Sex, Lies & DM Slides - S1E20: Gizzi & Sydney | Jeanie Crystal
Episode Date: October 10, 2022Jeanie Crystal is the founder of Harpies, London’s first trans focussed strip club. She chats to Sydney and Gizzi about her time working as a stripper in some of London’s most exclusive clubs in T...he City where wealthy bankers pay top dollar for the ‘girlfriend experience’. Jeanie also advises strip clubs on best ethical practice and she chats about how the industry is changing. Sex, Lies and DM Slides is a Spotify Original. This series was produced by Heydon Prowse Productions, edited by Podmonkey with music by Free Seed Films. For Spotify, the executive producers are Rachel Simpson and Alexandra Adey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Hello, my name's Gizzy Erskine.
And I'm Sydney Lima, and this is Sex, Lies and DM Slides.
Where we invite our celebrity friends to dive deep into their DM boxes
to see what terrors lurk within.
We'll be chatting about online trolls, online dating, perverted proposals
and why everyone's so weird on social media.
Sex and Lies and DM slides.
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Whoa, we're back.
We're back.
It's Gizzy Erskine.
And Sydney Lima.
With your weekly dose
of sex lies and DS lies.
A bit less itchy than chlamydia,
but only a bit.
Why would it be itchy?
I've never had chlamydia.
Who am I trying to kid?
Wait, I don't know if chlamydia's itchy.
I don't either.
I just assumed.
You do know, don't you? I've genuinely never had chlamydia. Why are trying to kid wait I don't know if chlamydia is itchy I don't know either I just assumed you do know didn't you
I've genuinely
never had chlamydia
have you
why are you saying
our podcast is itchy
because you said
we're back
with our weekly dose
oh I did
you did
you've ruined my
excellent joke
speaking of STIs
I'm wearing him
for my check back
so Gizzy
I've been trying
to slide into
this guy's DM
go on
so he's quite fit
so I'm just showing a picture of him oh my DM go on so he's quite fit so I'm just showing
a picture of him
oh my god
this guy is
he's from
I think he's Swedish
oh wow
anyway
this is how terrible
my sliding into DMs is
and that is
why I kind of
empathise
with anyone who's failing
to do the same
so he posted
a picture of a film
and I just responded
to the story
great film okay and he's not he's not got back to you he didn't even read it He posted a picture of a film and I just responded to the story. Great film.
Okay.
And he's not got back to you.
He didn't even read it.
That's the worst bit is when you've like done the effort of like, can you at least read it?
How many followers does he have?
Oh, 18,000.
No blue tick.
No blue tick.
I mean, he's very, very good looking.
He's so fit.
I think he's gay.
Oh, well, that might...
There we go.
Get off jail free card there.
Right there.
What have you been up to?
What have I been doing other than being single and crying?
Sorry.
I don't know.
You were sending me messages earlier, weren't you?
Screenshots.
Yeah, so let me...
I'm just going to go through.
I've had quite a few people sliding into my DMs this week.
Somebody did the very kind offer of offering to impregnate me.
Oh, finally.
I know.
Got there in the end.
I just want to find out what he said.
So he slid into my DMs and he said,
you're really gorgeous babe
I mean sexy as fuck
heart heart
why are you assuming
that he's from
a cockney
was that a cockney accent
how do you know
he's cockney
let's see the picture
I can't find
actually
this is a screen grab
I can easily
make you a mama
thank you
because that's all
I've wanted in life
is to become a parent
yeah be a mama that's nice did you, because that's all I've wanted in life is to become a parent. Yeah, be a mama.
That's nice.
Did you reply?
Although it's going to be a cold, lonely Wednesday, baby.
That's quite a good plan.
Should have taken up on the mama duty.
You had a couple as well this week, didn't you?
Yeah, I have.
I mean, why do you think that that's the ultimate goal?
That it's like, okay, I'm going to impregnate you.
You know what?
You're gagging.
You're thotty.
You're thirsty.
I'll make you a baby mama.
Yeah.
Why though?
Is that sexy?
What was it in response to?
Do you remember?
Or was it just a random message?
I think it's just random.
I've never been offered sperm.
Haven't you?
