Lap dance

tainment or a type of sex work.[1] Critics of lap dancing

allege that some club owners, by installing dark private
booths and charging dancers steep stage fees, are covertly
condoning and encouraging the sale of sexual acts between customers and dancers. This can be a concern if,
as for instance in the United Kingdom, the club has a
Public Entertainment Licence rather than a Sex Establishment Licence, and in jurisdictions where brothels are
illegal.[2][3] According to the UK paper The Guardian,
Research shows that the majority of women become lapdancers through poverty and lack of choice.[4]

This article is about the erotic dance. For the N*E*R*D

song, see Lapdance (song). For the upcoming lm, see
Lap Dance (lm).
A lap dance is a type of erotic dance performance

1 History and legal issues

Lap or couch contact dance demonstration at the 2008 AVN

Adult Entertainment Expo

oered in some strip clubs either in immediate contact (contact dancing) with a seated patron or within a
very short distance of a seated patron, which is sometimes called a table dance. The dancer may be nude,
topless/shirtless or scantily dressed, depending on the
laws of the jurisdiction and the clubs policies. With
full-contact lap dances, the stripper may engage in nonpenetrative sexual contact with the patron, such as grinding his or her body against the patron. Variant terms include couch dance, which is a lap dance where the customer is seated on a couch, and bed dance where the
customer lies down on a bed. In some places, a block
session of lap dances (usually a half an hour to an hour)
can be booked in a "champagne room", which is a private
room usually located in the back of a club. In many clubs,
the duration of a lap dance is measured by the length of
the song being played by the clubs DJ. Charges for lap
dances vary signicantly.
Depending on the local jurisdiction and community standards, lap dances can involve touching of the dancer by
the patron, touching the patron by the dancer, neither, or
both. In some clubs, any touching by the patron is forbidden. On the other hand, absent any oversight by the club,
various levels of contact may be negotiable between the
participants. Clubs vary widely with regard to whether
they enforce their rules or turn a blind eye to any violations.

Typical area where lap dances are had in semi-private

Lap dancing clubs are a later development of earlier

strip clubs, where strippers danced on stage and were
paid a wage. In the 1970s, New Yorks Melody Theater
introduced audience participation and called it Mardi
Gras.[5] The Melody Theater became the Harmony Theater and operated in two locations in Manhattan for over
20 years until it was closed down in 1998.

There is some debate as to whether lap dancing is enter- In 1977, San Francisco's Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell The1

atre changed its policy so that customers could have

dancers come to sit naked on their laps for a $1 tip. The
practice quickly spread.[6] It suited club owners, because
it brought in more customers, and it meant that the club
could pay the dancers less. This then evolved into lap
dancing. A San Francisco District Attorney's 2004 decision to drop prostitution charges against lap dancers in the
city changed the sexual culture of San Francisco and has
the potential to inuence the policies of other cities.[7]
In some areas of the U.S. and Canada, local authorities
began cracking down on lap dancing after reports that
some clubs allowed customers to engage in sexual intercourse or other sexual activity with dancers during lap
dance sessions.[8] Various strip clubs have wide-ranging
rules on how customers should interact with strippers.[9]

1.1

Canada

HISTORY AND LEGAL ISSUES

ber 20, 2013, (in Bedford v. Canada) the Supreme Court

of Canada found the laws prohibiting brothels, public
communication for the purpose of prostitution, and living on the prots of prostitution to be unconstitutional.
The ruling gave the Canadian parliament 12 months to
rewrite Canadas prostitution laws; in the meantime, antiprostitution laws will continue to be enforced.[12]

1.2 England and Wales

Lap dancing arrived and spread to every major city across
much of the UK. In 1996, a court ruled that full stripping
at a Liverpool club, Angels Paradise, was acceptable, as
long as the dancers were not touched at all by the client
and that dancers remained 12 inches (30 cm) away from
clients at all times. From April 2010, local authorities
gained powers to respond to the concerns of local people
regarding the number and location of lap-dancing clubs
in their area.[13][14]

