Uncensored

The Life of a Humboldt County Stripper

Hearts are pounding in ecstasy. Sweat is dripping. Soft crotches are becoming either rock hard or very moist. Nude female flesh is rubbing against my face as Phoenix takes the dollar bill that's placed between my teeth with her smooth, vanilla-scented breasts. All eyes are on her, the gorgeous, sexy seductress who arouses the senses with a lick of her luscious lips. She saunters all over the stage wearing white stiletto stems that reach four inches high, at least. Long legs confidently carry her scantily clothed body for all that choose to see. Her green, velvet hot pants leave little to the imagination but cover the would-be tasty treats that these anxious audience members want but can't have.

Pheonix works her way through the room at the Tip Top Club in Eureka. photo by Jennifer Hayes

Her sheer black top fits snugly and a black lace bra is all that is left separating her naked flesh from the audience's hungry eyes. "Nice knockers," says Reggie, the Harley-driving biker stud who is sitting directly to my left.

Step over here, sugar tits. Weed for sex? Cash for sex? No, damnit, I'm not a prostitute. I strip for a living. I am a stripper. Words of power. Words of confidence. Words of freedom and opportunities and lots of money. These are benefits of the trade that give it the alluring appeal. The glamorous sex-goddess image. I'm number one. All eyes are on me. Give me your money. Although Phoenix receives offers every night, she never has and never will have sex in exchange for money or drugs. She once received an offer for $500 in exchange for sex but she turned it down. She doesn't believe in selling herself and doesn't consider what she does on stage as dancing.

"I'm not really dancing, I'm stripping," she said. She prefers to be called a stripper, not an exotic dancer.

Phoenix works at the Tip Top Club in Eureka, California. She typically strips for two songs in a row. The first song is a seductive teaser where she drives imaginations wild with her "let’s get it on moves." The second song is where she goes all out and takes everything off except, sorry folks, her g-string and her shoes. She pumps up and down on the stage, spreads her legs and only a thin cloth separates her treasure chest from eye range.

She slides up and down the pole, bends over in front of it, rubs her breasts, licks her nipples, stares down the vulnerable customers and becomes their new best friend.

When people put their dollar bills on stage Phoenix makes them feel special. She puts the dollar in the buyer's mouth and retrieves it with her mouth or breasts. To get the full nude spectrum, Phoenix will take you into a private room.

So, what actually happens when you pay $35 to go into the private room with Phoenix? She is totally in charge. The customer sits and she does a show right on top of the lap.

Phoenix explains it by saying, "A private dance isn't really a dance. Everyone likes different things. You never know what they are going to like. The younger clientele are dirtier and nastier."

"A private dance isn't really a dance. Everyone likes different things. You never know what they are going to like. The younger clientele are dirtier and nastier." -Pheonix

Many times she disconnects herself from the situation all together and goes on what she calls "autopilot." Other times it's fun for her. One customer actually peed his pants while she was giving him a lap dance. Private dances are very physical and this made it hard for her to continue her show because she did not want to touch him.

Phoenix and I met at Sacred Grounds coffee shop a week after I watched her strip. We both drank hot Chai. She didn't look like a woman who strips for money but like a woman for whom stripping is a job. Would anyone ever guess that this adorable blonde- haired girl, with ripped jeans, a flower tank top and sunglasses on top of her head, was the same girl from Tip Top? She smiles most of the time after she speaks and lets out a nervous giggle.

She's into telling me what she likes to do, rock climbing, natural medicine, pottery, dance, reading, traveling, backpacking, biking, and gardening. Working as a stripper is what she does to earn money to do all of these things.

According to Gordon Romei, the promotions webmaster at Tip Top, half of the girls who work there are students who are trying to pay their way through school.

Monogamy is not an issue for Phooenix. Monogamy is not for her.

Pheonix bares all at her job. photo by Jennifer Hayes

She is very open with her sexuality and has been since she was very young. She has always been curious about sex more than anything. She lost her virginity because she wanted to know what it was like and that's also another reason she started stripping. She soon realized that stripping is not as glamorous as she dreamed it to be.

Her mom knows that she works as a stripper, but doesn't know the entire truth. She lied and told her she only dances topless. Her daughter's occupation does not please her. Phoenix put it best when she said, "She has a hard enough time accepting what I told her. Never mind the fact that I have to get naked and grind up against old farts. She does not need to know that."

The choice Phoenix has made, to earn money by stripping, has no negative effect on their relationship and they get along very well. Dad has no clue. Dad would freak out. His little girl all grown up, giving lap dances for $35 a pop.

He, and most of the rest of the world, thinks that she's a waitress. That explains the long hours and flowing cash supply.

According to Deborah Rowe, documentary filmmaker and stripper who was featured in the Washington City Paper, "Most of the strippers lead duplicitous lives, hiding their occupation from their families and friends." So, one of the major factors that drive women to work in a field where they find it necessary to hide their job is the money.

The Washington City Paper found that, "In the big cities on an average night the average girls make about $400 per night. The more attractive girls may consider less than $1,000 on an average night to be disappointing." This highly profitable job has a lot to do with looks and that's why not many women stay in the business past their 20s.

Phoenix will dance some nights and only make $4 because business is slow. Other nights she'll come home with $400. Phoenix's largest tip was $50 and she says she's satisfied with this. She considers tens and twenties to be good tips.

Pheonix puts her back into her work. photo by Jennifer Hayes

She has to pay the owner, T. Great Razooly, $15 every time she dances but she does make her own schedule, can work as much or as little as she likes, she can take months off at a time and call off up to two hours before her shifts. She is an independent contractor. Those are a few of the fringe benefits. She thinks The Tip Top Club is a good place to work but would be better if it was busier. The management is very nice and is concerned with the safety of all of the girls.

There was only one incident where a customer had to be removed for inappropriate conduct. Phoenix was giving a lap dance and noticed that the aroused man whom she was dancing for had removed his penis from his pants and exposed it to her.

She got away from him and the bouncers showed him where the door was. She gets some firecracker customers who try to bite her nipples, lick her, and kiss her. She simply tells them to stop and tells them they will be kicked out if they try it again.

According to Razooly, "There is absolutley no touching by the customer. They'd get barred from the club."

Phoenix loves her job but at the same time she hates it. She loves the freedom and the power.

"It's great when the crowd loves you and cheers you on. It's a fun power trip and ego trip," she said. She grins and expands on her thoughts, "I enjoy tapping into the other side of myself, the sexual feminine side. It's nice to paint my nails and feel sexual."

On the other hand the crowd is sometimes overcritical. She hates being degraded. Also, she hates what she has to do to get attention. She said that she doesn't know how she needs to act and flirt to get someone to buy a dance.

I asked her, "Does stripping make you feel like men are pathetic?"

"It's a fun power trip and ego trip. " -Pheonix

"No, they are lonely people, people who need to be touched. They need to feel wanted and need human contact," she said.

And for $35 Phoenix will do that for you. She believes that because sex is considered to be so bad, many people get off on seeing naked women.

"They believe that women will want them if they give us money," she said.

But there's no dirty business when it comes to this take-charge type of girl. There are no sexual favors, just dancing on top of the lap.

There's no bare genital rubbing, just an occasional breast up in your face.

There's no kissing, no licking, no poking, and no hanky panky. You get a straight-up lap dance. So, take it or leave it.