Publisher's Synopsis
This is an interesting mix of formal sociological analysis and feminist theory, grounded in the voices of street-smart female strippers. Bruckert carries out a careful, studied, theoretical walk through 'Women and Work'. She massages her research to reveal the core of the world of the professional stripper: her predicament, her calculated choices, the emotionality, and a deadpan, matter-of-fact recognition of the realities of the world she inhabits. This book does not rely on sensationalism, nor is it the usual cliché-driven ride through the underbelly of the strip-club. Bruckert stays in integrity with her respondents, demonstrating a deep understanding of the business of stripping. At the same time, she uses her intimate knowledge of the world of the stripper to avoid the pitfalls of 'outsider research'. She journeys to the heart and soul of the industry with an ease that allows the voice of the stripper to emerge as the 'subject' in an experience in which she is objectified. Bruckert's interviews were conducted with fifteen female strippers, aged twenty-one to forty-six years, who were working in Ontario between 1997 and 1998. She says of the interview experience: "The women were all articulate, insightful individuals. They all had something to say."