In 1973, an upmarket Vancouver bar called Gary Taylors Show Lounge employed showgirls and strippers as
waitresses who gave a free dance with every drink. The
club was raided by the police under the guise of obscenity legislation, but, in 1974, Judge Jack McGivern ruled
that dancer nudity was not obscene, which started a trend
of nude dancing in bars. No contact between dancers
and patrons was allowed at the club, but Gary Taylors
had a boxing ring where the girls performed revealing
acrobatics after stripping o and then earned tips. Americans from Washington State made the trip to the club
from the United States, which at the time had stricter
laws.[10]
In a landmark ruling regarding the 1994 case of Pat Mara
and Allan East (the owner and manager of Cheaters Tavern), Judge E. Gordon Hachborn legally dened lap dancing and ruled that it did not contravene Canadian public
decency statutes. A number of conicting judgements
were issued in the years that followed, including decisions
to close certain bars in which sex acts took place on the
oor of the club and other rulings in which patrons were
allowed to touch the dancers, as long as an actual sex act
did not take place.[10]
An exotic dancer demonstrating a contact lap dance
In 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that a typical
lap dance did not constitute an obscene act within the
meaning of the Criminal Code of Canada. The Crown did
not argue that lap dances constituted prostitution, and
therefore the court did not address the possible issue that
the typical lap dance may contravene one or more antiprostitution laws.[11] This led to the displacement of strip
clubs and table dancing clubs in Canada by lap dancing
clubs.

1.3 United States

Some jurisdictions in the United States outlaw lap dances
and enforce a minimum distance between dancer and
patron. In Seattle, one such minimum distance ordinance was overturned by public referendum in November
2006.[15]

In 2005, two Supreme Court of Canada rulings (R. v. Also in 2006, concerned about reports of sexual assault
Labaye and R. v. Kouri) decriminalized private sex clubs and illegal stage fees, San Franciscos Commission on the
in Canada.
Status of Women recommended a ban on private rooms
Prostitution in Canada is legal, as there are no laws pro- and booths at adult clubs in the city. However, a mahibiting the exchange of sex for money. On the Decem- jority of dancers at the Commissions meetings and the

3
San Francisco Board of Supervisors' meetings protested
against these eorts, fearing for their income and claiming that these rooms were safer than other venues.[16][17]
As a result, the Commissions proposed ban was not
adopted by the city.[16][17]
In February 2010, the Detroit City Council voted to ban
lap dances in VIP rooms.[18] However, across from Detroit in Windsor, Ontario, lap dancing is legal, even where
alcohol is served. Sex clubs are also legal in Windsor. Furthermore, prostitution will be completely legal in
Windsor by December 20, 2014, as a direct consequence
of Bedford v. Canada.
In 2012, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that lap
dances were not an art form and are subject to sales
tax.[19]

Labor issues and job conditions

The economic position of lap dancers, as employees of

the clubs, has also changed. Over time, most strip clubs
have stopped paying the dancers. Stage dancing became
a showcase to advertise the bodies of the dancers, whose
money came from the tips or standard charges, depending
on the club, that the patrons gave them for lap dancing.
In the majority of clubs, dancers are simply charged a
percentage of their nightly takings. However, the latest
development in many countries, including Great Britain,
the United States and Canada, is that many clubs charge
dancers a stage fee or tip-out, which is an amount that
a dancer needs to pay a club (usually in advance) in order
to work on a given night, per shift. Given that dancers
are basically paying for the privilege to be at a club, some
clubs allow as many dancers as possible to appear on any
given night, increasing competition among the dancers.
Also, the vast majority of clubs will not waive this charge
if a night happens to be slow. Consequently, the dancer
either leaves her shift without any prot or builds a debt
to the club.[20]

an employee of the nightclub rather than an independent

contractor. The appellate court, however, after applying a 10-factor test, upheld the jurys verdict in favor of
the nightclub and its owners and found that the evidence
weighed in favor of classifying the dancer as an independent contractor rather than an employee.[21]
A UK study on lap dancing found that the overwhelming majority of those surveyed were satised with their
work, because they got to choose their own hours, got
paid instantly, got more money than in other available
jobs, and had the opportunity to combine fun and work
(e.g., socializing with other dancers and patrons).[22] At
the same time, the same study revealed various disadvantages to lap dancing work, such as: the women never knew
how much they would earn each week; the women had to
try to keep their job secret from friends and family; the
women had to face some rude and abusive customers. As
well, while most felt safe, almost half of the dancers had
faced frequent verbal harassment and unwanted touching
from patrons. Another issue raised by the dancers was
their lack of labour rights in the workplace and the high
overhead costs house fees (or stage fees), commissions,
nes (whether paid directly to the clubs management or
not), and tipping out (or paying a portion of their income)
to DJs and bouncers.[22]

