Naked ambition
New Zealand Listener|April 6-11, 2024
Harsh treatment has sent strip club workers on to the streets to campaign for legislative and workforce rights.
PETE MCKENZIE
Naked ambition

Over the decade since Cleo (not her real name) began working as a stripper, she has performed at clubs around the country. Most have been nightmarish rife with bullying, exploitation and violence, she says. She quickly learnt to be careful: in the first club she worked in, she turned a corridor to see the manager abusing another worker while holding them against a wall by their throat.

Technically, the adult entertainment industry is bound by the same rules as any other business. Its venues must be clean and safe, its workers are entitled to protection, and its managers must abide by labour laws. But in an industry largely run by men and with a workforce that is mostly young women on contracts, those protections are often more imagined than real.

For Cleo, that is infuriating. "The work itself I actually enjoy," she says. "I enjoy the confidence in myself, learning how to perform and feeling more empowered. It isn't actually that hard to make something like sex work or a strip club safe, healthy and fun." Yet, to do the work, she has been forced to navigate a world of abuse and exploitation.

It was partly to escape that pattern that Cleo moved to Wellington in 2022 and began working at Calendar Girls. Because it is part of the country's most prominent chain of strip clubs, she hoped it would be an exception to the rule.

Like elsewhere, she found managers taking large percentages of tips, imposing dramatic fines for things like "rudeness" and "misuse of cellphone", and bullying workers who complained, she says.

Then, in early 2023, the club announced it was reducing the share of money its dancers earned from each guest. Cleo and 34 co-workers complained to the club manager. The next day, 19 of them were told to clear their lockers: their services were no longer required.

Bu hikaye New Zealand Listener dergisinin April 6-11, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye New Zealand Listener dergisinin April 6-11, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

NEW ZEALAND LISTENER DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
First-world problem
New Zealand Listener

First-world problem

Harrowing tales of migrants attempting to enter the US highlight the political failure to fully tackle the problem.

time-read
3 dak  |
September 9, 2024
Applying intelligence to AI
New Zealand Listener

Applying intelligence to AI

I call it the 'Terminator Effect', based on the premise that thinking machines took over the world.

time-read
2 dak  |
September 9, 2024
Nazism rears its head
New Zealand Listener

Nazism rears its head

Smirky Höcke, with his penchant for waving with a suspiciously straight elbow and an open palm, won't get to be boss of either state.

time-read
2 dak  |
September 9, 2024
Staying ahead of the game
New Zealand Listener

Staying ahead of the game

Will the brave new world of bipartisanship that seems to be on offer with an Infrastructure Commission come to fruition?

time-read
4 dak  |
September 9, 2024
Grasping the nettle
New Zealand Listener

Grasping the nettle

Broccoli is horrible. It smells, when being cooked, like cat pee.

time-read
3 dak  |
September 9, 2024
Hangry? Eat breakfast
New Zealand Listener

Hangry? Eat breakfast

People who don't break their fast first thing in the morning report the least life satisfaction.

time-read
3 dak  |
September 9, 2024
Chemical reaction
New Zealand Listener

Chemical reaction

Nitrates in processed meats are well known to cause harm, but consumed from plant sources, their effect is quite different.

time-read
4 dak  |
September 9, 2024
Me and my guitar
New Zealand Listener

Me and my guitar

Australian guitarist Karin Schaupp sticks to the familiar for her Dunedin concerts.

time-read
2 dak  |
September 9, 2024
Time is on my side
New Zealand Listener

Time is on my side

Age does not weary some of our much-loved musicians but what keeps them on the road?

time-read
7 dak  |
September 9, 2024
The kids are not alright
New Zealand Listener

The kids are not alright

Nuanced account details how China's blessed generation has been replaced by one consumed by fear and hopelessness.

time-read
4 dak  |
September 9, 2024