If you arrived here after searching for the question in the title, you’re likely hoping to find a big fat “NO” as the answer. Unfortunately, like most things in life, the answer is really more of a maybe. However, stripping is not such a career ending move as many pop psychologists and “helpful” family members will tell you. It mostly depends on how you handle your stripping life, what career you’re in or going into, and how you approach embarrassing situations.
If you arrived here after searching for the question in the title, you’re likely hoping to find a big fat “NO” as the answer. Unfortunately, like most things in life, the answer is really more of a maybe. However, stripping is not such a career ending move as many pop psychologists and “helpful” family members will tell you. It mostly depends on how you handle your stripping life, what career you’re in or going into, and how you approach embarrassing situations.
Future Employers Care Less Than You Think
The goods news is that most employers don’t really care if your customer service experience came from your years of stripping in Las Vegas or working the counter at a big box store. When you’ve got the skills and education to land a job, something like a stint as an exotic dancer is not really a make it or break it type of fact. If a co-worker does uncover pictures of you from last weekend and share them around the office, you’re within your rights to have that handled as a sexual harassment case with your company’s human resources department. When you can prove that you weren’t hired or were fired because of your past, you’re likely set up for a employment lawsuit. Don’t let anyone convince you it’s legal to discriminate against people because they’ve spent time in a Las Vegas strip club.
Reputations Matter With Kids
Keep in mind that sometimes all the laws in the world won’t stop people from treating you differently. One specific field stands out in contrast to the usual nonchalance about stripping: education. If you want to run a daycare or become a teacher, expect resistance due to your “unwholesome lifestyle”. It doesn’t mean that you can’t work past the resistance and find a career placement that makes you happy, but you will experience more trouble in this field than most others. Too many people in the education field, especially in the K12 sector, still buy into Puritan ideas about morality and think that any woman who dances for money must be a bankrupt person in every part of their life. While you may have to struggle more to prove them wrong, you’re breaking ground for future women who want the freedom to enjoy stripping and teaching as dual careers.
Secrets Aren’t Worth The Blackmail
When a co-worker or family member does find out and threatens to tell, don’t let them blackmail you. There’s very little chance that you can keep the secret from leaking out further just by keeping one person quiet. It’s much better to take control of the situation, reveal the information to the people they’re threatening to tell, and deal with the aftermath on your own. Getting fired after you make a stand feels a lot better than giving half your paycheck to a blackmailer and still ending up fired from your main career. Living with the stress takes all the enjoyment out of raking in the cash and being admired for your skills, so either commit to stripping as your main career or make a plan for dealing with discovery.