Exploiter or Exploited: Topless Dancers Reflect on Their Experiences

Abstract

This article presents a secondary analysis of interviews with 30 current and former topless dancers, focusing on references to their experiences of stigma and exploitation. No dancers expressed the opinion that dancers alone were exploited by topless dancing. They cited the mutual exploitation of customers and dancers and exploitation of customers by dancers. In addition, some experienced the stigma associated with topless dancing as exploitation. The implications of the findings for the feminist debate on whether sex work exploits women and for social work practice are discussed.