All language subtitles for Slutever s02e08 Strippers.eng

♪♪

Oh.

[ Chuckles ]

That's your own
unique move.

Yeah, I'm putting
my own spin on it.

♪♪

Karley: Have you noticed that
everyone that's anyone right now

used to be a stripper?

You know, Cardi B,
Channing Tatum, Stormy Daniels,

so literally everyone.

When I was little,
I was taught that strippers

were just human furniture for
rappers to snort coke off of,

but now they're
multimillionaire pop stars,

Hollywood actors,
and sort-of politicians.

Wait, has my whole life
been a lie?

I can't help but wonder, "Are
strippers the new it girls?"

♪♪

I feel like strip-club culture
is everywhere these days.

You know, hip-hop videos,
co-opted stripper style,

moms doing
pole-dancing workouts,

the stripper who might
save America,

and the stripper
who is taking over America.

Ah!

Karley: But where does
the average park person

stand on the art
of the striptease?

When you hear the word
"stripper," what do you think?

Poles,
single dollar bills.

Entertainer.Shiny clothes.

You've decided
to do something fun

versus sit at a desk,
which sucks.

Make a few bucks,
show a butt cheek.

Seriously,
it just feels practical.

[ Both laugh ]

I used to associate it
with, like, negativity.

It's, like, degrading
to women. It's depressing, pretty miserable.

But now I just see it
as someone that is working.

Man: Strippers don't get
enough credit.

It's a lot to expose yourself
like that.

It's just a way to make
money. If I could do it, I probably would.

If you were
a stripper,

what would
your stripper name be?

How about Caramel?Magical Mari.

Majestic.
Shadow, uh, Bear.

I'd say
The Cuban Cigar.

Max Lidle.Sounds like an accountant name.

It really does.

Vanilla Gorilla.

Oh, my God.

You just had that one
ready and waiting.

[ Laughs ]

Karley: So it seems like
at least some people

are warming up
to the art of erotic dance,

but are the strippers themselves
feeling the love?

♪♪

To find out,
I'm headed to Magic City,

one of the most famous
strip clubs in America

and basically
a national treasure.

♪♪

Secret Moneii:
Booty muscle. Ooh!

Bounce it,
bounce it, bounce it!

Yeah,
you got to, like,

look back like that
and, like, wink.

And it, like,
scrambles their brain,

so they're not aware of how
much money they're giving you.

There you go.Exactly.

And that's how
you get the money.Woman: Yes!

Karley: Do you think
that the perception

of strippers
has changed over the years?

It used to be
a secret.Strippers was the worst thing in the world.

Yeah.If they found out
you was a stripper

or they just --
You're this, you're that.You're that.

It was always
looked bad upon.But now it's finally accepted.

And now it's glorified.Yeah.

Everything is
about strippers now, like,

and they not hiding it.

♪♪

At one point, if your mama
found out you was a stripper,

she kicking you
out the house. Yeah.

Now, your mama find out
you a stripper,

"Where my money at?"Right.

Like, you know
what I'm saying?

♪♪

Like, you know,
other women in this world

just look at us
and be like...

"I want to do that."..."I want
to look like her."

Like, Nicki Minaj has never
stripped a day in her life,

and she look
just like Secret.

Like a stripper.
Mm-hmm.

She probably looked
at your Instagram and was like,

"I want that."[ Laughter ]

♪ I don't need no guest list

♪ When I pull up to the palace

♪ Smoke in every room

♪ Yeah, we smoking
on this chalice ♪

♪ Red cup and we okay

♪ Red cup and we located

♪ At the back room
where they do things ♪

Karley: How do you think
those strippers who work here

are viewed in a wider
culture kind of way?

Celebrities!

People look to them
as they're the fun people,

popping bottles, making it rain,
and just having a good time.

So it feels like the shame
has largely faded.

Oh, definitely 'cause, honey,
these girls,

they are loud
and proud.

One of them has
almost 500,000 followers.

