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A striptease is a performance, usually a dance, in which the performer gradually
removes their clothing for the purposes of sexually arousing the audience,
usually performed in nightclubs. The "teasing" involves the slowness
of undressing, while the audience is eager to see more nudity. Delay tactics
include additional clothes under clothes being removed, putting clothes or
hands in front of just undressed body parts, etc. Emphasis is on the act of
undressing along with sexually suggestive movement, not on the state of being
undressed: in some cases the performance is finished as soon as the undressing
is finished. (Prior to the sexual revolution, striptease performance often
ended with the performer wearing a g-string and pasties).
Along with physical attractiveness and appropriate clothing, the main asset
and tool used by the exotic dancer in recent years is the stripper pole. Almost
all exotic dancers are drawn to the profession by attractive salaries they
can receive in the form of tips and commissions from lap/couch dances and
champagne rooms.
Off-stage
A variation on striptease is private dancing, which often involves lap dancing
or contact dancing. Here the performers, in addition to stripping for tips,
also offer "private dances" which involve more attention for individual
audience members. Types of private dances include table dancing (performer
dances on or by customer's table) and couch dancing (customer sits on a couch).
For certain events, including bachelor / bachelorette parties, the stripper's job often involves holding games or contests with sexual themes. In addition, the main guest of the party can sometimes be eligible for 'special' couch dances involving sexual acts between two strippers.
The contact between a performer and a customer is regulated in ways that vary in response to local laws and club rules, ranging from "air dances" with minimal or no contact to "full-contact" lap dances which involve genital contact through clothing. In disreputable clubs, physical contact with the dancer may include sexual intercourse, at the dancer's discretion.
History of striptease
Note: much is missing here, and needs to be written.
Burlesque
The People's Almanac credited the origin of striptease as we know it to an
act in 1890s Paris in which a woman slowly removed her clothes in a vain search
for a flea crawling on her body.
Striptease enjoyed a revival with the advent of burlesque theatre, with famous strippers such as Gypsy Rose Lee. In 1940, humorist H. L. Mencken coined the term ecdysiast as a euphemism for strippers; it derives from the Greek ekdusis meaning "to molt."
Male strippers
Until the 1970s, strippers were almost invariably female, performing to male
audiences. Since then, male strippers, performing to female audiences, have
also become common. Male and female strippers also perform for gay and lesbian
audiences respectively, as well as for both sexes in pansexual contexts. Prior
to the 1970s dancers of both genders appeared largely in underground clubs
or as part of a theatre experience, but the practice eventually became common
enough on its own.
Visits by women to clubs featuring male exotic dancers, usually as a group for an activity such as a bachelorette party, have now become part of mainstream culture in Western countries. Unlike the enforced sedate atmosphere at clubs featuring female exotic dancers for male audiences, the female audience for male strippers is very vocal, rowdy, and even aggressive. Female patrons getting up on stage with the male exotic dancers and helping them strip or joining them stripping is commonplace. Cultural stereotypes would have it that this atmosphere is possible because the male exotic dancers do not view such women as a physical threat as female exotic dancers would if their male patrons were to do likewise—not only is the average man stronger than the average woman, but male strippers tend to be unusually muscular. Usually, the nightclub management and their bouncers do not try to restrain their female audiences. Female patrons tend to "push the envelope" to see how far they're allowed to go. Most commonly, it is the female patrons testing the boundaries who are the ones that start restraining themselves before the bouncers do.
Gay male strip clubs feature men who appear initially in skimpy undergarments (which are quickly removed if full nudity is allowed) and socks. Fondling the strippers is commonplace and considered fair game, even as it is often technically prohibited. In cities such as Washington, D.C. where full nudity is allowed, the male strippers at gay venues stand on the bar or stage and masturbate to maintain erection, allowing the customers to also masturbate them for tips.
Relationship to the erotic movie industry
Many erotic actresses and actors in the US make their main living from their
earnings from personal appearances as featured exotic dancers, in much the
same way that many musicians make their main living from live performance,
with their recordings serving as advertising. Many in the striptease industry
appear in pornographic movies or magazines to be paid more for appearing at
stripclubs as "feature dancers" because they are "porn stars",
which clubs advertise to bring in a bigger paying audience. The more famous
the "porn star", the more the exotic dancer will be paid by the
stripclub to perform at their club.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.