Perceptions of men who were present in a strip show in relation to stripease

Striptease, an activity with extensive historical roots, is known mainly as a performance in which women dance in the nude, for men and for a fee. While the existing literature on striptease extensively analyses the experiences and backgrounds of women who perform striptease, studies of male patrons are limited. These studies principally seek to explore the characteristics and motivations of male striptease patrons, and their relationships with the strippers they patronize. While there are several studies dealing with the perceptions of striptease patrons, in Israel the subject has not yet been researched.

The present study has been designed to fill this theoretical gap, by analyzing the perceptions of male patrons of striptease performances about the experience. The research focuses on the following questions: How do men perceive themselves as striptease patrons? How do men perceive strippers? And, how do men perceive the act of striptease, as a whole?

The study involved 10 Israeli men, aged 26-41, who had attended one or more striptease performance. The study was conducted using descriptive phenomenological qualitative methodology, by means of semi-structured interview. The analysis of the data was carried out using descriptive phenomenology methodology.

The study identified a number of themes regarding the three research questions. In presenting their personal experiences, the interviewees described the decision to watch striptease performances as acceptable in a group setting. But at the same time, they described an array of emotions, including embarrassment, which they identified as a central feeling in their experience. In addition, the interviewees defined the physical distance between them and the stripper as indicative of the boundaries of personal space and moral boundaries within the situation. With regard to the stripper herself, the interviewees’ observations ranged from recognition of the stripper's life circumstances as influencing her entry into the world of striptease, to portraying her as a woman exercising freedom of choice. Regarding the latter, they portrayed the strippers as performing consciously because of the advantages afforded by striptease: the economic gain, the personal expression it permits, and creating an empowering space for the stripper. With regard to striptease in general, the interviewees presented a variety of motives to explain their patronage. These included the existence of physical, emotional and social needs. The desire to spend time in the company of friends, but in a different environment than the norm was also presented as a central motive. The men described the interaction between stripper and client as an economic transaction, interviewees stating that striptease did not differ from other professions from the perspective of exploitation. Finally, the interviewees described the phenomenon of striptease in relation to the phenomenon of prostitution. They placed striptease at various points on a continuum, distinguishing striptease as a purely sensual dance at one end of the continuum, and acknowledging the similarity between the two – in that both activities involve selling the body for a fee – at the other.