So they dance here,

and then they grow
their Instagram following.

Yep, definitely.Interesting.

Mm-hmm.

Africa:
Come here and...

See, that's how I make
the majority of my money,

off of Instagram.

I post my videos,
my photo shoots.

It's just, like,
you meet here and stuff,

and then I get booked.

Karley: Honestly,
fuck everyone who said

Instagramming my butt
wasn't a good career move.

♪♪

Nowadays, strippers gain clout

by growing
a big social-media following,

which is essentially
the new American currency.

♪ Do do do do do do

♪ Do dodoo da da da

I want to meet one of these

Insta-famous
stripper influencers,

so I'm going to meet No Foreign.

She's Lil Wayne's
favorite dancer

and has over
500,000 follows on Instagram.

Before I started dancing,
I worked at Chipotle.

I used to
catch the bus.

Once I started dancing,
I bought me a Mercedes Benz.

You have a Mercedes?

[ Laughing ] Yes.That's cool.

♪♪

You could look
at the camera.

Karley: What pictures
do the best on your Instagram?

No Foreign: The ones
when I'm half naked.

Like, they just get
all the attention.

It just brings all the traffic
to my page.

They're like, "Who is this?
Why is she even naked?"

♪♪

I built my brand
through Instagram, for sure.

I went from being
the regular girl taking selfies

to now I'm...
Look at my ass.

That's where I got
a lot of followers from.

So people
love your ass?

Like, that's what --
You know, I don't know.

That's just life.
That's just life.

♪♪

What do you like
about dancing?

When I'm up onstage,
I got power.

I feel cute.
I feel, like, fun.

I feel like a hustler.

I love it, though.

Stripping has actually built
a whole new,

and it sounds crazy,
but better life for me.

Like, it led me to meeting
these great people

that actually have the power
to put me in a position

that I think I actually
want to be in.

Aside from dancing, what else
are you doing at the moment?

I started rapping now
about nine months ago.

Wait, why did you
start rapping?

I was supposed to do this show
on VH1,

and they asked me,
"What else do you do?"

I was like, "Well, I started
doing music. I rap."

We were on our way back home,
and I told my manager,

I was like,
"We don't have not one song.

We've never even been
in the studio together.

What are we
going to do?"

So you basically
just lied

and said you were a rapper
to have something to say?

I did lie.
I did lie.

And then you had to make songs
to go along with the lie.

Because we had to send them
two records,

and we recorded
my first song ever.

And now the people
come in the club,

and they're like, "Yo,
you do music, too, now, right?"

And I'm like, "Yeah, I rap,"
and they're like,

"Yeah, you need
to come to the studio,"

or, "Oh, I got a song
for you."

Fake it
till you make it.

Fake it till you make it,
for sure.

For sure.

Shit, not only is stripping
a job in itself,

but it can also launch entirely
new careers out of thin air.

Do you
feel like dancing

has influenced
the music that you make now?

Dancing and being in the club
and living this lifestyle,

it just gives me
so much to talk about.

No Foreign is
a stripper-come-rapper,

full-time entrepreneur.

Respect.

But how did stripping go
from being the job

that you omit from your résumé

to something you list
under "special skills"?

♪♪

Woman: I am so much better
at communicating with a toddler

because I deal with drunk,
horny adults.

Oh, my God.

Man: I've literally seen
her glasses steam up.

That's so dorky
and embarrassing.

Oh, girl,
you're doing it!I'm doing it?

Oh,
you're so doing it.

♪♪

♪♪

Karley: So far,
we've established that strippers

are definitely trending,

but I want to know what sparked
all of this stripper love?

To find out, I'm going to
talk to Michelle Hope,

a sexologist and sex educator.

Why do you think it is
that the perception

around strip culture
is changing?

I think it has to do
with hip-hop music.

Because let's face it,
hip-hop music

is now mainstream
in everything

From, I don't know,
what you hear on the radio

all the way
to Sprite commercials. Yeah.

