Book Review: The Ethical Stripper by Stacey Clare

Happy International Women’s Day! I’ve the perfect book to add to your shelves.

Blurb

In this powerful book, Stacey Clare, a stripper with over a decade of experience, takes a detailed look at the sex industry – the reality of the work as well as the history of licensing and regulation, feminist themes surrounding sex work, and stigma. Bringing her personal knowledge of the industry to bear, she offers an unapologetic critique and searing indictment of exploitation, and raises the rights of sex workers to the top of the agenda.

The Ethical Stripper rejects notions of victimhood, challenges stigma and shame, and unpacks decades of confusion and contradictions. It’s about the sex-work community’s fight for safety and self-determination, and it challenges you to think twice about every newspaper article, documentary and film you have seen about stripping and sex work.

Review

I’m not going to pretend that I’ve never had any biases against strippers. Unless someone has worked the job themselves, we all have. This book has wiped away any negativity I’ve ever had towards the profession. Personal and well-researched, I’ve had so much education in the hours spent reading The Ethical Stripper.

While of course it plays a part, The Ethical Stripper is not just a book arguing for and against feminism in this area. It is a book which opens our eyes to the awful labour conditions and employment rights of strippers. It is a book that shows us just how little the voices of the most important people in the industry – the strippers – are heard. It is a book that is creating awareness around an area that really needs it, showing those that are “helping” (activists, police, etc.), how they are actually playing a big role in objectifying the people who choose to work in this industry.

Do one thing to support women on this International Women’s Day: buy a copy of The Ethical Stripper.

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.