I got offered...
I got asked...
Oh, God, no.
I actually got asked if I would be a donor.
A sperm donor?
Egg, baby, I actually got asked if I would be a donor. A sperm donor? Egg, baby, egg.
Oh, that's quite nice.
You do have excellent genes.
Thanks, baby.
No, I actually...
She just passed.
She touched my knee.
Actually, very nice genes.
They are very nice genes.
Suzanne, actually.
Plug, plug, plug.
No, I screenshotted it at the time
and I sent it to my mum
and I was like
mum do you think
I should do this
they're offering me
about 50 grand
ooh
but she was like
no Sydney
she took it really seriously
because I was kind of
semi-joking
and she was like
no Sydney
you'll have a child
running around
and you won't know
where they are
and all this stuff
I mean that's a fair point
she was kind of talking
about me running around
as a child
and not knowing
where I was
I mean yeah that's quite would you do not knowing where I was. I mean, yeah, that's quite a huge thing.
50 grand for an egg.
I mean, it's meant to be agony.
Not one, a scraping.
It's meant to be agony.
And also, I guess, for me, I suppose, because I'm not sure if I do want children.
I know I want the circumstance.
You know, I want to be in love.
I want to feel like I'm in a very solid, cherished, comfortable situation.
Or then I would choose to do it without it.
I just don't know how I feel maternally.
And I thank God I've got to 41 not being desperate for having a kid.
So it's been able to mean that every dating scenario I go into
doesn't mean the end goal is to husband and impregnate me,
like this guy's offering.
But 50 grand? I don't 50 grand i don't know that's
quite i mean i probably i would never do it but i did to 100 i probably would i would never do it
i kind of have like a weird way of looking at it i don't think i'd be willing to have like my mom
said a little me walking around that isn't yeah i mean it wouldn't you'd never be able to not get
that out of your head i think and also like what if they did that thing when they come find you?
What do you mean?
Oh, they came to find you.
So the egg turns into a child.
Yes.
And then the child comes knocking one day and says,
Sydney, you're my mum.
So who have we got on today, Giddy?
My good friend, Jeannie Crystal.
Jeannie, she's been a stripper for many, many years.
She's really an inspiration.
She's taken her position as being a stripper for many, many years. She's really an inspiration. She's taken her position as being a stripper
and now she works in teaching ethics within strip clubs.
She's huge in the queer and trans scene
and trying to change how people act and behave in strip clubs
with regards to queer and trans people
and also making a more inclusive vibe oh yeah and
i thought it was quite interesting because there's the whole stuff around coronavirus and the way
that strippers how they're having to adapt to that i find her really fascinating because she's you
know hyper intelligent hyper sensitive she's really conscious of so many different um aspects
of this industry that is an actual industry and she's kind of utilising it as
a very kind-hearted businesswoman who's actually making hugely progressive changes
and I just thought Jeannie had a really insightful perspective on all of that.
So over to Jeannie.
Today we have got our friend Jeannie Crystal on.
How did you get into the industry?
So I was actually a DJ first and I was DJing at Browns and then what they do like is they have these stage shows and when the girls
would go on to do their show they would leave their like purse by me and I just remember
like having a sneak peek inside one once and for I'm going to do this. What was in there?
Just loads of money.
Oh, right.
I see what you're saying.
So I thought, you know what, I'm going to give this a go.
So I did a bit of research and there was this girl doing a TED Talk on dancing.
And I got in contact with her and I was like, where do you think is the best club?
And she told me about 23 Paul Street,
and I went there and got the job.
So that was it, really.
That was the start of the journey.
What's it like when you're auditioning for these jobs?
So, Paul Street differs greatly from any of the other clubs.
It's because you don't actually have to dance to audition.
They just sat me down and asked me all these like really strange questions like so if you had
your own club what would the decor be like stuff like that and like you know how how would you
protect the women that worked for you and i didn't take my clothes off, I didn't dance. What happens if you turned off and you, like, couldn't dance?
Like, da-da-da!
Well, I think Paul Street differs from the other clubs
because it's more of, like, a house party.
There's a lot of talking.
It's more of, like, a girlfriend experience, I suppose.
You could call it that.
