Over ‘Sexed’ Regulation and the Disregarded Worker: An Overview of the Impact of Sexual Entertainment Policy on Lap-Dancing Club Workers

Abstract

In England and Wales, with the introduction of Section 27 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009, lap-dancing clubs can now be licensed as Sexual Entertainment Venues. This article considers such, offering a critique of Section 27, arguing that this legislation is not evidence-based, with lap-dancing policy, like other sex-work policies, often associated with crime, deviance and immorality. Furthermore, it is argued that sex-work policies are gradually being homogenised as well as increasingly criminalised. Other criticisms relate to various licensing loopholes which lead to some striptease venues remaining unlicensed and unregulated, potentially impacting on the welfare of erotic dancers. In addition, restrictions on the numbers of lap-dancing venues may exacerbate dancer unemployment, drawing these women into poverty. Finally, The Policing and Crime Act reflects how the political focus is being directed away from the exploitation of workers, on to issues relating to crime and deviance, despite limited evidence to support this focus.

False Self‐Employment, Autonomy and Regulating for Decent Work: Improving Working Conditions in the UK Stripping Industry

“…These powers, however, have proved to be something of an ‘empty shell’ for improving dancers’ labour conditions (Colosi ; Sanders and Hardy ) and have instead been used to curb numbers of clubs in particular areas. Despite this, some examples of good practice have been revealed, in which councils have indeed used their powers to establish basic labour standards for dancers (Sanders and Campbell ).…”

Close Encounters: Intimate service interactions in lap dancing work as a nexus of ‘self-others-things’

“…There is a well-established body of research on the commodification of sexuality within organizational life, much of it focusing on the commercial exchange of sex (Brewis & Linstead, 2000;Hubbard & Colosi, 2012;Sanders, 2004Sanders, , 2005. A growing interest in the lap dancing industry (Hubbard & Colosi, 2015;Colosi, 2010Colosi, , 2013Grandy & Mavin, 2014;Hardy & Sanders, 2015;Mavin & Grandy, 2013;Sanders & Hardy, 2012) has highlighted the bodywork and emotional labour undertaken by dancers in order to perform 'counterfeit intimacy' (Barton, 2007) and to display an appropriately sexualized persona. The academic literature on lap dancing to date has focused largely on licensing and regulation (Hubbard & Colosi, 2012, 2015Sanders & Campbell, 2013).…”

“…What distinguished lap dancing venues from more mainstream entertainment venues at this time was a list of conditions that they were required to adhere to, for example age restricted entry and the provision of a statement outlining the specific nature of the entertainment to be provided within the venue. As a consequence of campaigns led by Object and the Fawcett Society (Colosi, 2013), lap dancing clubs came to be licensed under the Policing and Crime Act (2009) and became known as Sexual Entertainment Venues (SEVs) (Hubbard & Colosi, 2012;Sanders and Campbell, 2013). iv Here Butler draws on the concept of interpellation as it is developed in Louis Althusser's (2006) discussion of the ideological processes through which particular subject positions are 'hailed'.…”

Regulating Strip-Based Entertainment: Sexual Entertainment Venue Policy and the Ex/Inclusion of Dancers’ Perspectives and Needs

“…Whilst stating the importance of controlling the sexual geography of the city as an explicit aim, the moralising agenda was provided by the feminist group who supported Blackman-Woods in her endeavour. Such campaigns seize on unsubstantiated claims regarding strip clubs encouraging violence against women in the area, or suggesting that customers who buy striptease will become violent and sexually predatory (Colosi, 2013). Radical feminists have spoken out about what they see as the cultural turn to the sexualisation of society, with 'lap dancing' considered an activity which fuels a misogynist society and the maintenance of gender inequality, violence and fear amongst women (Coy, 2010;Pantiniotis and Standing, 2012).…”