Sociologists claim decline in quality of lap dancers

London: There has been a sharp decline in the performance of Britain’s lap dancers since the financial crash of 2008, according to a study by sociologists.

The study by Teela Sanders and Kate Hardy from Leeds University warns of “de-skilling” across the industry. Dr Sanders said many dancers had “never even used a pole”. Researchers carried out a survey of 200 lap dancers, the largest study of its kind in the UK, the Telegraph reported. Dr Sanders said that there had been a “real change” to the “aesthetics of the dancers” as well as “the skills of flirting and chatting.” The study is due to be presented at the British Sociological Association’s annual conference in Leeds, The Times revealed. It said that many older dancers are worried about a loss of professionalism, with training failing to keep up with an influx of migrant workers and students to the job. “You’d see a girl who wasn’t very pretty, couldn’t dance, [and] had a crap outfit making a lot more money than you because she was there to make money, not to enjoy herself and be creative,” one of the dancers told the researchers. Strip club dancers are self-employed, with women paying venues to be able to dance there. The charge is about 80 pounds a night in the south of England and 30- 50 pounds in the north. However, faced with falling takings, clubs are allowing more women to pay to perform - irrespective of their skills. It means wages for strippers have dropped significantly, with average nightly earnings falling from 280 pounds to 250 pounds. ANI