Because it's in the city like and I'm
assuming there's maybe it's a bit more expensive than other places I mean I once had a friend who
was a stripper who said that on her audition she was kind of more quizzed on uh politics and stuff
like that because she'd be having to speak to these guys is that the same for you they are city
guys and they like to talk a lot about certain things
yeah politics being one of them how much money they have maybe being another
so how do they compare to other strip clubs so when have you been to a strip club yeah i went
to browns you've been to i got very got very very very drunk yeah so Browns is like
I think a real classic like old school strip club there's a stage you have naked shows it's kind of
that like pound in a pot vibe where you know the girl does her collection for the dance and then
she makes private dances so there's no poles at Paul Street so in the basement the guys come in
and then if you want to chat to them you do and then you have like
sit downs it sells time so like an hour is a certain fee and they normally spend about five
hours there and we have fancy dress and stuff like that and they like to get into that are you
serious so it kind of like sounds like the fun strip club. Yeah. It is fun. It is fun. What are the guys like?
What's a typical punter?
I mean, it's varied, but you know what a city guy's like.
They spend so much time making money that the small amount of fun that they can have,
they have to cram it into this five hours of really intense, debauched fun.
A bit Wolf of Wall Street kinds of vibes, you know.
So let's kind of paint the picture here.
So you walk in as a punter and what do you see?
So you see a harem of different women in like amazing outfits.
Like we're really encouraged to be like super glam.
And there's a beautiful bar and there's a DJ.
And then it is like essentially like a date or something, you know,
or if you see someone across the bar and you catch their art,
you go and chat to them and be like,
you all right, how are you, how's your day?
Would you like to spend some time with me?
And that's it.
And then you take them upstairs
and sometimes they get the karaoke machine out,
sometimes they get...
Oh, wow.
This sounds like a great yeah I mean I I personally
like dancing for couples and I like spending time with couples and we do get quite a few couples
that come through there because it's like just a bit more of an interesting experience to you know
be part of this open kind of environment with normally a heterosexual couple.
Do you think it's a place where people can go
rather than just to be voyeuristic,
where they can actually partially live out their fantasies then?
I think so, yeah, definitely.
And I think that's very much part of the job,
trying to identify what it is that someone wants from you
and then play in that role.
I take that to quite the extreme where I have a wig obviously we all have different names and very like i dress very
differently to maybe that i would would normally so i have this whole persona that i take to work
like method acting or whatever you know who's most likely to overstep the line in these situations
women definitely that's interesting because when i've been to a strip
club i think i was overstepping the line yeah i definitely have as well because you're like i'm a
woman too so it's fine yeah we're on the same team and is it fine i mean i personally don't mind
because like i associate as queer so like i love it you know but it's against the law so they
shouldn't do that you have to be like stop it you're gonna get me fired but yeah women definitely get really really involved or on you know on the opposite side of
crossing the line i've heard some of the worst things being said to dancers from women as well
so like i remember this one woman coming with a group of guys they obviously all work together
and she's looked around the room and she and this was when i was managing and she was like have you got any better product
and i was so shocked i was like wow girl whoa why do you think women tend to speak more like
this do you think they're trying to act like how they consider men would act in that situation? I think sometimes because of the taboo around, you know, owning your sexuality and women that go into these industries,
I think some women just find it so threatening that they don't know how to deal with the situation and just get a bit nasty.
It's also quite patriarchal, isn't it?
