Editing Lap dance (section)

==Labor issues and job conditions==
[[File:Striptease Topless Lapdance.jpg|thumb|upright|An [[Erotic_dance|exotic dancer]] doing a contact topless lap dance]]
The economic position of lap dancers, as employees of the clubs, has also changed. Over time, most strip clubs have stopped paying wages to the dancers. Stage dancing became a showcase to advertise the bodies of the dancers, whose money came from the [[Tip (gratuity)|tips]] or standard charges, depending on the club, that the patrons gave them for lap dancing. In the majority of clubs, dancers are simply charged a percentage of their nightly takings. However, the latest development in many countries, including Great Britain, the United States and Canada, is that many clubs charge dancers a "stage fee" or "[[Tip (gratuity)|tip]]-out", which is an amount that a dancer needs to pay a club (usually in advance) in order to work on a given night, per shift. The lapdancers are expected to tip the "house mothers" (women who work in a strip club to support and assist the dancers) and [[DJ]]s.

Given that dancers are basically paying for the privilege to be at a club, some clubs allow as many dancers as possible to appear on any given night, increasing [[competition]] among the dancers. Also, the vast majority of clubs will not waive this charge if a night happens to be slow. Consequently, the dancer either leaves her shift without any profit or builds a debt to the club.<ref name="Burana">''Strip City: A Stripper's Farewell Journey Across America'', Lily Burana, Talk Miramax Books, 2001</ref>

Concerns raised by lapdancers include patrons [[stalking]] them, exposing their penis, [[ejaculating]] in their pants, attempting to have sex with the dancers without their [[sexual consent|consent]], or committing [[sexual assault]].<ref name="Schwartz">{{cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/strippers-explain-strip-club-etiquette-723/ |title= Strippers Explain Strip Club Etiquette|last= Schwartz|first=Zachary |date= 24 July 2015|website=vice.com |publisher= Vice|access-date= 1 May 2020}}</ref>
Some lapdance clubs have [[CCTV]] cameras in the "champagne rooms" for the safety of the dancers.<ref name="Schwartz"/> Dancer Mary Jane says that when a lapdancer wishes to have paid sexual activities with a client, she tips the management, waitresses, and DJ to "turn a blind eye" to these sexual  activities.<ref name="Lucero">{{cite web |url=https://therooster.com/blog/strippers-explain-secret-menu-found-most-clubs |title= Strippers explain the 'secret menu' found at most clubs|last= Lucero|first= Karisha|date= 18 January 2018|website=therooster.com |publisher=The Rooster|access-date= 1 May 2020}}</ref>

In the U.S., most clubs treat dancers as [[independent contractor]]s, thereby avoiding the need to pay [[minimum wage]]s, [[overtime pay]], [[income tax]]es and other benefits required by law. This status has repeatedly been challenged by some dancers. While labor commissions and the courts have, for the most part, ruled that [[exotic dancer]]s are employees and deserving of reimbursement for [[wikt:back payment|back pay]] and stage fees,<ref name=sfweekly/><ref name="Burana"/> some court decisions have decided that an exotic dancer can be classified as an independent contractor. In June 2006, in ''Tracy Buel v. Chowder House (dba The Hungry I)'' an [[appellate court]] of [[California]]'s first district ruled that dancer Tracy Buel, also known as "Daisy Anarchy", was correctly classified as an independent contractor and that "Buel shall pay defendants’ costs on appeal". A publication called the California Employment Law Letter described the case as follows: "The dancer based her suit on the fact that she was an employee of the [[nightclub]] rather than an independent contractor. The appellate court, however, after applying a 10-factor test, upheld the jury's verdict in favor of the nightclub and its owners and found that the evidence weighed in favor of classifying the dancer as an independent contractor rather than an employee."<ref>"Exotic dancer stripped of her job", David R. Ongaro, [[California Employment Law Letter]], Vol. 16, No. 9. 14 July 2006</ref>

In an article written for ''[[The Guardian]]'', which was partly based on an interview with an anonymous former stripper,<ref name=bell>Bell, Rachel, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/mar/19/gender.uk 'I was seen as an object, not a person'], ''[[The Guardian]]'' (19 March 2008), Accessed: 23 October 2011</ref> journalist Rachel Bell claimed that "[r]esearch shows that the majority of women become lap-dancers through poverty and lack of choice,"<ref name=bell /> and that "academic research has linked lap-dancing to [[Human trafficking|trafficking]], prostitution and an increase in male [[sexual violence]] against both the women who work in the clubs and those who live and work in their vicinity." For example, a "recent conference in [[Ireland]] highlighted the use of lap-dance clubs by human traffickers as a tool for grooming women into prostitution; the clubs also normalise the idea of paying for [[sexual services]]."<ref name= bell /> "[R]esearch on strip clubs in the US found that all dancers had suffered verbal harassment and [[physical abuse|physical]] and [[sexual abuse]] while at work; all had been propositioned for prostitution; and three-quarters had been [[stalking|stalked]] by men associated with the club."<ref name=bell />

However, these claims have been disputed by some studies. A paper published in 2020 which examined the relationship between strip clubs and rates of sexual violence and violent crime in the United States concluded that "strip clubs were significantly associated with violent crime, but not with"<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hipp |first1=Tracy N. |last2=Borgman |first2=Robyn A. |last3=Gilmore |first3=Devin |last4=Swartout |first4=Kevin M. |date=10 October 2020 |title=Exploring the relationship between strip clubs and rates of sexual violence and violent crime |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jcop.22376 |journal=Journal of Community Psychology |volume=49 |issue=4 |pages=962–979 |doi=10.1002/jcop.22376 |access-date=19 December 2024|url-access=subscription }}</ref> sexual violence.

