Taking It Off, Putting It On: Women in the Strip Trade

Christine Schmidt specializes in law and sociology at Laurentian
University.

Taking It Off, Putting It On is a sociological investigation of the
social relations that surround women in the strip trade. Relying on a
feminist ethnographic methodology, Chris Bruckert, a professor of
sociology, has wisely allowed the women interviewed for the book to
speak as active agents who, within the context of the labor of
stripping, negotiate and manage stigma, relationships, and personal
identity.

Bruckert, an ex-stripper herself, understands that some strands of
feminist theorizing (including methodological assumptions) have
participated in the objectification and oppression of women in
sex-related industries. Her excellent book makes the emphatic point that
stripping, like other forms of sex industry labor, has less to do with
sex and in fact requires many skills of an emotional and intellectual
nature. It also debunks some of the common myths of the stripper
persona, challenging academics to replace the victim category with a
more thorough and realistic analysis of the multifaceted roles of women
in a patriarchal state.

Taking It Off, Putting It On is a must-read for feminist scholars,
students in the social sciences, and anyone who seeks to understand the
struggle of workers in sex-related and other socially marginalized
industries.