I am a Stripper. My Boyfriend Saw Me Through the Eyes of a Customer.
I was 24 when I started stripping. A friend and I were sipping tea on the couch, two young idealists in Berlin discussing how we needed money.
From there, things went surprisingly fast, as they tend to do in this industry. My friend saw an ad on Craigslist, and not long after we found ourselves staggering half-naked down a smoky, strip-club hallway in high platform heels.
Now that I have six years of experience, my perception of the industry has become more nuanced than it was during that teatime chat.
What hasn’t changed are the questions I am routinely asked as a stripper, most commonly: “Do you have a boyfriend? What does he say about your job?” In whatever variation this question is asked (“Is it possible to find a boyfriend with this job?” “Isn’t your boyfriend jealous?”), it always assumes a boyfriend.