The UK paper The Guardian gave a darker portrait of

lap dancing in an article partly based on an interview
with a former stripper.[23] It stated that "[r]esearch shows
that the majority of women become lap-dancers through
poverty and lack of choice,[4] and that academic research has linked lap-dancing to tracking, prostitution
and an increase in male sexual violence against both the
women who work in the clubs and those who live and
work in their vicinity. For example, a recent conference in Ireland highlighted the use of lap-dance clubs
by human trackers as a tool for grooming women into
prostitution; the clubs also normalise the idea of paying for sexual services.[4] "[R]esearch on strip clubs in
the US found that all dancers had suered verbal harassment and physical and sexual abuse while at work; all had
been propositioned for prostitution; and three-quarters
In the U.S., most clubs treat dancers as independent had been stalked by men associated with the club.[4]
contractors, thereby avoiding the need to pay minimum
wages, overtime pay, income taxes and other benets re- Critics of lap dancing choose to describe it as a type
quired by law. This status has repeatedly been challenged of sex work, because, in their opinion, it is dicult to
the performance of erotic dance and
by some dancers. While labor commissions and the discern between
[24]
prostitution.
However,
others contend that it is a
courts have, for the most part, ruled that exotic dancers
misnomer
to
call
a
lap
dancer
a sex worker, because no
are employees and deserving of reimbursement for back
[3][20]
sexual
act
is
technically
performed
during a typical lap
pay and stage fees,
some court decisions have dedance.
Club
owners
in
the
UK
argue
that lap dancing
cided that an exotic dancer can be classied as an in[25]
should
not
be
labelled
as
sex
work.
dependent contractor. In June 2006, in Tracy Buel v.
Chowder House (dba The Hungry I) an appellate court In 2007, based on statistics from eighteen dancers over a
of California's rst district ruled that dancer Tracy Buel, period of 60 days, it was noted that female lap dancers
also known as Daisy Anarchy, was correctly classied earned the highest tips around the time of ovulation, duras an independent contractor and that Buel shall pay de- ing the most fertile period of their menstrual cycle and
fendants costs on appeal. A publication called the Cali- the lowest tips during menstruation; the average dierfornia Employment Law Letter described the case as fol- ence in earning between those two times amounted to
lows: The dancer based her suit on the fact that she was

about $30 per hour. Women on the pill earned overall less
than those not on the pill. The results were interpreted
as evidence of estrus in humans: females apparently advertise their fertility status to males in some manner.[26]
This nding earned its authors the 2008 Ig Nobel Prize in
Economics.[27]

REFERENCES

[7] Steinberg, David. Lap Victory. SF Weekly. SF Weekly,

LP. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
[8] Ross, Becki (October 2009). Burlesque West: showgirls,
sex, and sin in postwar Vancouver. University of Toronto
Press. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-8020-9646-3. Retrieved 24
March 2011.
[9] Lap Dance Etiquette. Retrieved 5 March 2013.

In lm
1995: In the lm Showgirls, Zack Carey (Kyle
MacLachlan) gets a lap dance from Nomi Malone
(Elizabeth Berkley).
1999: In the lm Go, Marcus (Taye Diggs) and a
friend get lap dances in Las Vegas, but violence ensues when a bouncer assaults them after some minor
hand-contact with a lap dancer.

