SOMEBODY COME GET THEM...
...They're staying in shape, getting an education, and making more money than me
THE TASK
My team was tasked with a semester long, intensive subculture research project. We wanted to dive into a subculture that was interesting, lively, and prevalent to us, as well as the world we live in today.
Naturally, we decided to dive into the wonderful world of Exotic Dancers.
THE HOW
Our goal was simple: to gain a clear understanding of the life of an exotic dancer.
We collected data and other information through various forms of research methods to paint ourselves a picture of this colorful lifestyle.
METHODOLOGY
GOOD OL' INTERNET
SURVEYS
ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEWS
Our team was lucky enough to have dancer contacts that were willing to sit down with us and talk about the nitty gritty details of their work and the life the comes with it. They gave us advice for new dancers, tips and tricks to make more money, and basic do's and don't's of the job.
FIELD WORK
We visited an adult store so that we could try on pleasers, the tall heels most dancers wear on stage, to really put ourselves in their shoes.
And of course we went out to the club! We had to get an up close and personal view of a night on the job. We talked to the bar tender at Club Rouge, who gave us the low-down on the environment of the club. We observed the dancers, as well as the club guests, and how the two parties interacted.
The first step in our research endeavor, as any modern scholar's would be, was to hit up the Internet. After a few calculated Google searches, we stumbled upon forums, chat websites, and articles through which we began to form opinions and questions about the job.
We took to social media to engage with different people involved in the dancing scene, and put a face to what we had already learned.
With the information we learned from our internet scour, we compiled a list of questions for a survey. We sent the survey out to different websites including Twitter and Reddit, as well as to personal contacts who are involved in the culture. From this, we got a more objective view of a day in the life of a dancer.