I am taking part in the blog tour for The Ethical Stripper today and would love to say thank you to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for my invitation and Unbound for my copy of the book. All views are my own unbiased ones.
Forget everything you’ve heard about strippers: this book is an antidote to stigma, shame and stereotyping.
How can a feminist also be a stripper? Is stripping sex work? What makes sex work “ethical”?
In this powerful book, Stacey Clare, a stripper with over a decade of experience, takes a detailed look at the sex industry – the reality of the work as well as the history of licensing and regulation, feminist themes surrounding sex work, and stigma. Bringing her personal knowledge of the industry to bear, she offers an unapologetic critique and searing indictment of exploitation and raises the rights
of sex workers to the top of the agenda.
‘The Ethical Stripper’ rejects notions of victimhood, challenges stigma and shame, and unpacks decades of confusion and contradictions. It’s about the sex-work community’s fight for safety and self-determination, and it challenges you to think twice about every newspaper article, documentary and film you have seen about stripping and sex work.
‘The Ethical Stripper’ takes a comprehensive look at sex work, balancing the lived experience of the author with an examination of the different legal frameworks for sex work around the world.
A book that definitely opened my eyes to the world of sex workers, be it strippers or street girls/women. I had my opinions of them all, although I had changed stance a little as I spend a lot of time in Holland. Over there, it is different and looked at different too. As my husband (Dutch) once explained to my eldest daughter, the girls in the windows were probably doing this work to pay their education. Over here in the UK, sex workers are treated differently by the general public.
Stacey Clare has expanded my knowledge with the publication of The Ethical Stripper. This is her well researched and very personal book that highlights so many issues while at the same time giving the reader what the work entails for those with no knowledge. The most important of all is the voice of the sex worker in the actual debate about sex work as a whole; they don’t get to be heard. A massive failure in society that fails the workers of this industry.
She brings her own personal experience and insights from the industry to highlight just how much these workers are let down. Whenever there is a meeting about sex work wherever it may be set, police, council, or even just a community meeting, the most important voice is never included.
As I read this book, I actually realised just how inhumane this is. To debate something without actually including the people who have the experiences and information around the topic.
I personally think this is a book that more people should read. The part of the book showed how the police themselves treat sex workers. I found this disgusting but, in some ways, don’t even know why I was shocked or surprised. They are treated as objects, not people, and that is an age-old way.
Whatever your opinion on strippers, Stacey Clare makes a solid and sound argument that those voices should be heard. That they deserve to be listened to, understood, and most of all, seen as people.
Author Bio
Stacey Clare is a stripper, performance artist, writer, activist and care worker. She grew up in northern England and began working as a stripper in Scotland aged twenty-two, while on a gap year from her Fine Art degree at Glasgow School of Art.
She has worked all over the UK, Paris and Australia. Stacey cofounded the East London Strippers Collective as a concerted effort to unite dancers around common
grievances about their own industry, including the poor representation of strippers in the media. She lives in London and Scotland and divides her time between running a life-drawing class (with strippers as models), theatre projects, working part-time in care, activism and writing.
Stacey is not only a prominent voice for sex workers’ rights in the media, but she is also a comedian and performed ‘Ask A Stripper’, the sold-out at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Twitter
@ethicalstripper
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 