Synopses & Reviews
Stripper chic is in these days: you can watch celebrities “strippercize” on Oprah or do it yourself at your local gym, but this popular face of stripping hides another side of the industry, one that is far less glamorous. In
Strip Club, Kim Price-Glynn takes us behind the scenes at The Lion's Den, a rundown club where women are compelled to strip out of economic need rather than as a means of liberation, and a place where strippers' stories often reflect drudgery and dismay.
Strip Club reveals the intimate working lives of not just the women up on stage, but also the patrons and other workers who make the place run: the owner-manager, bartenders, deejays, doormen, bouncers, housemoms, and cocktail waitresses.
Price-Glynn spent fourteen months at The Lion's Den working as a cocktail waitress. Her uncommonly deep access reveals a conflict-ridden workplace fueled by competing interests and agendas and stereotypical ideas about women, men, sexuality, race, labor, and economic value. Full of rich insights into the world of a single club, Price-Glynn argues that the club environment reproduces gender inequalities through the everyday interactions of customers and workers as well as the broader organizational structure and culture of the modern day workplace. Taking a novel approach to this controversial and often misunderstood industry, Price-Glynn draws a fascinating portrait of life and work inside the strip club.
Review
"Price-Glynn contrasts the aspirations of the strippers with the club's design, rules, expectations, and practices, all of which served to exploit their labor. She argues that without listening to sex workers and addressing their abuse and lack of power, feminists will never take the real battle- the one against structural oppression- to the ring."
“Reads like a novel with a detailed cast of characters! With stripper poles an increasingly ubiquitous fixture in the media, there remains surprisingly little scholarship written about the day-to-day lives of people working in strip bars. Price‒Glynn reveals the grit beneath the pop‒video clichè in Strip Club, offering the reader an insider’s gaze on the employees of the Lion’s Den. Strip Club exposes a taken for granted sexism we need to be reminded of in our Girls Gone Wild culture.”
“The second I entered The Lion’s Den, passing the doorman through darkened hallways toward a parquet dancing stage, Price‒Glynn’s rich description brought me into the dilapidated and ironically profitable (for some) world of the strip club. Her deeply affecting observations make us keenly aware of the social practices that perpetuate gross inequalities. Her ethnography is both brutally honest, and sociologically sophisticated in its examination of both the fragility and tenacity of social rankings based on gender, sex, and social class.”
Review
“Reads like a novel with a detailed cast of characters! With stripper poles an increasingly ubiquitous fixture in the media, there remains surprisingly little scholarship written about the day-to-day lives of people working in strip bars. Price‒Glynn reveals the grit beneath the pop‒video clichè in Strip Club, offering the reader an insiders gaze on the employees of the Lions Den. Strip Club exposes a taken for granted sexism we need to be reminded of in our Girls Gone Wild culture.”
-Bernadette Barton,author of Stripped: Inside the Lives of Exotic Dancers
Review
“The second I entered The Lions Den, passing the doorman through darkened hallways toward a parquet dancing stage, Price‒Glynns rich description brought me into the dilapidated and ironically profitable (for some) world of the strip club. Her deeply affecting observations make us keenly aware of the social practices that perpetuate gross inequalities. Her ethnography is both brutally honest, and sociologically sophisticated in its examination of both the fragility and tenacity of social rankings based on gender, sex, and social class.”
-Lisa Jean Moore,co‒editor of The Body Reader:Essential Social and Cultural Readings
Synopsis
In
Strip Club, Kim Price‒Glynn takes us behind the scenes at a rundown club where women strip out of economic need, a place where strippers stories are not glamorous or liberating, but emotionally demanding and physically exhausting.
Strip Club reveals the intimate working lives of not just the women up on stage, but also the patrons and other workers who make the place run: the owner‒manager, bartenders, dejays, doormen, bouncers, housemoms, and cocktail waitresses.
Price‒Glynn spent fourteen months at The Lions Den working as a cocktail waitress, and her uncommonly deep access reveals a conflict‒ridden workplace, similar to any other workplace, one where gender inequalities are reproduced through the everyday interactions of customers and workers. Taking a novel approach to this controversial and often misunderstood industry, Price‒Glynn draws a fascinating portrait of life and work inside the strip club.
Synopsis
At the close of the twentieth century, political protests have erupted throughout the world. While the collapse of communism was certainly one of the most spectacular protest- related events, smaller protests have become ubiquitous. In Los Angeles, labor activists campaign against commercial real estate owners to unionize janitors, mainly Latina immigrants. In the People's Republic of China, peasants revolt against tax collectors. Amazonian Indians protest public and economic policies that destroy their culture and rainforest habitat.
This book analyzes the reciprocal impact of cultural beliefs, sociopolitical structures, and individual behaviors on protests throughout the world. Why do individuals participate in protest activities? How do cultural beliefs, personal attitudes, and subjective perception influence the potential protester? Addressing the issue of agency in protest, the authors also examine why protestors enlist different tactics to achieve their goals. Why are some protests violent and others nonviolent? When and why do activists conclude that it is better to accommodate than confront? Finally, and crucially, what are the consequences of protest movements?
About the Author
Charles F. Andrain is Professor of Political Science at San Diego State University and author of several books, including
Comparative Political Systems,
Political Change in the Third World, and
Foundations of Comparative Politics.
David E. Apter is Henry J. Heinz II Professor of Comparative Political and Social Development in the Department of Political Science at Yale University. He is the author of Choice and the Politics of Allocation, which won the 1972 Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award for the best book on government, politics, and international affairs.