Like, to me, the lyrics
in hip-hop are about, like,

the glorification
of the stripper.

T-Pain said it best --
"I'm in love with a stripper

because she rock
and she rolling."

Music and language play a lot
of how we perceive things.

We start to hear it
over and over and over again,

and then it starts to normalize
the idea of,

"Oh, maybe this isn't
such a bad thing."

Right.

And also, I think it has a lot
to do with the individuals

who have maybe
been dancers in the past

and now
are huge stars.

Cardi B came out and said,
"I'm a stripper and what?"

Okurrr, and we loved her,
and Rhianna,

who had that amazing video
a few years back

where she had
the pole dancer,

and it just looked strong,
right?

No longer is it,
like,

the idea of a weak girl
prancing about a stage.

You got to be strong
to work that pole.

It really is so powerful
for people

to be shame-free
about stigmatized professions.

I think that there is still
some stigma,

but the women's movement

is really continuing
the dialogue

around a woman's right
to choose for her body

and for her way
she makes money

and whatever kind of thing
she wants to do.

♪♪

So pop culture is changing
our perception of strippers,

but who is going
to strip clubs these days?

Is it still just crunk bachelor
parties and creepy old dudes,

or is that changing, too?

I'm outside of Pumps in Brooklyn
about to talk to a couple

who say they like to hang out
in strip clubs together.

I want to ask them,
what do they get out of it?

♪♪

♪♪

Can I awkwardly ask you
some questions?

Yeah.

What is it like

to watch Allison
get a dance, Matt?

I mean,
it's pretty hot for me.

I've literally seen
her glasses steam up

when she wears glasses and
gets a dance before, like...

That's so dorky
and embarrassing.

It's very endearing
and kind of hot.

How long have you guys
been together?

Five years?
Yeah, almost.

Almost 5 years,
yeah.

We just got married
this year.

Cinco de Mayo.
Yeah.

So you guys go to
strip clubs together?

We do.
Relatively often.

And how did you guys start
going to strip clubs together?

It was my idea.

We had been dating
for a few weeks,

and I wanted something fun
for us to do.

And I kind of wanted
to break him out of his shell a little bit.

So before you guys met, what was
your perception of strip clubs?

Ungodly?

No, I grew up
in a more rural,

conservative part
of the country,

and so I didn't really
go to clubs growing up

or even really
in college much.

It was something shameful,
I guess, was, like,

the vibe that was kind of
attached to the dancers,

the establishments,
the people who went there.

And have you changed
your opinion?

Yes.

Yeah, I only flog myself
a little

after we go
to the clubs.

Do you think that going to
strip clubs together

has been additive
to your relationship

and to your sex life?

Definitely to our sex life,
probably our relationship, too.

We're not pushing boundaries
of, like, non-monogamy,

but we both are, like,
very transparent with each other

about our attraction
to other people

or our sexuality,

and so it's really a safe place
for us to play

and figure that out
with each other.

That makes sense.

♪♪

For me, I love seeing
somebody else appreciate him,

and it kind of validates
how hot I think he is.

And then it reinforces the trust
that we have with each other

that we're able to kind of
exercise in that environment

without it becoming
a problem,

and I think that
makes me love him more.

That makes sense to me, right,
what you're saying.

You know, we want to bring in
other people's sexual energy

but where there's, like,
really strict boundaries.

Like, no one is going to go home
with anyone.

Exactly.

We're not looking for, like,
the girlfriend experience,

and we're looking for something
very, very clear cut.

And that's, like you said,
sexual energy to jive with ours

without having to worry about
any strings attached.

So after you get a dance, what
happens when you guys go home?

And go to bed.
Oh.

So it seems that strip clubs
have been normalized

to the point
that now all types of people

can enjoy the erotic experiences
they provide.

With all this normalizing
going on,

do strippers now have
the perfect gig?

A gentleman stuck
his finger someplace

that it should not
have gone.

People think it's okay
to do that.