I suppose if you are in an industry like the city and you kind of had
to have a seat at that table and start assimilating that behavior maybe that is a reason why but the
guy that sat was sat next to her was also quite like embarrassed i saw like we all just kind of
like oh yeah it was awful so yeah on both sides of the scale women can can normally be a bit more
out of control
it's quite interesting though i think as well many people haven't been inside strip clubs and do
have a perception of it that's just like so wrong from what it actually is and obviously more men
use those spaces but that's something that i think really needs to be challenged that
everyone should use
those spaces they are fun they're adult they're consensual it's entertainment it's erotic if more
people got on board with that autonomy and agency I think it'd be if they do think it'd be better for
like society and you're really making it your position there to really bring a new dynamic and
a new way of thinking within the strip club so do you want to explain how that manufactures itself yeah so harpies was something
that i conceived with a couple of other women and we made it one of the first trans spaces
so trans women were having jobs and uh we catered basically to everyone and all different gender representations
could come and work for us on that one night and it just worked out like really really beautifully
it's like an it was just a beautiful night because finally everyone was kind of everyone's
sexuality was being celebrated and in like a communal way so yeah that's my kind of goal is
to keep these spaces open and keep them being more
progressive so just to clarify is harpies a night yeah it's a strip night uh we do it in metropolis
which is a strip club well we used to i don't know if it will ever happen again but before
and it's a striptease night um yeah that that centers trans women what um does the average panther look like he goes into a
trans centered strip club well obviously like a lot younger a lot freer you know a lot it's a lot
more varied in women and guys are there and it's just a bit more celebratory because i think because
it's new and it's this idea of celebrating new bodies and new spaces yeah and sex positive is the word but would you
would you tend to go if you were it's like going to fetch club would you go if you knew and and
you knew that this was a safe space or would there be people that would come off the street going oh
here's a strip club i'm gonna go and then sometimes be a bit alarmed i think for us there was a
responsibility that came with making a space like that so if there was like
10 lads coming in off the street I would have probably been like this isn't for you because
I'm not sure you're going to be able to handle how this space is operating and I can't be responsible
for whatever prejudice that you might secretly be holding him yeah exactly but i mean when i was a dancer in like the straight strip club
there was a lot of confession from straight men about like you know oppressed homosexuality
and just wanting all sorts of things and you know they've got a wife they've got kids they live this
very heteronormative life and then all this other desire was kind of whispered into my ear that's
it's interesting that you're probably like half stripping out and half having to cancel
complete it's therapy you are like you you oscillate between like you know like therapist
mother whore um i don't know what what other words you would call it friend you know it's
you're always kind of shape-shifting
depending on what someone wants from you.
And I feel like a lot of these men needed proper therapy.
Do you know what I mean?
Sexually, their lives had been quite stunted.
What is, I think you mentioned to Hayden and producer,
this kind of mother-whore complex thing.
So do people go in there expecting both mother and whore
from you or is it like that's how I see it like that's how I read it and then you know like when
you look at art and I think you can see it in artworks as well you know like the Virgin Mary
but she's also this person that's like part of like a religious iconography I don't know there's
something in it where I did feel like
sometimes you were mothering them
more than like trying to be sexually arousing.
Yeah.
People do get off from the mother thing, don't they?
Oh yeah, of course, of course they do.
I mean, still some of the most searched porn is to do with your family.
It is so strange.
Do many strippers ever cross into other avenues in sex work?
Yeah, definitely.
I mean, since the clubs have been closed,
a lot of people have gone into doming because they've had to.
Obviously, OnlyFans is this huge, like, it's taken over, basically.
I don't know anyone because of what I do at the club is so well paid
um people that go into like full service sex work which is obviously that speaks for itself doesn't
it they I think that's quite separate stripping I think they're quite two very separate worlds
so it's not very common to cross into not really because because you've got such a good deal if
you're at a club like that and you're earning so much money
I'm not saying it's the perfect job in the world
it's not
but for women that want to go up the class ladder
a bit quicker
explain
it's distribution of wealth
it's going straight to you
from the top of the budget
straight from the bankers
I felt like Robin Hood sometimes.
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Do you have regulars?
Yeah, I had regulars, yeah.
Yeah, you definitely get those guys
that keep coming back to see you
and like, you know.
Any gifts?
Yeah, I've had a few gifts.
Go on.
I've had some phones
and some shoes and some bags and stuff that just you know go straight
on ebay or is it have you ever found yourself into in a sketchy scenario though sketchy scenario
nothing that I was like horrified by I mean I've had more sketchy situations in my personal life
than in the strip club because the strip club has rules
and the strip club has men that are there to protect you as well.
So it's so different to outside.
If anything, I've had way more sexual sketchy situations outside.
In real life?
Yeah, exactly. In real life, most definitely.
