Recent History
The image of strippers as known today evolved through the late 1960's and 1970s in the U.S. and international cultures which embraced Americanized striptease, introduced into popular culture by the genre-defining performances of Carol Doda. By the 1980s, the pole dancing and highly explicit imagery associated with today's performers was widely accepted and frequently portrayed in film, television, and theater. In a bikini performance, both breasts and genital areas typically remain covered by revealing attire while dancers provide services and entertainment. Go-go dancers will retain their tops and bottoms for the duration of their performance. A stripper whose upper body is exposed but the genital areas remain obscured during a performance is said to be topless. Not all strippers are comfortable dancing topless. Strippers who uncover the genital areas along with other clothing during a performance are said to be dancing full nude. The practice is banned in many jurisdictions, but many dancers will work around the constraints but selectively uncovering her vulva, anus, or both for short periods of time then replacing the clothing. As with topless dancing, not all strippers are comfortable dancing full nude.
Touching of strippers is not permitted in many localities. However, some dancers and clubs allow touching of dancers during private dances. If permitted, during a lap dance the dancer grinds against the customer's crotch while he or she (typically he) remains clothed in an attempt to arouse or bring the recipient to climax. In parts of the USA, there are laws forbidding the exposure of female nipples, which have to be covered by pasties by the dancer. Research suggests that exotic dancing can pay well, but often at a significant cost to the stripper. The reason for this is because of the negative stigma associated with exotic dancing. Dancers use props such as make-up, clothing, costumes, and appealing fragrances to complete their character and maintain their "front". Research on linkages between lesbianism and stripping, still classified as deviant behavior in conservative social climates, has asserted that "some exotic dancers become lesbians because of their isolation from effective social relationships and their overall dissatisfaction with males".
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