[10] Lifestyles: Canadas Multi-Million Dollar Addiction To

Lap-Dancing. 21 September 2012. Retrieved 5 March
2013.
[11] Judgement of the Supreme Court of Canada
[12] BBC News - Canada Supreme Court strikes down prostitution laws. Bbc.co.uk. 2013-12-20. Retrieved 201401-08.
[13] New powers to crack down on lap-dancing clubs BBC
News 12 February 2010

2001: Within director Wayne Wang's lm, Center of

the World starring Peter Sarsgaard and Molly Parker, [14] Leeds lap dancing clubs face new threat. 7 March 2013.
a wealthy dot-com entrepreneur becomes obsessed
Retrieved 7 March 2013.
with a lap dancer.
2010: In the lm Welcome to the Rileys starring
James Gandolni and Kristen Stewart, an emotionally damaged man tries to help a wayward lap
dancer.
2014: Within the lm Lap Dance starring Carmen
Electra, an actress makes a pact with her anc to
take a job as a lap dancer in order to take care of
her cancer-stricken father.

[15] Lap dance ban defeated

[16] Goodyear, Charlie (5 August 2006). Adult club private
rooms debated. San Francisco Chronicle.
[17] Estrella, Cicero A. (19 August 2006). Exotic dancers
rally at City Hall to halt private-room ban in clubs. San
Francisco Chronicle.
[18] Detroit City Council votes to allow alcohol, ban lap dances
in strip clubs

See also

[19] New York Court of Appeals: Lap Dancing Is Not An

Art Form, Is Subject To Sales Tax. Forbes. 2012-10-23.
Retrieved 2014-01-08.

References

[20] Strip City: A Strippers Farewell Journey Across America

by Lily Burana, Talk Miramax Books, 2001

[1] Einat Albin. The Case of Quashie: Between the Legalisation of Sex Work and the Precariousness of Personal Service Work. Industrial Law Journal. (2013) 42
(2): 180-191. doi: 10.1093/indlaw/dwt006 Available online at: http://m.ilj.oxfordjournals.org/content/42/2/180.
short?rss=1. Accessed on March 12, 2014.
[2] Bindel, Julie. Protable Exploits: Lap Dancing in the
UK, Study for the Glasgow City Council (August 2004)
[3] Lap Victory. How a DAs decision to drop prostitution
charges against lap dancers will change the sexual culture
of S.F. and, perhaps, the country SF Weekly (8 September 2004)
[4] Bell, Rachel. 'I was seen as an object, not a person' The
Guardian (19 March 2008). Accessed: 23 October 2011
[5] Blog entries from patrons and dancers of the Melody and
Harmony Theaters
[6] David McCumber: X-Rated, Pinnacle Books, 1996, pp.
79-80

[21] Exotic dancer stripped of her job by David R. Ongaro,

California Employment Law Letter, Vol. 16, No. 9. 14
July 2006
[22] Sanders, Teela and Hardy, Kate. 'The Regulatory Dance:
Sexual Consumption in the Night Time Economy'. (April
2011). Accessed on 24 October 2011.
[23] Bell, Rachel. "'I was seen as an object, not a person'" The
Guardian (18 March 2008)
[24] Ditmore, Melissa Hope: Prostitution and Sex Work.
ABC-CLIO, 2010, pp. 6-7
[25] UK | Lap dancers object to 'sex' label. BBC News.
2008-11-04. Retrieved 2014-06-27.
[26] Miller, Georey; Tybus, Joshua M. and Joprdan, Brent
D. (2007). Evolution and Human Behavior. Ovulatory
cycle eects on tip earnings by lap dancers: economic evidence for human estrus?" Evolution and Human Behavior.
Volume 28, Issue 6, pp. 375381

[27] Miller, Georey (November 2007), "Ovulatory cycle eects on tip earnings by lap dancers: economic evidence for human estrus?" (PDF), Evolution and Human Behavior (Elsevier) 28 (6): 375
81, doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.06.002, retrieved
3 October 2008

External links
Media related to Lap dance at Wikimedia Commons

7 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

7.1

Text

Lap dance Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lap_dance?oldid=658153636 Contributors: AxelBoldt, The Anome, ChangChienFu,