How has your experience as a stripper helped inform your night you put on
in regards to the safety
so I was when I was dancing I was also knocking about with like um because you had Monroe on who
used to do pussy pan yeah I was knocking about in those circles and BBZ which is a um queer art
collective and they were really into this idea of creating safe spaces and so I got to learn a lot from them of
how to do door policies uh you know how to have a briefing all of the nightclub and I just put the
stripping aspect of just the business model I took that and then kind of mixed it with a queer night
with performance and that that's what I like about it like Like, I was doing nights at, like, queer venues,
like Vogue Fabrics and the Queen Adelaide,
which is another queer pub,
and bringing, like, queer performance
and strippers together to perform
was, like, such a vibe.
But it makes perfect sense as well.
Yeah, it does, because these same people, I think,
are suffering similar discriminations in society
for being deviant or being taboo or being
whatever people's preconceptions they have of of us but actually like you say I just feel like
I've met some of the most intelligent people and just their liberation of politics has
really made me feel quite quite a free woman do you know what I mean I feel empowered by the whole thing by
the whole journey it's really interesting how naturally these two worlds do marry and performance
being the operative side of it you know most definitely it's like being a stripper to me was
basically like being a drag queen and when I watch queens I'm like yeah you're performing a hyper version of femininity and that's exactly what
I was doing in the club you know I was just amplifying my sexuality is there a difference
between performing as stripper well performance and stripping for me personally I don't think
there is I think it's all the same set of values. And interestingly enough, I was also working for an artist at the time when I first started dancing.
And I had to perform naked.
And all these like old men were coming, like sitting there for like the whole day with their like hands in their pockets.
Oh, really?
And I was just like, you know what?
Like, no one was kind of protecting us from that.
And it was like, I just kind of thought this is
all the same thing this is looking at art but it's not really it's exactly the same as what
happens in the club and it's being consumed in a bit more of a a bit more of a disempowering way
I thought because I didn't have control over the situation so then yeah I just thought I'm going to
do this all the time in the club and
earn loads of money and be totally empowered by instead of trying to make it into some like
high art like you know inspiring people it's bullshit it's it is what it is basically what
what do you think about um stripping being seen as a trade based on men paying to sexually access
women's bodies and it being fundamentally incompatible with sex equality?
I mean, again, that's why I started Harpies,
because I think there is an imbalance of it
that it's so heterosexual and it's so male heterosexual,
it's all about that desire.
Same as pornography, really.
We've only really seen a shift in pornography
with ethical porn and porn that's more about women's desire it's the same thing it just needs there just needs to
be more representation and more people need to use those spaces because at the end of the day
we're all adults we all like sexual arousal we all like eroticism there's there's not a problem
with any of that it is the imbalance to it that it is mostly men that use these spaces. So I kind of half agree to that statement in a way,
but I don't think that's a reason to try and shut them down.
I would prefer to try and make them more progressive.
What about, you know, I mean, people, God, you know,
we know wrongly perceive weed being the gateway drug into heroin.
You know, do people sometimes look at stripping as the gateway drug
into sort of more extreme, the more extreme side of sex working?
Most definitely.
I think they think as well that, like, there's loads of girls in there
that have been, like, trafficked to something.
And it's like, people think that people are, like, you know,
being forced into it.
And it's not a gateway.
It's, like you say, like, weed's a gateway drug.
You'll do what you're going to do.
And at the end of the day, people that want to abolish sex work,
I just don't think it's a realistic goal.
It's just not realistic.
It's not going to happen.
Do you think it should be...
Well, I guess it is legalised, isn't it?
What's the word?
It should be regulated.
Oh, God.
Yeah, regulated.
Do you think it should be decriminalised?
From what I know, I haven't worked in that part of the industry,
but there's a really great book called Revolting Prostitutes
by a girl called Juno Mack.
I can't think who the other girl is that wrote it.
But they write about full-service sex work and the laws around it.
And from that book, I was pretty much convinced
that it should be decriminalised.
