gone downhill in the last few years. More fee money means that the clubs want more dancers per shift. Some very small places have up to thirty girls per shift. As there is a lot of competition amongst the girls, there doesn't seem to be a good atmosphere between them anymore. I would not go back to dancing because of these reasons. I have seen how the industry has deteriorated gradually over time. ”

31. Policy implications “ • Welfare of dancers as priority amidst other licensing priorities • Nil Policy • Concerns that stripping will become deprofessionalised and dangerous (Colosi 2010). There needs to be more regulation within the industry, we as dancers have for too long allowed others to dictate to us how we are to perform and interact. What we do is not illegal yet is still seen as a fringe job lacking in respectability and a gateway to prostitution. The industry is now being scapegoated because the real issues that affect vulnerable women like sex trafficking, arranged marriage and forced prostitution are unpopular politically. ”

32. The end… … thank you.