Pusuing a career in the sex industry in Chicago. (Oak Park: crime, houses)

[vic the trader]

In the most basic terms, my question is....How hard is it to start out in the sex industry in Chicago? Specifically I'm looking at positions doing a male or transsexual stripping, although I would take anything short of prostitution that would pay my rent.

As of yet I've been applying for any and all kinds of normal entry level jobs to allow me to live until I can find a good stripping gig....looking for about two weeks now....and I've met no success. I'm wondering, if maybe I should just reconsider stay in Chicago altogether and go somewhere like Las Vegas (ugh...no public transit here) where finding a stripping job might be a bit easier?

[Drover]

http://images.whatport80.com/images/7/7a/MJpopcorn.gif (broken link)

[eevee]

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

Well, I guess we know what he's trading.

[River North]

[jdiddy]

I'd suggest contacting the Oak Park Regional Housing Authority (Oak Park Housing Authority). Oak Park contains many Frank Lloyd Wright houses, and contains easy access into the city. It could be a wonderful home base after a difficult night in the sex industry.

[emathias]

You're not the board member I expected to see this post from, but here goes:

1) There just aren't that many male stripping jobs around - even in Vegas.

2) Your physical fitness is an entry requirement, but past that it's probably not even in the top ten of attributes you need to be a good stripper. You need to project sexuality in a non-threatening way, you need to be friendly and respect boundaries even if yours are nudged (you let the bouncers be the heavy, and except for really flagrant violations you can't have too strong of a reaction), you need to be a great slow dancer, you need to know your best attributes and your worst attributes and how to handle *both* of them to your advantage.

3) The truth is that a lot of strippers at least straddle the line (as in, partly across the line) with prostitution. I don't know what the figure is for female strippers, but for gay male strippers who aren't part of a highly professional big-show group, the figure probably is somewhere near 80%. Of that 80%, not all engage in prostitution frequently, but at at least willing to under "the right circumstances" (with a regular customer, for the right money, with a guy they believe to be "nice" and unlikely to cause them trouble or make them feel bad). The portion who don't regularly do prostitution will not be talking about it much - the legal status in most places in the U.S. and the low level of social acceptance make it something even the most liberated men prefer to tread lightly with.

4) Do you know any male strippers? If you don't, start by getting to know some. If you really want to make a career of it, that could include hiring a couple just to see what they do. If you hire them to actually perform, it would be a breach of ettiquette to ask them about how they got into it and how they like it. But if you're up-front when you hire them about wanting to interview them or get career advice, then some might not be willing to do that, but some might - just be up-front about it and see what happens.

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

There's one thing... one thing I didn't expect from this thread. Reasonable, sound advice. Kudos, emathias.

(Oh, and you too, jdiddy, though what would have been REALLY valuable was a post about whether a sex professional needs a car in the city, or can reasonably expect to get by using cabs and public transit.)

[oakparkdude]

I was thinking to myself recently that Chicago citydata has too many repetitive threads about transit, housing, and crime and not nearly enough addressing the sex industry (and its relationship to the OPRHA.). Can we make this a sticky?

[vic the trader]

Lawl....well by the way you guys are talking a sex industry exists already, and that's a plus. I think Chicago is the only city that has a neighborhood called Boystown so I figure there has to be a way to make money that way.