Another analysis, conducted by the [[University of Leeds]], "which involved interviews with 300 dancers, found there was a high level of job satisfaction and all had some qualifications",<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/2010/08/27/us-britain-lapdancing-idUSTRE67Q2YW20100827/ |title=Study finds quarter of UK lap dancers have degrees |date=27 August 2010 |website=Reuters |access-date=19 December 2024}}</ref> while another concluded that "that there are other motivations to stripping beside just economic",<ref name="Monchalin">{{cite thesis |last=Monchalin |first=Lisa |date=2006 |title=Motivations of professional strippers |url=https://commons.emich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=theses |degree=MA |chapter=1 |publisher=Eastern Michigan University |access-date=19 December 2024}}</ref> and that "[n]on-monetary motivations were significantly important ... and were discussed more than monetary motivations"<ref name="Monchalin"/> by those who were examined. The overwhelming majority of those surveyed were satisfied with their work, because they got to choose their own hours, got paid instantly, got more money than in other available jobs, and had the opportunity to combine "fun and work" (e.g., [[socializing]] with other dancers and patrons).<ref name=regulatory>Sanders, Teela & Hardy, Kate, [https://leeds.academia.edu/KateHardy/Papers/696317/Findings_-_The_Regulatory_Dance_Lap_Dancing_in_the_UK 'The Regulatory Dance: Sexual Consumption in the Night Time Economy'] (April 2011), Accessed on 24 October 2011</ref><ref>Colosi(2010), p. 2.</ref> They also stated that "groups hostile toward stripping disregard their right to free speech and occupational choice, dismiss their ability to think for themselves, and are patronizing and condescending".<ref name="Monchalin"/> At the same time, the same study revealed various disadvantages to lap dancing work, such as uncertainty regarding earnings, having to keep their job secret from friends and family, and occasionally having to face rude and abusive customers. Additionally, while most felt safe, almost half of the dancers interviewed had faced frequent [[Verbal abuse|verbal harassment]] and unwanted touching from patrons. Another issue raised by the dancers was their lack of [[labour rights]] in the workplace and high [[overhead cost]]s – house fees (or stage fees), commissions, fines (whether paid directly to the club's management or not), and tipping out (or paying a portion of their income) to [[DJ]]s and [[Bouncer (doorman)|bouncers]].<ref name=regulatory />

Critics of lap dancing choose to describe it as a type of [[sex work]], because, in their opinion, "it is difficult to discern between the performance of [[erotic dance]] and prostitution."<ref>Ditmore, Melissa Hope: Prostitution and Sex Work. ABC-CLIO, 2010, pp. 6-7</ref> However, others contend that it is a [[misnomer]] to call a ''lap dancer'' a ''sex worker'', because no [[sexual act]] is technically performed during a typical lap dance. Club owners in the UK argue that lap dancing should not be labelled as sex work.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7709202.stm |title=UK &#124; Lap dancers object to 'sex' label|work=BBC News|date=4 November 2008|access-date=27 June 2014}}</ref> On the other hand, one lapdancer, Mary Jane, told a reporter that she and other lapdancers negotiate “extras" (nicknamed the "secret menu") with clients, such as a "hand job" (male masturbation) or sexual intercourse, for additional payment.<ref name="Lucero"/>

In 2007, based on statistics from eighteen dancers over a period of 60 days, it was noted that female lap dancers earned the highest tips around the time of [[ovulation]], during the most fertile period of their [[menstrual cycle]] and the lowest tips during [[menstruation]]; the average difference in earning between those two times amounted to about $30 per hour. Women on [[Combined oral contraceptive pill|the pill]] earned overall less than those not on the pill. The results were interpreted as evidence of [[estrus]] in humans: females apparently advertise their fertility status to males in some manner.<ref name=Miller>{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=Geoffrey|last2=Tybus|first2=Joshua M.|last3=Jordan|first3=Brent D.|author-link1=Geoffrey Miller (psychologist)|date=November 2007|url=http://www.unm.edu/%7Egfmiller/cycle_effects_on_tips.pdf |title=Ovulatory cycle effects on tip earnings by lap dancers: economic evidence for human estrus?|journal=Evolution and Human Behavior|volume=28|issue=6|pages=375–381|doi=10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.06.002|access-date=30 January 2016|citeseerx=10.1.1.154.8176}}</ref> This finding earned its authors the [[List of Ig Nobel Prize winners#2008|2008]] [[Ig Nobel Prize]] (a parody of the [[Nobel Prize]] given for unusual or trivial achievements in scientific research) in Economics.<ref name=Miller/>

===Level of contact===
Establishments that offer lap dancing, and the lap dancers themselves, are sometimes rated regarding "mileage."  It refers to the amount of contact between dancer and patron during the performance.  Every jurisdiction has its own laws regarding such contact, but enforcement of these laws is sporadic. Ultimately, it comes down to what the club and the dancer will allow.

[[Nevada]], and especially [[Las Vegas]], have established very lenient laws regarding what contact is allowed during a lap dance.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Pordum|first1=Matt|title=Judge Agrees That Erotic Dance Law is Too Vague|url=http://lasvegassun.com/news/2005/jan/24/judge-agrees-that-erotic-dance-law-is-too-vague/|website=Las Vegas Sun|access-date=7 June 2016|date=2005-01-24}}</ref>  Patrons may legally touch the dancer anywhere she will permit, excluding the genitals.  This has led to a pricing strategy in some all-nude strip clubs, in which a standard lap dance is considered to be just topless with no contact, but can be upgraded to include full nudity or touching with additional payment.