NYC Strippers Strike: Dancers Allege Racism And Accuse Scantily-Clad Bartenders Of ‘Stealing Tips’


New York City strippers are breaking their silence and speaking out against the unfair treatment they have received by club promoters and managers alike. Over the last several years, the influx of a new breed of “bartenders” who are also known as “bottle girls,” has created a much more competitive environment for dancers who claim that they’re already dealing with insufficient pay and racial discrimination, according to the Washington Post.

For decades, strippers have been the main attraction for certain clubs. However, club owners have now started to hire attractive women with large followings on social media to serve as bartenders. These highly sought after social media stars are how bottle girls rose to prominence and what their role is in the NYC stripper strike, according to Business Insider.

Some strippers are claiming that the bottle girls are given preferential treatment. Traditionally, strippers have always paid a “house fee” to the club. At a minimum, they must pay $50 a night to strip. During big events, the fee increases to $150 to $250. Bartenders don’t pay house fees, according to the Washington Post.

There have also been clips circulating on Instagram showing bartenders taking the cash from dancers off the stage.

About a week ago, strippers in the NYC area and abroad organized under the hashtag #NYCStripperStrike to raise awareness on the issue.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BY2SNNiH30D/?taken-by=acesnewyork

The shift began about five years ago when models on Instagram began to refer to themselves “startenders.” Club promoters began hiring from Instagram and stopped searching for a mixologist.

While promoting their upcoming appearances on social media, many clubs will have bartenders dress in outfits that are similar to the strippers. Bartenders started to resemble the strippers and reaped a ton of benefits.

Both groups of women are competing for the attention of the audience and their money. Similar to strippers, they are not employees of the club, but “private contractors.” Many bartenders have mastered social media, using Instagram to build followings of men in the hope that these men will follow them into the clubs. Inside the clubs, the bartenders have the same goal as the strippers in regards to obtaining money.

The Washington Post published an article in which a stripper named Panama discussed a story in which a confrontation with a bartender turned physical. Panama says as she was picking up her money when one of the bartenders also started to gather the cash for herself. When Panama tried to retrieve the money from the bartender, a female bouncer picked up Panama and tried to restrain her. In the struggle to break free in spiked heels, Panama said she twisted her ankle.

According to Panama, since a new type of bartender has entered the industry there’s been a “drastic difference in dancers’ wages.” She used to make thousands in a night but now usually averages $400 a night.

“No dancer in New York City is making $1,000 a night anymore.”

During a radio interview, Cardi B, former New York stripper turned best-selling hip-hop artist, said people are tipping bartenders as much as strippers because it’s a trend.

“People want to follow the trend. Even if it’s a bada?? stripper, like the baddest of the baddest, people still want to throw money at the bartender because it’s just, like, the trend.”

Cardi B also said New York City strip clubs do not hire black bartenders.

“The bartenders are the new things right now… They don’t even hire black bartenders in New York City strip clubs, which is sad.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bar2KpOBXhh/?taken-by=iamcardib

A well-known New York hip-hop disc jockey shared his thoughts on the #NYCStrippersStrike in an Instagram post and said, “It’s a new day” and added that “we all have to face the fact that it’s a new day. It was a time where bartenders were only allowed to serve drinks and didn’t wear the same attire as the dancers.”

DJ Kay Slay agreed that there has always been racism in the strip club business.

“They don’t let black women on stage when it’s big money in the building or VIP, Unless you have built a name for yourself, So knowing this everyone needs to step their game up a notch an get it right!! Or try another state because this is how they playing, but it shouldn’t be the ladies beefing with each other because it’s not the ladies who set the rules!!”

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The DJ defended the bartenders and said the clubs had to change their business model and adapt.

“And social media made it where some promoters (not all) will use popular ladies who have never bartended in their life, to bartend at their events… [Bartenders] use IG celebrity to make their fans come out on their nights… Personally I feel they should drop both titles ‘Strippers and Bartenders’ because it’s all the same s*** now!”

It’s unclear how many dancers are participating and what impact it has made on clubs.

Sean Simmons, promotional director for Aces New York, said the strike is “nonsense.” He said there is no racism in the nightclubs and that he employed “all ethnicities” as dancers and bartenders at his club.

“Some clubs are bartender-driven, but that’s just because the bartenders are beautiful women.”

Simmons said that there should be rules and regulations between dancers and bartenders, but said, “Nothing will come from the strike.”

[Featured Image by Oleksandr Nagaiets/Shutterstock]

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