Cerys Davies 20'
(journal article)
The source starts off by introducing the culture of strippers and the impact it has on society. The author, Silcock,
makes a point to show that strippers have been industrialized to a certain point. But before anything, she defines
stripping as “erotic dance for payment, which may take place either at a private club, public bar, or in the form of a
'strip-o-gram' where the dancer goes to the client/s” (Silcock). There is so much coverage of this culture in mainstream
media, from movies to music. Strippers seem to be everywhere. There was even been a recent movement of people
taking pole dancing classes as a hobby along with the influence of “stripper-wear” in everyday fashion. But Silcock
is quick to acknowledge the different views of stripping, “Radical and Marxist feminists are opposed to all forms of
sex work, positioning it as part of male oppression and the sexual division of labour. The more liberal and pro-choice
feminists see sex work as a woman's right to autonomy over her body and/or actions” (Silcock). And throughout the
whole source, she makes a point to not give her perspective of the topic; she simply describes her research. The audience
for this writing is meant to be people who are in search of what other people think about the topic of stripping.
Silcock describes the research that is surrounding this hot topic of strip culture. She breaks her findings into four different parts.
The first part she discusses is “othering” which is defined as “the positioning of female exotic dancers as deviant, subversive
and 'other than normal' women” and relates to “how strippers negotiate their personal identities and justify their career choice
to themselves” (Silcock). When a stripper “others,” it means that they have to go out of their way to be okay with their
career choice. There is a lot of rationalization and comparison to others’ lives that go into “othering.” The next part
she discusses is sexualization which tells that strippers have a “preoccupation with their appearance and many of them
had come to equate sexual attractiveness to their own sense of personal value” (Silcock). She blames this sexualization
on the “media obsession with body image and sex impacts heavily on these women” (Silcock). The third part is the gender
performance aspect. Silcock explains that some researchers think that strippers are called to this occupation because
“women are generally required to reinforce femininity through gender performance on a daily basis and dancers are
merely performing at the extreme end of the continuum”(Silcock). And the last aspect that she acknowledges the emotional
work that stripping is. She explains that “these women need to play the part of the ideal woman, who is always available
for and only interested in the man's needs” and research shows causes a lot emotional stress.This source relates to my other
sources because it shows the different sides of stripping. So far sources are showing that stripping is multi-layered and there
is no clear conclusion because of the varying opinions. It is significant to my research because it helps me to get a broad
sense of what people think about stripping without getting a biased view of the topic.
The source starts off by introducing the culture of strippers and the impact it has on society. The author, Silcock,
makes a point to show that strippers have been industrialized to a certain point. But before anything, she defines
stripping as “erotic dance for payment, which may take place either at a private club, public bar, or in the form of a
'strip-o-gram' where the dancer goes to the client/s” (Silcock). There is so much coverage of this culture in mainstream
media, from movies to music. Strippers seem to be everywhere. There was even been a recent movement of people
taking pole dancing classes as a hobby along with the influence of “stripper-wear” in everyday fashion. But Silcock
is quick to acknowledge the different views of stripping, “Radical and Marxist feminists are opposed to all forms of
sex work, positioning it as part of male oppression and the sexual division of labour. The more liberal and pro-choice
feminists see sex work as a woman's right to autonomy over her body and/or actions” (Silcock). And throughout the
whole source, she makes a point to not give her perspective of the topic; she simply describes her research. The audience
for this writing is meant to be people who are in search of what other people think about the topic of stripping.
Silcock describes the research that is surrounding this hot topic of strip culture. She breaks her findings into four different parts.
The first part she discusses is “othering” which is defined as “the positioning of female exotic dancers as deviant, subversive
and 'other than normal' women” and relates to “how strippers negotiate their personal identities and justify their career choice
to themselves” (Silcock). When a stripper “others,” it means that they have to go out of their way to be okay with their
career choice. There is a lot of rationalization and comparison to others’ lives that go into “othering.” The next part
she discusses is sexualization which tells that strippers have a “preoccupation with their appearance and many of them
had come to equate sexual attractiveness to their own sense of personal value” (Silcock). She blames this sexualization
on the “media obsession with body image and sex impacts heavily on these women” (Silcock). The third part is the gender
performance aspect. Silcock explains that some researchers think that strippers are called to this occupation because
“women are generally required to reinforce femininity through gender performance on a daily basis and dancers are
merely performing at the extreme end of the continuum”(Silcock). And the last aspect that she acknowledges the emotional
work that stripping is. She explains that “these women need to play the part of the ideal woman, who is always available
for and only interested in the man's needs” and research shows causes a lot emotional stress.This source relates to my other
sources because it shows the different sides of stripping. So far sources are showing that stripping is multi-layered and there
is no clear conclusion because of the varying opinions. It is significant to my research because it helps me to get a broad
sense of what people think about stripping without getting a biased view of the topic.
Silcock, Faith. "Uncovered: Stripping as an Occupation." Women's Studies Journal, vol. 28, no. 1, 2014, pp. 68-73. ProQuest, https://search.proquest.com/docview/1550130842?accountid=10998.