Just for things like, when it's criminalised,
like workers can't work together because if you are found in if you're found
selling sex to women in one house it's classed as a brothel so that that encourages women to
work on their own which obviously then opens them up for more danger because they haven't got someone
to look out for them I think there has been some real tragic situations of women you know being
really hurt because of this so that's one reason but there's a few really just so it can be
regulated better and the women feel they have a voice so they can go to the police if something
goes wrong what comes under the sex sex work uh structure I mean does stripping still considered
sex work this is this is a funny one like some
people say it is some people say it isn't i mean i think it is of course it is but again it's like
when people say sex work or i'm a set people are like it makes people really nervous i think but
yeah i think it's all part of it but you know then you could say as well there was a whole there's a
whole thing of like that women that go on sugardaddy.com, you know,
and look for an older man to pay a rent and buy her bags and she has sex with them.
Sex work, right?
Yeah, sex work.
I'm going with sex work.
I'm having sex at sex work, I'm sure.
But yeah, if it's stripping cool, as you said, it could be a sort of borderline performance thing.
Yeah.
Women should be able to make a choice of what they want
to do and whether that is to do sex work or not as long as it's a educated and autonomous decision
it's coming from a decision of power not desperation I don't really see what the problem
is and with the idea of objectification for me that's such a funny term because when you're a stripper you you talk to that person you can decide exactly when you work you
can decide how much time you want to spend with someone you can decide if you want to walk out
the door you know like I am you're autonomous and empowered way more than when I'm standing
doing like a hospitality job for seven pounds an hour
and I'm told to act this way wear this taking my time yeah all my time and then at the end of it
I've got 100 quid in my bank what would I do with that I feel way more objectified in that sense
than I do when I'm doing sex work because it gives me a financial freedom and unfortunately
we do live in a capitalist structure, and I need financial freedom.
How is it that kind of new wave feminists
and men who buy sex are now allies?
I don't know if we're allies.
I think that's...
We're not allies.
That's taking it a bit too far.
But I think that, like a lot of things,
like race theory and feminism it's
it's kind of being propelled into the mainstream media but it's actually quite a nuanced conversation
it's like i don't really need some guy being like yeah keep my strip club open that doesn't
that doesn't really do much for my cause at all you know we'll do the protesting the women that
run those industries and then you know you just come and and use the service I don't need you to be politically
shouting for or supporting me we can do that ourselves you know but yeah we're not allies
so how's how has things changed during lockdown well um the councils won't give us our licenses
back which is strange because we
are the most like social distance space you could possibly get in the whole of the entertainment
industry like you have to be two meters away from us um and a lot of the spaces are closing really
yeah a lot of space of closing and it's leaving a lot of like a lot of my friends and a lot of
the community also with like queer performance as well,
because all the nightclubs are shut,
just struggling and really worried where we're going to make money from next.
Do you think that that means that the movement
is going to be going onto social media?
Yeah, there actually has been a really cool strip club called Cyber Tease
and they do it online on Zoom
and I think they've
been doing really well um but the only thing is with like online stuff is they do censor it and
eventually they probably will shut it down like on instagram when we were when we were advertising
like the club which is completely legal you know it's legal there's a strip club
legal but they kept censoring us and shadow banning us isn't that mad when you can actually
go into a you porn yeah i know and see like some pretty extreme yeah it's crazy do you have
instagram uh yeah i do do you kind of tie it to your work at all sometimes like I don't I don't ever I
wouldn't give my Instagram to like my clients because I wouldn't want them to know where I am
all the time not that anything dodgy could happen it's just like you know you wouldn't tell your
boss at at Tesco or whatever where you're at every day either would you know it's like a
professionalism like a separate thing work and play kind of thing you know it's like a professionalism separate like a separate thing
work and play kind of thing you know but that said have you ever had anyone sort of overstepping the
mark and going into your instagram i had some guy messaged me the other day and was like i love your
feet can i worship your feet sure and i was quite happy i don't know how he found me but I was quite like okay that's cool
um but have I ever had anyone's over set them up I had one guy that used to just like send me
letters to the club quite regularly um which was kind of weird because I kind of cut him off because
he was just just a little bit too intense with me like i think he was in love with
me and i was like okay this needs to stop like i do have a heart like i'm not gonna like you know
really uh exploit you when i think you might be catching feelings have you ever fallen for someone
never never never never i had actually quite an amazing night once with this girl.