♪♪

♪♪

Karley: I'm in Portland,
the capital of craft beer

and alternative everything.

Portland also has
more strip clubs per capita

than any city
in the United States -- random.

I've come to this enlightened
stripper mecca

to talk to an outspoken dancer
about the realities of her job.

Elle Stanger is a stripper,
a mom, and an activist.

She hosts a successful podcast
about sex workers' rights

and the more challenging aspects
of the job of a dancer.

Welcome back to
"Strange Bedfellows."

So, Jen, you've been a stripper
for 20 years.

More like 22.
[ Laughs ]

A really,
really long time.

So what are some of
the problems, you think,

that we -- that sex workers face
in our communities?

I mean, it can be really hard
to rent, honestly.

All the time, I see dancers,
strippers, sex workers,

they say, "How do I fill out
a rent application, a résumé,"

because if you list the work,
it's not real work.

As soon as your genitals
are involved, it's...

Yeah.Everything is bad.

PayPal, Square, Venmo,
all those payment processors

refuse to work
with adult entertainers.

What are
some other problems?

People don't think
they can assault us...

Right....especially at work.

They think
it's not assault.

I mean, um,
pretty recently,

I had, um,
a gentleman sitting at my rack

um, who,
out of nowhere,

stuck his finger
someplace...

I'm sorry.

...yeah, that it should
not have gone in front of...

Your ass
or your vulva, vagina?Vulva.

In front of a whole room
of people, and it was --

The most disconcerting
thing about it

was all the dudes
just kind of sipping their beer

like it's
par for the course.Interesting.

Like, just taking in
the atmosphere,

and I think that's such
a common experience.

Elle: I feel
that the climate

of strip-club culture
has evolved,

but I would love
to see more media

where we're
talking about...

like, told from
a stripper's perspective.

It's a tough job,
and I --

it's definitely
not for everyone.

But I thrive
because of it.

I'm in the best shape
of my life ever.

I've learned more about
my beliefs,

my boundaries,
my sexuality.

I've had people tell me
I'm a healer.

I've had people tell me
I'm better than a therapist.

There's also just, like,
the amazing amount of people

who will thank me.

I had a client
write me.

He is 60 years old.

He is lovely,
and he said,

"My time with you has forever
been imprinted on my soul."

Oh.

Yeah, that's something
that people completely miss.

It's, like, you can have,
like, genuine,

emotionally real interactions
even in the sex industry.

Mm-hmm, especiallyin
the sex industry.

♪ Instead,
you're draggin' me down ♪

♪♪

Also,
I am so much better

at communicating
with a toddler/child

because I deal with drunk,
horny adults. Oh, my God.

Girl: Do you
have it changed?

Do you have
what changed?

Now that
you like grass better.

Yeah,
I like the grass better.

Use a nice tone,
keep it simple,

suggest what
we're doing next.

Mommy, please
don't take them out.

I'll put them back
in the same spot

because I know
you're particular.

And just people,
working with people,

is all
very connected,

so any job that
you are building skills in,

you're just building skills
for the world.

It doesn't matter
what you do.

In recent years,
strip-club culture

has become
a lot more "mainstream."

Does that have any impact
on your actual life and job?

There are a lot more people
coming in,

but crowds
don't mean money.

Here's a great example.

A bunch of girls come in
and shout "whoo" at me

and then try to take
a selfie in the hallway,

that is not supporting me,
you know?

Tip the dancer,
you know?

A "whoo"
does not pay my bills.

Sex work
is real work.

It canbe fun,
but it's like any other job.

Let's see. So we got this
question, and I just love it.

"How can I be more supportive
of sex workers

when I see people tearing them
down on social media or TV?"

Stop making dead-stripper
and dead-hooker jokes.

Yeah.It's not funny.

Right.

People can stop saying
the word "ho,"

if they're not
a full-service sex worker.

Like, 16-year-old girls
calling each other hos,

you guys aren't hos.

