Strippers
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The Rumpus Mini-Interview Project #75: Deborah Kampmeier
I met Deborah Kampmeier at a workshop in November. We were two weeks post-election; the room was raw with emotion, and electric with conversations about resistance. This tall, badass woman dressed in all black sauntered into the room, and chose a…
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Fringe Benefits
A pervasive, and frustrating, myth is that dancing pays enough for us to stop complaining—that we get paid enough to be cool with however we’re treated. But that’s not true. For the Times, Rumpus friend and contributor Antonia Crane details the…
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My Daughter at the Blue Venus
My daughter has finished experimenting with chemicals. Now she is experimenting with life.
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Ice, Ice Baby: A Cool Conversation with Bobby J. Robby, Stripper by Day, Drag King by Night
Bobby J. Robby talks about labor issues, gender identity, and the perils of dating other dancers.
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Losing the Lusty
The women who danced at the Lusty Lady Theatre were pierced and collared and well-read. When they weren’t breathing fire or taking writing classes, they stripped.
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Albums of our Lives: Rufus Wainwright’s Poses
If I had written a list of pros and cons, I might have seen how moving to Austin from Seattle with a boyfriend who had just kicked heroin, and with stripping as my only job prospect, was not a recipe…
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Legs That Just Won’t Quit
Rumpus columnist Antonia Crane has a piece up at Salon about the curse/blessing of being a stripper with thick legs. A preview: We’d done this before, dancing for a week in Hawaii and making piles of cash. My goal was to…
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RECESSION SEX WORKERS #12: Miss Marty, Mother of Strippers
New Orleans has a textured and macabre history when it comes to the sex industry, particularly regarding house moms–that hybrid of manager, referee and babysitter.
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The Rumpus Sunday Book Review Supplement
This week, Rumpus Books published reviews of a novel, a book of poetry, and a book about Donald Rumsfeld, as well as a survey of the stripper memoir, an interview with Sophia Raday, a remembrance of Frank McCourt, and an…
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Recession Strippers #1: The Laura Beth Experience
Dancers always want to quit but rarely do. The cliché is that sex workers are stuck. But, it’s more complex than that. Dancers quit for years but always come back because leaving the sex industry is difficult.