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Lap dancers with degrees

UK study finds a quarter of lap dancers hold university degrees

Lap dancers in Britain are well educated, according to research coming out of the University of Leeds. One in four dancers were found to have university degrees, while 90 per cent had completed some post-secondary education. Many dancers were unemployed arts graduates, or were supplementing their income from unstable employment. Others are hoping to use their dancing experience as a springboard into modeling or acting. The average salary was 48,000 pounds (or $74,500).

Teela Sanders, one of the study’s authors, told the Daily Mail that dancers did not view themselves as being exploited. “These young women do not buy the line that they are being exploited, because they are the ones making the money out of a three-minute dance and a bit of a chat.” Although the paper did not cite coercion as a motivating factor in a decision to pursue dancing, it did raise concerns about women having difficulty leaving the job because of the lucrative pay. The paper also advocated outlawing private booths because dancers were more open to danger and abuse. A total of 300 dancers were interviewed for the study.

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