Patrick, Paul Barlow, Ronabop, Docu, Dysprosia, Melody, Dale Arnett, Altenmann, Auric, DocWatson42, Mark Richards, Kpalion, J3,
Aranel, Bobo192, Sasquatch, Pearle, Petdance, Rray, Philip Cross, SidP, Versageek, Nightstallion, Gmaxwell, Onlyemarie, BD2412,
Rjwilmsi, Vegaswikian, A J Luxton, Durin, Matt Deres, Alhutch, Nsteinberg, Kazuba, Sharkface217, YurikBot, Gaius Cornelius,
Rsrikanth05, Wimt, Grafen, DeadEyeArrow, NzismIsntCool, Johndburger, Closedmouth, Ntrobrn, Otto ter Haar, Ghazer~enwiki, NickelShoe, SmackBot, Procient, Apers0n, Richmeister, Gilliam, Tyciol, Andrew Parodi, Zazpot, COMPFUNK2, Sirgregmac, Fitzhugh,
Ohconfucius, Claudiaclaudia, OnBeyondZebrax, Iridescent, Pacerlaser, Melaisis, Tanthalas39, Pentiumforever, Orayzio, Iamcuriousblue,
Gogo Dodo, Tawkerbot4, NorthernThunder, Ebyabe, Lg king, Qwyrxian, SummerPhD, Qwerty Binary, Husond, Barek, MER-C, Octeron, Rothorpe, Jmbrock, Bongwarrior, VoABot II, Puddhe, CTF83!, Ed!, Catgut, Simonxag, Nathanhubbard, Mike Payne, Greymancer,
Glen, DerHexer, STBot, CommonsDelinker, Akronym, J.delanoy, Trusilver, DandyDan2007, Lordgilman, BaseballDetective, Skier Dude,
AntiSpamBot, Perskyro, Evb-wiki, Steel1943, Lawline, Bovineboy2008, Tebucky, TheLapKing, Stephenph, Optigan13, Enviroboy,
Truthanado, Dmcq, AlleborgoBot, PGWG, John.n-irl, Ttonyb1, Dreamafter, WereSpielChequers, Acc78, Jeangagnon, Oxymoron83,
KoshVorlon, LaidO, Thirteen squared, IdreamofJeanie, Grantlikespussy, James Carroll, Atif.t2, Twinsday, MenoBot, Ewawer, Dlabtot,
Chazum0, Jimmyisabignoob567, LeoFrank, Jusdafax, Erebus Morgaine, Fishiehelper2, EBY3221, Subdolous, Ngebendi, Razorame, El
bot de la dieta, Thingg, 7, Seymour ass, XLinkBot, Enertainment99, WikHead, Ultramartin, Addbot, Nfshaw, Cst17, Accordingtobex, Redheylin, Ccacsmss, Tanyamtutu, Jakeemler1, Tide rolls, ZoePepper, David0811, Yobot, VW Waggin, Lightbourne7, Guy1890, AnomieBOT,
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Riens, Amazon23, MesaTy97, Patronanejo, Boundtobefamousoneday, Meaghan, Onlyt tooth, Wallanon, Tbhotch, Bigesian, RjwilmsiBot,
Beyond My Ken, Gfoley4, F, Player-23, AndrewN, Resonsibleparent, Intothatdarkness, 313351msj, Jann1796, Cirey, What was this guy
eating?, Ibdbest, ClueBot NG, Colejamaica, Helpful Pixie Bot, Dccsheet4, Candleabracadabra, Lowercase sigmabot, BG19bot, Cncmaster, Altar, Wikih101, Loriendrew, Yoshipisowned, BattyBot, Cyberbot II, Charity Cupp, Epicgenius, Hello9530, 1980sEnglehart, DrLune,
Shitstorm101, Taydra and Anonymous: 249

7.2

Images

File:Lapdance_demonstration.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Lapdance_demonstration.jpg License: CC BY 2.0 Contributors: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimi_photog/3664414718 Original artist: Jimi Photog @ Flickr
File:Main_Room.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Main_Room.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Lawline
File:Striptease_Topless_Lapdance.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Striptease_Topless_Lapdance.
jpg License: CC BY 2.0 Contributors: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39034104@N06/4035532530/ Original artist: Manu @ icker

7.3

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