Like, you're not -- You've never
taken money in an envelope

and then put a condom
on someone's dick

before you suck them off

and listen to them talk about
their wife and their boat.

I think that standing up
for people is important.

Like, when you hear --
When you see someone online

calling -- calling someone a ho,
calling someone a whore

and using language
like that,

just step in
and don't justify it by saying,

"Hey,
they're someone's daughter,"

or,
"They're somebody's mother,"

because we have --
I don't know.

Sex workers have value
as people on their own right,

not just in their relationships
to other people.

I mean, the best thing to hear
when you are,

like, "I'm a sex worker,"
"I'm a stripper,"

is someone be like,
"Oh, cool. It's just a job."

Certainly."Just a job."

Karley: It's clear that
while we've made progress

when it comes to the stigma
of stripping,

in terms of basic job safety
and respect,

there's still a long way to go.

Stripping might seem like
a shortcut to cash

and a bajillion followers,

but it's hard work
emotionally and physically.

Okay.

♪♪

Karley: Something that's often
overlooked about stripping

is that the job isn't just about

showing drunk strangers
your boobs.

It's actually basically
an Olympic-level sport,

but the slutty version.

So I'm meeting up with
a dancer named Toxic

to see if I'm a natural.

My only dance experience is,
like, very drunk at a wedding.

Okay.

Well, um,
I'm going to show you

different dance moves
that you can do.

Perfect.
Just feel yourself.

Feel the music.The boob bounce,
right?

Oh, yes,
definitely do a bounce.

♪♪

I can do that.
Yes.

That.
And then...

Oh, and then you can have
a conversation like this.

Ready?
Yeah.

Oh, my God.

What?
Yeah.

So you're going to
just focus

on just doing
one at a time.

Oh, girl, you're doing it.Am I doing it?

Oh,
you're so doing it.

This took me months
to learn...

Really?...staring in a mirror.

Aside from
physical moves,

I feel like being naked
in front of an audience

is such a major feat
in and of itself.

Is there a way that you
psych yourself up for that?

I think just knowing that
these people came to see you,

you are a star
in their eyes.

Even on your worst day,
someone is going to love you.

Just know to love yourself,
go do your best,

and just leave it all
at the door.

Whoa.

Yeah, that seems like
not a beginner move.

And then...
Oh, my God.

Do you
do that naked? Yes, queen.

That's intense.

Show me, like,
what you can do.

[ Grunts ]

Okay.
That's better

than a lot of people...Really?

...who get on a pole
for the first time.

Your dominant hand up,
your other hand below,

and what you're going to do
is you're going to bring

your legs up into, like,
a tuck position.

Mm-hmm.

And then you're going to
lean back a little,

and just open your legs
and slide down slowly.

Oh, my God.
That's hot.

It can be very,
very sexy.

It canbe.
[ Laughs ]

Okay.
I'm going to try this.

Okay.
For better or for worse.

♪♪

Oop.
Try it leaning a little back

when you start
opening your legs.

Uh-huh.
And it will help with it all,

I promise.
[ Chuckles ]

Ah.
You got to trust yourself.

I got
to lean back more.

Yeah.

Ooh!
[ Groans ]

You got to believe.

Okay.

I'm channeling stripper energy
everywhere.

That's good.
Yes.

Oh.
That's a new move.

That's your own
unique move.

Yeah, I'm putting
my own spin on it.

Dominant hand,
other hand, lift...

And slide.

Is there a name
for that?

I just call it
the thing.

The thing?
Okay.

I'm going to
try the thing.

♪♪

Oh, yes!I, like, actually...

Girl, you are......actually am
a professional.

That was actually good.

It feltgood.

For a long time,
we've been force-fed the idea

that being a stripper
is degrading,

but for many women,
erotic dancing

isn't just a way
to make a living,

it's a celebration
of the female body

and a symbol of a new era
of female sexual freedom,

and TBH, it's just badass
to monetize your butt.

[ Cash register dings ]

Tip you later, sluts.

[ Ding! ]

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