DANCERS: WE'RE DECENT WOMEN!

The Qlimax Times Online

DANCERS: "WE'RE DECENT WOMEN!"

It's a job, nothing more: They come from many different backgrounds and cities, attracted by the free-flowing cash, but some find life in the fast lane can be rough.

By Rick Ryan

Kaylee, a striking 5'3" beauty with the body of a swimsuit model, is moving like a music video vamp on stage at Bazooka's Showgirls in Kansas City, Missouri.

She starts her routine in a two-piece, but ends up in her birthday suit. As the music blasts from the sound system, a roomful of men sit still and expressionless in the dark, watching her toss her hair around. Some approach the stage to drop money on it, showing their appreciation of the entertainment provided by her.

One man, wearing glasses and a business suit, drops a $20 bill on stage and entices her over to his table at the end of her set. When Kaylee arrives, she's completely dressed in her usual outfit that she sits around the club in. Before long they've headed back to the couches for a lap dance. But before the first song is over with she's down to her bottoms. Nearly nude, she throws her head back and sways in a sultry rhythm. She is so close to him that she can feel his breath on her skin. After the song ends, she puts her outfit back on and it's back to the normal routine of congenially attracting more lap dances from the gentlemen sipping on soft drinks and such. The day can be long during the week.

Kaylee is one of the hundreds of professional dancers in the Kansas City area. From their perspective, this is all about making a living and nothing to do with sex. They are merchants of fantasy, nothing more, and the good ones make a very nice living.

Kaylee was born in Kansas City, Missouri 30 years ago. She admits being a rebellious teenager, but what teenager isn't rebellious? While attending an Art School she took up dance. That would translate into becoming a stripper as soon as she turned 18.

"My first actual job was working at K-Mart, but I found that boring and not enough pay," Kaylee said. "As soon as I turned 18, I walked into Bazooka's Showgirls and applied for a job as a dancer."

Kaylee left Kansas City for a couple of years when she moved to Atlanta and Miami, but the clubs were too fast paced for her compared to Kansas City gentlemen's clubs. She eventually moved back to Kansas City and worked various clubs before settling back into Bazooka's.

"I did take some time working a regular job as an accountant at a bank when I needed a break from this business, but I couldn't get the dance out of me," she admitted, "And besides, that job was as boring as K-Mart was."

Kaylee admits that she'll dance as long as she can and, in fact, many dancers are making careers out of the business today. They no longer retire when they turn 25-years-old. But what about her life outside Bazooka's?

"My life is kind of boring outside of here (Bazooka's). I watch a lot of television, spend time with the kids, you know - I have a regular life like any other person."

But what does Kaylee think about the sour attitudes toward the adult industry?

"You have bad apples in any walk of life. Most dancers live normal lives like anyone else. They have kids, husbands, boyfriends, families and believe in God. The bad apples are a minority - not the majority! ," She said. Kaylee says that she loves working at Bazooka's Showgirls because it's the best club in Kansas City.

"They (Bazooka's) don't tolerate illegal activities and they have the best customers in town. The guys are very respectful of the dancers that come in here. They are truly gentlemen."

THE MONEY TEMPTS MANY

In a city where the median income for women living alone is estimated at $15,360 (Per capita income is $19,936, the opportunity to earn upwards of $30,000 to $50,000 a year is simply too tempting for some, especially those with a limited education, few job skills and than one mouth to feed. Then again, some dance to pay for their continuing education in college.

Lindsey is a 24-year-old, 5'4", 130lbs., a dancer who works the day shift at the Million Dollar Fantasy Ranch in Centerview, Missouri. She started dancing as soon as she turned 18 because of the money. Taco Bell wasn't paying the bills. A friend of Lindsey's suggested she try dancing. Since that time Lindsey has taken a couple of breaks to have her children. She admits that dancing can change your views on life and men.

"After a couple of weeks of dancing," Lindsey says, "I thought less of some men."

When she did take that first step into dancing, her dad was the very first she informed. Her dad had dated a stripper before. "My dad was very supportive. That meant a lot to me."

Lindsey does not plan on making a career out of dancing. Her plans are to move on in life after she graduates from nursing school.

UNIVERSITY GRADUATE

Jennifer is a 32-year-old former dancer who worked for Bunn's, the Goldmine, Gerry's Silver Slipper, Diamond Joe's and Leg's, and an unlikely topless dancer.

With her thick blonde hair and pouting lips, she looks like something of the pages of Playboy Magazine as she slowly moves in her living room to the sounds of the Eurhythmics. She jumped at the chance to show me what really attracts the men while performing on stage. "Now could you refuse a table dance from me?" She asked me with a sexy grin.

A native Missourian, Jennifer graduated from a suburban high school (Independence), attended the University of Missouri in Columbia, received a degree in psychology and got married right out of college. Dancing paid her way easily, she says.

"I was working a conservative job for a very conservative company in the Kansas City area when my boyfriend decided to take me to Bazooka Showgirls for my birthday," she said. At that time Jennifer was making a little more than $10,000 a year.

"Before I walked in the door I thought, "This is a place that exploits women," Jennifer recalls, sitting in her contemporary living room in Independence. "I went in, took a look around, and it didn't take me but about 10 minutes to realize it didn't exploit women, it exploits men."

Wanting to continue her education in college, she called another club closer to home at that time and tried out. She was lucky. Out of nine girls who applied that week, she says, only two were hired. Standing 5'8" tall and measuring 36D-24-32, Jennifer could make any man lick his lips. She was one of the two!

