Strippers Archives - The Rumpus

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…

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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.…

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Reprint

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…

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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…

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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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Features & Reviews

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…

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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…

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