She'd come in with her boss,
and I think they were having an affair,
and she was quite young, but she was really rich,
and she was so attractive, and I really, really fancied her.
And he kind of picked up on this and got angry and left.
Oh.
Yeah.
And left, and then she carried on paying for the rest of the evening i love her
yeah she's so cool and she was like you know me and you should meet up after this blah blah and
i was like look you're married to a heart surgeon you're gonna have a really great life
i think true liberation or true autonomy is when as an adult you can just pick whatever you want
to pick as long as you're safe and everyone's consenting you know like surely that's what we're
going for like a empathetic society that understands each other's needs and whether
they're sexually or not if you had a kid would you let them be a stripper
I'd let them do whatever they wanted to do it's got nothing to do with me my job as a parent is to
educate that woman or or educate that person and give them the skills to be able to go into any
situation and have a great time you know and that's it really and is this is this representative of your own relationship with your family or yes I mean I didn't tell my parents just because I just felt like it's
they don't need to know like they don't need to know but I mean my father knows I get up to all
kinds of stuff whether he found out I don't think it would break his heart or anything like that
you know it is what he was a nightclub owner so I was bought I was brought up in that industry and he very much
encouraged me as a young woman to like go wherever you want to go do whatever you want to do you know
don't let anyone tell you can't go anywhere and don't judge anyone they'd take me to gay pride
from the age of like seven you know like it was always quite open in that way in my house so would
you say there's a little element of shame around
it if you don't feel like you can tell your dad not shame just I just don't want him to worry
you know like I don't want him and obviously he's a man he's an old school man he understands men
and I think obviously no one wants to think of that it's quite patriarchal again but their little
girl yeah in inverted commas as as being in those environments maybe
so what do they think you do i don't know what they think i do to be honest
they probably know and i don't i don't realize they're actually big followers of our podcast
no my sister knows and my sister was like so like she was like cool she was like yeah go for it
love it she's like can you get me a job
do you think that now um with social media and how we are exposed to so much more and in some
respects we are a bit more forgiving these days do you think that that's maybe the process that
we're going towards i think so like you know characters like Cardi B and Amber
Rose these women that are very very open about how they got their money yeah I think we are and I
think people like Megan Thee Stallion and like her lyrics and this like kind of like yeah this is my
body I do what I want with it take his money kind of vibe if he's not providing you with what you
need and also sexually if he's not providing with you what you need get him out that I think that's good for women I think it's good I think
they're good lessons what what do you think about celebrities like instagrammers like people like
Bella Thorne who's now using OnlyFans and taking money from sex workers I think that's so so like
such a privileged standpoint and I don't really like it i have to
say i feel it's like she doesn't have to do that and sex workers have built that platform up and
now she just kind of rolls in and takes a million pounds yeah she's making millions yes i don't
she's the number one i think the number one only fans i don't i don't know if i'm there for that
completely just because the stigma the stigma like the the stigma that normal sex workers have to go through,
she has bypassed all of that.
Arguably, she's made it more accessible and progressed it in another way.
True, yeah, maybe.
I just think she saw an opportunity and took it.
Which is fair enough.
But the fact that she's sort of so famous for,
and actually first and foremost her acting,
and then now taking it to another level,
it makes it, you know, exposes it in a different way.
And it maybe...
It definitely does.
Well, it takes away from what on one hand,
I reckon it does give quite a lot back in the other, you know.
And Cardi B.
She's on OnlyFans as well, isn't she?
Yeah, yeah.
But obviously Cardi B like started in the club.
Yeah, fair enough.
We knew her as a dancer, didn't we?
And she was very...
I think there hasn't been she was very i think there
hasn't been many women i think there's been lots of stars that have done sex work but there's not
many women that have stood up there and been like yes this is who i was in such an unashamed way
and like in such a powerful way i think cardi like when i don't know if you watch love and hip-hop but
there's a scene where this girl was like shady to her and it was obvious it was because she was a stripper and Cardi was like come on bitch tell me why you don't like me
say it say it out loud and was like kind of forcing this girl to be like you're a whore and I'm scared
of you yeah I think that's a lovely place to wrap thank you so much for coming on Jeannie
thank you so much for having me thank you for listening
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