"I just retired from dancing about three years ago," explained Jennifer, "But I still get the urge to go back. I love the money, attention, and I meet some great gentlemen. That includes celebrities from sports and the music industry."

But the stories are not always so tidy, because life in the fast lane can be rough.

"They're dealing with fast money, fast men, a totally different lifestyle than most people are use too, says one club manager.

The manager, who wishes to remain unnamed, had to fire a dancer last week because of drugs. Her outside friends had suggested that she take some stuff to relax more on stage while dancing and around her customers.

"We cannot and will not tolerate our dancers taking drugs - no matter what the reason," he says. "If they feel uncomfortable or uptight, they shouldn't be in the business after one month."

During Jennifer's dancing career, she had blacked out after a customer put a mickey in her drink; had five customers grab her crotch, and was confronted by a man who put $4,000 in her hand and said: "This can be yours if you spend the weekend with me, then you'll never have to see me again." She declined. Some dancers, like all walks of life, are not strong enough to avoid falling prey to the seedy side of the profession. But that is no different from any other job!

"There are some who fall further into the life," Jennifer told me. "They let the addiction of drugs or alcohol control (them). They lose respect for themselves. Just because you dance doesn't mean you're any less than any other person on the outside.

"But for the most part, we're decent women. We have morals and believe in God. We have respect for ourselves and our children and husbands and boyfriends and family."

Jennifer pointed out that drugs are a main stay in our society today. But, because she was a dancer, everyone thought she did drugs.

"You can't go anywhere today and work for a company that employs 10 or more people without one of them doing drugs. People don't focus their attention on warehouses or department store employees, but they do drugs as much as any other profession in America. The focus is always on strip clubs and dancers because we take our clothing off. They (society) think we all do drugs, but that's erroneous as hell.

"I use to have a pizza delivery driver that delivered pizza to me off and on. He look stoned every time he delivered the pizza. One night he had the gall to ask me if I had a joint. I quickly told him that I didn't do drugs of any nature. He never asked me again."

Owners and managers of gentlemen's clubs do their best to keep drugs and prostitution out of the clubs. But like any other business - and if you have teenagers, you know - you can't watch people 24 hours a day.

"It's a goldmine if you get the license and the right location, so the first thing the owners want to make sure is that nothing destroys it… Management will not condone (drugs or prostitution) and will fire the dancer on the spot if she's caught breaking the rules," says one Kansas City area manager I spoke with during the month of March. "The public really has the wrong perception of gentlemen's clubs. But, on the other hand, they always will because of their narrow minds and upbringing. The clubs are placed in a category by the public as dens of sex, prostitution and drugs. That couldn't be farthest from the truth."

Common perception: Strip clubs are dens of iniquity where booze-soaked louts paw at the dancers, drugs are rampant and prostitution is the bottom line for both the dancers and customers. Dancers only work at these clubs because they have no education or fine upbringing.

Reality: Most gentlemen's clubs around Kansas City are relatively tame, sloppy drunks are less common than at your average bar in Westport, customers know they can't touch the dancers because of rules and regulations, and prostitution is usually limited to a few dancers who manage to sneak their way around club owners and managers and hook-up with the customer on the outside when they get off their shift.

As one vice-officer told me by phone, the number of incidents requiring police intervention at clubs is "peanuts" considering the number of patrons they serve. He says that the clubs aren't as bad as they're often portrayed.

"I've seen a lot more trouble that requires the police in Westport at bars there," says 46-year-old Don Lomax, a salesman for a major company in Kansas City. "Those places (in Westport) make the strip clubs look like kindergarten."

"You want to have a place where customers can come and not worry about fights. A place where they can walk out to their cars feeling safe. A place where they can unwind after a hard days work," says Guido of Bonita Flats Saloon. "But, most importantly, a work place that the girls feel safe in."

Jennifer says that men of all ages, from all walks of life, and many, who are married, do act like gentlemen when visiting the clubs. "They're not supposed to touch us in a sexual manner, and most clubs throw out a customer if they don't adhere to the rules and regulations posted at the club. They (customers) know that we're earning a living like any other woman in the work place. Ours is no different!" she pointed out.

"I have girlfriends who's told me about all the sexual bullshit they have to put up with at their regular jobs. Why should any young woman work for minimum wage and put up with all that crap for bosses or supervisors or fellow employees? I sure the hell wouldn't!" Jennifer said with a strong voice. "At least dancers make better money for the stares and all."

Rochelle is a 27-year-old who entered the dance market nearly 6 years ago. She's a former flagger in high school, and a Harley-Davidson model. A friend introduced her to dancing.

"We hold a job like anyone else. We enjoy life like anyone else. We enjoy sex like anyone else, but not on the job or with our customers," says Rochelle. "We're only here to entertain and let men have their fantasies about us. We're the magazine models you see in Playboy or Penthouse, but only live - in person!"

Whether you like or dislike dancers, they are here to stay. Why? As long as you have college and family needs, dancing provides a decent living and education means. As many dancers across the Kansas City area has told me, as soon as they complete their college education, they'll be leaving dance behind. But for many, too, dancing has become a career move. They admit they may not be a Sally Rand, but times do change. Gentlemen's clubs have changed as well from dark and seedy shells in the past to multi-million dollar clubs around the United States. A job market for women no matter where they live or move to. As one dancer told me, "If you close down the clubs around the United States and in Missouri, where would these people go? What would they do? Could the unemployment office handle so many people out of jobs suddenly? I don't think so! You're not talking about one person (the dancer or employee of the club) when they shut down a club. You're talking about their kids, too. Dancing is a job - Nothing more!"

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